Paul Gascoigne
Encyclopedia
Paul John Gascoigne commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.
Playing in the position of midfield
, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United
, Tottenham Hotspur
, Lazio
, Rangers
, Middlesbrough
, Everton
and Gansu Tianma
, where he scored at least a goal for each of these clubs. He was capped
57 times for the England national football team
.
area of Gateshead
, England, the second of four children of John Gascoigne (a hod carrier) and his wife Carol.
Gascoigne started playing football at the age of four, playing almost non-stop in the street and nearby park. He played for his school Brighton Avenue Primary School, Gateshead team from the age of eight, and later played for the local Redheugh
Boys' Club despite being under the minimum age. He later attended Breckenbeds Junior High School
(which closed in September 1996) then the Heathfield Senior High School
(also closed in September 1996), both in the Low Fell
area of Gateshead.
He caught the attention of the football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, and was given a trial at Ipswich Town
although he failed to impress. Further trials at Middlesbrough
and Southampton
also proved unsuccessful, before Newcastle United
signed him as a schoolboy in 1980. At school he was once caught practising his autograph during a geography lesson, his reason being that he was "going to be a famous footballer". His teacher, Mr Hepworth, was not impressed, telling the young Gascoigne that "only one in a million becomes a professional footballer." Nevertheless, he was signed on as an apprentice at Newcastle in 1983, initially playing for the youth team under Colin Suggett
. It was at this time that his nickname of "Gazza" was first coined.
However, while Gascoigne was successful on the football field, his childhood was marked by instability and tragedy. Initially his family lived in a single upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom, and moved several times during Gascoigne's early life. When he was ten, his father moved to Germany to find work, and Gascoigne witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, the younger brother of a friend, who was knocked down by a car.
His father also suffered a brain haemorrhage shortly afterwards and was in hospital for eight months. He never worked again.
In his autobiography, Gascoigne reports that around this time he started exhibiting twitches and symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder. In addition to this, he began shoplifting to fund his addiction to slot machines.
Subsequently Gascoigne developed an addiction to gaming machines, frequently spending all his money including bus fare home on them. Around this time he first drank alcohol, getting drunk on a bottle of vodka
stolen by a friend at age fourteen, but ill effects led to Gascoigne swearing off alcohol for life – in the event he didn't drink again until he was eighteen. Furthermore, death made another appearance in Gascoigne's life when a friend whom he had encouraged to join Newcastle United from Middlesbrough went to work with his uncle in the building trade while waiting for an opening at Newcastle and was killed in a building site accident.
where he scored twice in the second leg of the final against Watford
. Manager Jack Charlton
upon first seeing him, noted his weight problems, to which he threatened to kick Gascoigne out of the club within two weeks if he did not get a handle on it. Gascoigne forced himself to work extremely hard over the next two weeks and eventually Charlton picked him as a substitute for the Tyne-Wear derby
with Sunderland
, although he did not make it onto the pitch. He made his first team debut at home to Queens Park Rangers
on 13 April 1985, coming on as a substitute. Soon after he signed his first professional contract, and made a further appearance for the first team. Willie McFaul
took over as manager soon after and awarded Gascoigne his first start in the black and white shirt, on the opening day of the 1985–86 season at Southampton. He scored his first goal at home to Oxford United
in a 3–0 victory at St James' Park
on 21 September 1985, with a further eight following in the 1985–86 campaign. Newcastle finished 11th in the First Division
that season and, at the end of it, Gascoigne was featured on the front cover of the Rothmans Football Yearbook.
Gascoigne's burgeoning career seemed to rise in conjunction with his capacity for getting into trouble. After a hit and run incident with his drinking mate, Jimmy 'Five Bellies' Gardner, initially wrecked the car to make out it had been stolen before admitting their crime, Gascoigne was fined £260 and given eight points on his 'non-existent licence'. He was told by Mr McKeag, one of the Newcastle directors, that this would be his last warning. Gascoigne later passed his test after having initially bribed an examiner who subsequently failed him anyway. His rise through the Newcastle youth team was not a happy one as he felt constantly picked on about his weight and his misbehaviour. After one instance where he felt particularly picked on, he took a groundsman's tractor and drove it straight into the dressing room wall, jumping off just before impact – he was fined £75 for this. Though confident in his ability, Gascoigne confessed to envy of Ian Bogie
who he felt was a superior player to him.
Gazza also had doubts as to the direction the club was going, especially when they sold Chris Waddle
, something he felt was a bad sign. In all competitions he made a total of 107 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 25 goals. At the end of the 1987–88 season, he was named as the Barclays Young Player of the Year and was subject of offers from both Manchester United
and Tottenham Hotspur
. Gascoigne's first choice was Liverpool
but with no offer forthcoming, Gascoigne promised Alex Ferguson
that he would sign for Manchester United. Ferguson duly went on holiday to Malta
, where he received the news that Gascoigne had signed for Spurs, for a British record fee of £2million. The record lasted just six weeks until Tony Cottee
moved from West Ham United
to Everton
for £2.3million.
In his 1999 autobiography, Ferguson claimed that Gascoigne was wooed into signing for Tottenham after they bought a house for his impoverished family.
Ferguson expressed that the biggest disappointment in his managerial career was "not getting Gazza"
, Gascoigne developed into an international class footballer. He had a stocky, powerful build that allowed him to hold off defenders and weather challenges. He combined his attacking flair with hustle and tenacity, but sometimes reckless tackling. In his first season at White Hart Lane
he helped Spurs to sixth in the First Division, and to third position the following season. Over these two seasons he made a total of 75 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals. In the 1990–91 season Tottenham reached the FA Cup Final
after failing to get past the Third round for the previous two seasons. Gascoigne scored six goals on the road to the final, including a spectacular free-kick against Arsenal
in the semi-final at Wembley.
However the final, against Nottingham Forest
, turned out to be disastrous for Gascoigne as he sustained a serious injury. Going into the final he had already agreed terms to join Italian club Lazio
in an £8.5 million deal and wanted to leave Spurs on a high to show the world how good he was. Just minutes into the game he committed a dangerous knee-high foul on Gary Charles
but ruptured the cruciate ligament
s in his right knee in the process. He subsequently collapsed after taking his place in the defensive wall for a free kick, from which England team mate Stuart Pearce
scored. Tottenham went on to win the Cup in extra time, which Gascoigne witnessed from his hospital bed. As a consequence he missed the entire 1991–92 season while he recovered, suffering a further knee injury in Autumn 1991, when an accident at a nightclub on Tyneside
ruled him out for even longer.
The saga over Gascoigne's proposed transfer to Lazio dominated the tabloid press throughout 1991, often overshadowing the key national news of that time – namely the recession and rise in unemployment that it sparked – although the broadsheet newspapers generally kept stories about Gascoigne confined to their back pages.
which was televised in Britain
as well as Italy. In his first season at the Stadio Olimpico
, his form was inconsistent but he scored his first goal in the 89th minute to equalise during the Rome derby against AS Roma. However, he failed to fully settle in Italy and was beset by media interest and injury, notably breaking his cheekbone in April 1993 and his leg a year later; the latter injury keeping him out for the majority of the 1994–95 season. In all competitions he made 47 appearances for Lazio, scoring six goals.
During his time in Italy, he was interviewed by a Norwegian TV reporter, prior to England playing them, for a message to the people of Norway. His infamous reply was "Fuck off Norway"
in July 1995, for a reported fee of £4.3 million. He made an immediate impact, in the fifth league game of the season in the Old Firm
match at Celtic Park
he scored a memorable goal running almost the length of the pitch. On 30 December 1995, in a match against Hibs
, Gascoigne comically 'booked' referee Dougie Smith. Smith had dropped his yellow card and Gascoigne picked it up and showed it to the official, before returning it. Smith was not amused and booked Gascoigne. Rangers went on to win the league, clinching the title in the penultimate game of the season against Aberdeen
. After Rangers went 1–0 down in the early stages Gascoigne went on to score a hat-trick
despite, in his own words, being tired and running on pure adrenaline. Along with the equaliser he scored in the Rome derby for Lazio, Gascoigne identifies this hat-trick as one of his best footballing moments. Rangers subsequently won the Scottish Cup
, and Gascoigne picked up both the Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards. Rangers won the league title again in 1996–97
, their ninth in succession, and also the League Cup
where Gascoigne scored twice in the Final.
In January 1998 Gascoigne again courted controversy after he mimicked playing a flute (symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers) during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park, which was televised live on Sky Sports. He had previously done the same after scoring against Steaua Bucharest in a 1995 pre-season friendly which had gone largely unnoticed. The gesture infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. His wage was said to be in the region of £25,000 a week. He also received death threats from reputed members of the IRA
.
In 2006 Gascoigne was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame
alongside former teammate Brian Laudrup
at a ceremony in the Glasgow Hilton.
, he eventually left Scotland to join Middlesbrough
for £3.4 million in March 1998. His first match was the League Cup
final against Chelsea
in which he came on as a substitute. He played seven games in Division One, helping Boro into the Premier League as runners-up to Nottingham Forest
. Personal problems limited his subsequent appearances for Boro and he joined Everton
(managed by former Rangers boss Walter Smith
) on 17 July 2000, scoring his first goal against Bolton Wanderers in November 2001, and finished the 2001/02 season with the final few games of the Division One season with Burnley
, who missed out on the playoffs (and the chance of Premier League football) by finishing in seventh place with an inferior goal difference of only 1 compared to sixth-placed Norwich City
.
In summer 2002, with his career coming to an end, Gascoigne went on trial with American club D.C. United
, but failed to win a contract. In January 2003, he signed a nine-month contract with Chinese club Gansu Tianma
in both a playing and coaching role, but after going to America for treatment against drink and depression in April, he failed to return. The eruption of the SARS virus in China only further halted any thoughts of returning. Instead, he returned to England and later trained for six weeks with Wolverhampton Wanderers
, but was not offered a contract for their 2003–04 Premier League campaign.
On 30 July 2004, Gascoigne was signed by League Two
side Boston United as player-coach, but only made 5 appearances and scored no goals before leaving three months later. He was, however, a strong favourite at York Street
due to his status.
by Bobby Robson
for a friendly against Denmark
, in September 1988. He scored his first goal for England in a World Cup Qualifier against Albania
. The following match saw him make his first start and he played in most matches in the run in to the 1990 World Cup with England finishing second in their group. He secured his place in the World Cup squad in a 4–2 win against Czechoslovakia
when he scored one goal and had a hand in the other three.
He played in all three of the group games as the 1990 World Cup held in Italy got under way, and England topped their group, Gascoigne providing the assist for Mark Wright's winner against Egypt. In the first knockout game against Belgium he notched another assist. With the score at 0–0 towards the end of extra time, Gascoigne got the ball in the middle of the pitch and attacked, winning a free kick. He chipped the ball into the penalty area and David Platt volleyed the ball into the net to send England into the quarter-finals where they faced Cameroon
. Gascoigne was at the centre of the action again when he gave away a penalty which Cameroon scored from. England were 2–1 down in the last ten minutes of the match. In extra time he found Gary Lineker
with a through-ball from which Lineker won, and subsequently scored, a penalty which proved to be the winning goal.
On 4 July 1990 England played West Germany in the World Cup semi-final in Turin
. After going 1–0 down early in the second half, Gascoigne's Spurs team-mate Gary Lineker
equalised for England with ten minutes remaining to force extra time. Gascoigne, having already received a yellow card during England's 1–0 victory over Belgium in the second round, showed his tenacity again as he fouled Thomas Berthold
and was booked, which meant that he would be suspended for the World Cup Final if England won the match. Television showed that he had tears in his eyes following the yellow card. The match culminated in a penalty shoot-out with Gascoigne originally intended to take the third kick, however he didn't feel that he was in a fit state to take the penalty, so Platt took it and scored. The Germans eventually won after Chris Waddle missed his penalty and England failed to reach the final. He was named in the tournament All-Star team for his performances and returned to England to a frenzy that became known as Gazzamania. Five years later, a TV
advert for Walkers Crisps (also featuring Gary Lineker
) referenced to Gascoigne's tearful appearance in the semi-final. Gascoigne's fearless, talisman
ic performances at the Finals were appreciated by the team. Speaking in 2010 Chris Waddle
said : "The great thing about Gazza is that he didn't respect who he was playing against. He didn't even know who he was playing against. When I mentioned Rijkaard
he thought it was a country."
By the time of his serious injury in the 1991 FA Cup Final, he had earned twenty England caps. After his recovery he was usually picked by Graham Taylor for England matches until the broken leg sustained at Lazio ruled him out for a whole year. He became a key part of Terry Venables
' team in the run-in to Euro '96
. In the first game against Switzerland
he was substituted but scored in the second game against Scotland
. A minute after David Seaman
had saved a penalty, Gascoigne received the ball from Darren Anderton
on the left outside the Scotland penalty area. He moved as if to play the ball down the outside, but flicked the ball over Colin Hendry
with his left foot and changed direction. Hendry was completely wrongfooted and, as the ball dropped, Gascoigne volleyed it with his right foot past Andy Goram
. The goal was followed by the "Dentist's chair" celebration referring to an incident before the Euro 1996, where England team players were photographed on a drunken night with Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham
and Steve McManaman
shown drinking in a dentist's chair, as well as, rather controversially, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a Cathay Pacific
first class flight
cabin
. After the goal Gascoigne lay on the ground as if he were sitting in the dentist's chair, and teammates sprayed water from bottles into his open mouth.
In the third group game against the Netherlands Gascoigne contributed to a 4–1 victory, providing the corner which led to the second goal and crafting the third goal with a mazy run into the Dutch penalty area. After beating Spain
on penalties, England met Germany
in the semi-final. Early on Gascoigne's corner again led to an England goal, and extra time was again required. England lost to Germany in the resulting penalty shoot-out and, once again, Gascoigne shed tears. He was named to the tournament All-Star squad along with Shearer and Steve McManaman.
Under Glenn Hoddle
, Gascoigne was picked regularly over the next year and a half helping England qualify for the 1998 World Cup. But with injury and disciplinary problems affecting his game, he was left out of the final squad by Hoddle. British tabloid newspapers showed pictures of a drunken Gascoigne eating kebabs in the early hours of the morning only a week before the final squad was due to be chosen. On being told he was out of the squad, Gascoigne wrecked Hoddle's room in a rage before being restrained. Five other players were also left out the squad, including Phil Neville, who was later consoled by Gascoigne. Hoddle later hit back at Gascoigne, declaring publicly that it was the latter's own fault that he was not included in the squad. But while Neville went on to win many more caps, Gascoigne was never to play for his country again, having won 57 caps and scored 10 goals.
on 30 July 2004. After being at the club for 11 games he left (partly as a result of the club refusing to let him participate in the reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!) on 5 October 2004, to begin a football coaching course. He made a total of five appearances for the club but scored no goals. In the summer of 2005 he spent two months as player-coach at the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United
, but a proposed contract never materialised and he returned to England. He then became manager of Kettering Town
on 27 October 2005. His tenure at Kettering lasted just 39 days, and he was dismissed by the club's board on 5 December 2005, along with assistant manager Paul Davis
. The club's owner blamed Gascoigne's alcohol problems, stating that he drank almost every day he worked. Gascoigne later claimed in his book Being Gazza that the owner had interfered incessently and harboured ambitions of being a manager himself, despite knowing little about football. He was subsequently interviewed by Sky News, in which he appeared drunk although in his book he claimed it was due to his poor mental state, tiredness and prescribed medication which gave the impression of appearing "out of it".
Gascoigne came close to being appointed manager of Garforth Town
in 2010, saying "I feel strong right now. For me personally it's a big challenge. It's whether the players want to join me in that challenge. I never knew when I'd get back into football. I want to take the club forward and I want the players to develop". However, Gascoigne was never seen at a Garforth Town match, and after weeks of talks between his agent and the club, he decided to turn down the offer, though reiterating his desire to return to football management and insisting that he had not made a U-turn over taking the job, stating that some people (such as the News of the World
) had jumped the gun in announcing his appointment.
. He also toured Europe with Iron Maiden
.
He promoted two videogames: Gazza's Superstar Soccer
and Gazza II
, as well as featured in an advertising campaign to promote the Fabergé brand Brut
.
He worked as a pundit on ITV's World Cup team in 2002. In 2005, he made an emotional TV appearance on a BBC One
programme about ex-footballers. Speaking to Scottish ex-footballer Alan Hansen
, he talked about his problems and how he had had to cope with not being the player he used to be. He also mentioned he was determined to get back into the game by obtaining the proper coaching badges needed to manage a team.
In August 2006, he visited Botswana
on behalf of the FA's international outreach week and played football with the children from the SOS Children's village there.
On 25 July 2009 Gascoigne appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the
BBC television quiz The Weakest Link
where he engaged in banter
with host Anne Robinson
and on 26 July 2009 he played in
an England v Germany charity football match to help raise funds for the
Sir Bobby Robson cancer fund.
(née Failes; born 24 September 1965) in Hatfield, Hertfordshire
in 1996, only to divorce in 1998. In a July 1994 interview with a Sunday newspaper Gascoigne admitted beating her on a regular basis for two years. They have a son, Regan Paul Gascoigne (born Hatfield, 1996). He adopted
Sheryl's two children from her first marriage. Paul's stepdaughter Bianca Gascoigne
appeared on reality TV show Love Island
; his stepchildren claim that he beat them as well.
In 2004 he stated that he wished to be referred to as G8
, combining his initial and his playing number.
His seven year old nephew Cameron Gascoigne signed a contract with Newcastle United
after he scored 22 goals in 30 minutes for Rutherford Swifts FC in the Youth League.
. He published a follow-up book Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons in 2006. In it, he detailed undergoing therapy for bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder
, bipolar disorder
, and alcoholism. His heavy drinking was already a problem as early as 1993. An issue central to Gazza's decline as an athlete and increasing mental health problems was his inability to occupy himself when not able to play football. Hence his heavy drinking and various antics when injured, and subsequently retired from football, as described in Gazza: My Story. One such occasion saw him drive a car into Loch Lomond
. Gazza confessed in a 2005 BBC documentary Life After Football with Alan Hansen that retiring from football had 'ripped his heart out' and intimated he was planning a playing comeback (which did not subsequently materialise) at the age of almost 38.
In January 2005 he was hospitalised with pneumonia
.
On 5 December 2005, the day of his firing from Kettering Town after a little over one month in charge, he was arrested after an alleged assault on a press photographer outside a hotel in Liverpool
. The photographer later dropped these charges, but the same charge was again brought against Gascoigne in November 2006 over an alleged incident in a London nightclub. On the night of 13–14 September 2006 Gascoigne lost thousands of pounds in a seven hour gambling session at the Rendezvous Casino in Mayfair, during which he reportedly drank four bottles of Cristal Champagne and smoked at least 100 cigarettes.
In May 2007, it was reported that he underwent emergency surgery on a perforated stomach ulcer
, after falling ill celebrating his 40th birthday. He had his right hip replaced in December 2007. In February 2008 he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act
after an incident at the Malmaison Hotel in Newcastle. He reportedly threatened to harm himself
, and so was taken into protective custody as a precaution. He later admitted spending £2,000 a day on cocaine, giving drug dealers his bank card to go and take his money out, and paying a taxi firm to deliver whisky and vodka to his hotel room.
At this time he also admitted drinking fifty cans of Red Bull
a day. Gascoigne claims that he almost died during his time in a rehabilitation
programme in 2008 and that he was revived three times after his heart had stopped. Gascoigne was outed as a smoker shortly before the 1998 World Cup, when Glenn Hoddle
confirmed the player had been smoking since at least as early as 1992. While in the Priory rehab centre in London in May 2008 he was said to be refusing to eat any food, while smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day. Following a five day bender, Gascoigne collapsed in a bar in Portugal on 3 September 2008 after drinking twenty double whiskies, fighting with barmen over his bar bills, and fighting with his friend Jimmy Gardner over a £20,000 debt. Gascoigne had his stomach pumped in hospital following an overdose of alcohol and drugs on 12 September 2008, just hours after leaving a rehab clinic. Gascoigne told paramedics they should let him die. On 18 September 2008 he was arrested by police in Gateshead whilst trying to enter a closed pub.
On 24 September 2008 it was widely reported on the Internet that Gascoigne had died, but this was swiftly denied by the police.
In January 2009, home video clips of Gascoigne appeared in Surviving Gazza, a documentary screened on Channel 4
, which depicted his family's efforts in 2008 to help and rehabilitate him. During the programme Gascoigne stated that he was in close personal contact with the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, the US president and the Pope. The conclusion at the end of the documentary was that their efforts had failed, and Gascoigne's alcoholism had continued despite a stint in rehab.
In March 2009 Gascoigne gave an interview with Sky News in which he admitted drinking four bottles of whisky a day in 2004, and drinking thirty cans of Special Brew a day in December 2008. Gascoigne has admitted that at his lowest point he was snorting cocaine
and drinking a litre of gin a day, which left him delusional and afraid to leave his hotel room.
In April 2009, Gascoigne made two media appearances, appearing to be in the stage of recovery, on the UK mid-day programme Loose Women
and on the BBC football program Match of the Day 2
. He claimed that his stint at the Tony Adams "Sporting Chance" rehabilitation centre had finally allowed him to mature and that he was no longer a slave to addictions. He was also at the time in training for a forthcoming All Stars fund raising football match.
However, Gascoigne appeared in the press again on 3 June, appearing to have relapsed. His girlfriend Emma-Kate Dawson later reported he called her from Newcastle after an extended drinking session saying he had a knife and was suicidal. On 5 June 2009 Gascoigne was dropped from the ITV
television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! before filming started after failing a psychiatric test. In September 2009 Gascoigne, who had repeatedly said he wanted to die, was in a coma after drinking forty pints of Stella Artois in thirteen hours.
On 7 February 2010, North Yorkshire Police
were called to a disturbance at a takeaway in Leeming Bar
, North Yorkshire. Gascoigne and another man were retained for questioning, and Gascoigne was arrested the following day and charged with drunk-driving.
In the late evening of 13 June 2010 Gascoigne was injured in a car crash in Newcastle. His condition was initially said to be serious, but he was later described as "comfortable". A 36-year-old female driver was arrested for suspected drink-driving.
On 9 July 2010, Gascoigne appeared at the scene of the tense stand-off between the police and Britain's most wanted man Raoul Moat. He gave several apparently drunk and barely-coherent radio interviews in which he claimed to be a friend of the fugitive and stated that he had brought him 'a can of lager, some chicken, fishing rod, a Newcastle shirt and a dressing gown'. He was denied access to Moat. Police stated there was no way that Gascoigne could have known Moat. Three days after Moat's suicide, Gascoigne entered rehab for the ninth time. He gave an interview with a local newspaper to deny tabloid claims that he had groped a shop assistant and asked a window cleaner to buy alcohol for him. Gascoigne has since admitted that he did not know Raoul Moat, confirming that at the time of the incident he had been bored and had started drinking earlier that evening.
On 8 October 2010 Gascoigne was again arrested for drink driving, having been observed driving his blue MG sports car erratically in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He admitted being more than four times over the limit at Newcastle
Magistrates Court on 20 October 2010, and has been bailed for sentencing on 11 November. District Judge Stephen Earl warned Gascoigne that he could face a prison sentence of up to 12 weeks. On 21 October 2010 Gascoigne was arrested for possession of cocaine
, after worried friends telephoned the police fearing that he had overdosed. After entering rehab for the tenth time he was arrested for destroying a hotel room. On 5 November 2010 Gascoigne, now living in another hotel after losing his house, was photographed being held up by two men after drinking heavily for over three hours. On the night of 10 November 2010 he was photographed vomiting out of a car window on the M1; the car was being driven by his agent and Gascoigne subsequently lit a cigarette at a petrol station while the car was being refilled. He was said to be drinking four bottles of wine a day, including a bottle of wine for breakfast with a double gin and tonic. Gascoigne checked himself into rehab for the twelfth time on 11 November 2010 rather than face court for his second drink driving charge. On the next day he was photographed buying items at a local off-licence. He received an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, at Newcastle Magistrates Court on 9 December 2010.
In October 2008 it was confirmed that Gascoigne, who was once worth £14 million, had only £250,000 left. In November 2008 he was given nine weeks by a judge to find £200,000 or face bankruptcy. In February 2010 it was revealed that Gascoigne needed help from the Professional Footballers' Association in order to have somewhere to live. In February 2011 Gascoigne was given six weeks to pay back £32,000 in taxes or face bankruptcy. On 25 May 2011 a judge dismissed a demand to declare Gascoigne bankrupt.
On 20 June 2011 Gascoigne appeared on stage in Bournemouth as part of a show suggested by staff at his treatment centre.
Gascoigne sued "The Sun" in August 2011, claiming its coverage of him during the Raoul Moat incident interrupted his treatment for alcoholism.
Newcastle United
Tottenham Hotspur
Rangers
Middlesbrough
International:
England
Individual:
|1984–85
||rowspan="4"|Newcastle United
||rowspan="4"|First Division
||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||0
|-
|1985–86
||31||9||1||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||35||9
|-
|1986–87
||24||5||colspan="2"|-||2||0||colspan="2"|-||26||5
|-
|1987–88
||35||7||3||3||3||1||colspan="2"|-||41||11
|-
|1988–89
||rowspan="4"|Tottenham Hotspur
||rowspan="4"|First Division
||32||6||colspan="2"|-||5||1||colspan="2"|-||37||7
|-
|1989–90
||34||6||colspan="2"|-||4||1||colspan="2"|-||38||7
|-
|1990–91
||26||7||6||6||5||6||colspan="2"|-||37||19
|-
|1991–92
||0||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||0||0
|-
|1992–93||rowspan="3"|Lazio
||rowspan="3"|Serie A
||22||4||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||26||4
|-
|1993–94
||17||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||17||2
|-
|1994–95||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|1995–96
||rowspan="3"|Rangers
||rowspan="3"|Premier Division
||28||14||4||3||3||1||7||1||42||19
|-
|1996–97
||26||13||1||0||4||3||3||1||34||17
|-
|1997–98
||20||3||3||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||28||3
|-
|1997–98
||rowspan="3"|Middlesbrough
||First Division
||7||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||8||0
|-
|1998–99
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||26||3||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||29||3
|-
|1999–00||8||1||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||11||1
|-
|2000–01
||rowspan="2"|Everton
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||14||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||15||0
|-
|2001–02
||18||1||4||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||23||1
|-
|2001–02
||Burnley
||Championship
||6||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||6||0
|-
|2003||Gansu Tianma
||China League One||4||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||2
|-
|2004–05
||Boston United
||League Two
||4||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0
267||45||16||9||30||9||colspan="2"|-||313||63
43||6||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||47||6
74||30||8||3||7||4||15||2||104||39
4||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||2
378||83||28||12||37||13||15||2||468||110
|-
|1988||2||0
|-
|1989||4||1
|-
|1990||13||1
|-
|1991||1||0
|-
|1992||2||2
|-
|1993||6||2
|-
|1994||1||0
|-
|1995||6||0
|-
|1996||11||3
|-
|1997||8||1
|-
|1998||3||0
|-
!Total||57||10
|}
Playing in the position of midfield
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
, Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
, Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
, Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma was a football team based in Lanzhou, Gansu province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League....
, where he scored at least a goal for each of these clubs. He was capped
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
57 times for the England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
.
Early life
Gascoigne was born in the DunstonDunston, Tyne and Wear
Dunston was originally an independent village on the south bank of the River Tyne. It has now been absorbed into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in the English county of Tyne and Wear...
area of Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
, England, the second of four children of John Gascoigne (a hod carrier) and his wife Carol.
Gascoigne started playing football at the age of four, playing almost non-stop in the street and nearby park. He played for his school Brighton Avenue Primary School, Gateshead team from the age of eight, and later played for the local Redheugh
Redheugh Park
Redheugh Park , a football stadium in Gateshead, England, was built in 1930 when South Shields FC moved to Gateshead from Horsley Hill and became Gateshead AFC. It was their home for more than 40 years.The stadium offered terracing all round...
Boys' Club despite being under the minimum age. He later attended Breckenbeds Junior High School
Breckenbeds Junior High School
Breckenbeds Junior High School was a school in Low Fell, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom. It closed in September 1996.-Notable Alumni:*Paul Gascoigne *John Wilson...
(which closed in September 1996) then the Heathfield Senior High School
Heathfield Senior High School
Heathfield Senior High School was a secondary school in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom. It closed in September 1996.-Notable pupils:*Paul Gascoigne *Steve Stone *John Wilson *Tracey Whitwell...
(also closed in September 1996), both in the Low Fell
Low Fell
Low Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It overlooks the lake of Loweswater to the south and to the north is bordered by its neighbour Fellbarrow. It is usually climbed from the villages of Loweswater or Thackthwaite. The fell is largely occupied by grassed enclosures, although there are...
area of Gateshead.
He caught the attention of the football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, and was given a trial at Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
although he failed to impress. Further trials at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
and Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
also proved unsuccessful, before Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
signed him as a schoolboy in 1980. At school he was once caught practising his autograph during a geography lesson, his reason being that he was "going to be a famous footballer". His teacher, Mr Hepworth, was not impressed, telling the young Gascoigne that "only one in a million becomes a professional footballer." Nevertheless, he was signed on as an apprentice at Newcastle in 1983, initially playing for the youth team under Colin Suggett
Colin Suggett
Colin Suggett is a former professional football player and manager.During the late 1960s he began his career playing for Sunderland, with whom he twice won the FA Youth Cup. He moved to West Brom in July 1969 for a club record fee of £100,000. He then joined Norwich for a £70,000 fee in February...
. It was at this time that his nickname of "Gazza" was first coined.
However, while Gascoigne was successful on the football field, his childhood was marked by instability and tragedy. Initially his family lived in a single upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom, and moved several times during Gascoigne's early life. When he was ten, his father moved to Germany to find work, and Gascoigne witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, the younger brother of a friend, who was knocked down by a car.
His father also suffered a brain haemorrhage shortly afterwards and was in hospital for eight months. He never worked again.
In his autobiography, Gascoigne reports that around this time he started exhibiting twitches and symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder. In addition to this, he began shoplifting to fund his addiction to slot machines.
Subsequently Gascoigne developed an addiction to gaming machines, frequently spending all his money including bus fare home on them. Around this time he first drank alcohol, getting drunk on a bottle of vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
stolen by a friend at age fourteen, but ill effects led to Gascoigne swearing off alcohol for life – in the event he didn't drink again until he was eighteen. Furthermore, death made another appearance in Gascoigne's life when a friend whom he had encouraged to join Newcastle United from Middlesbrough went to work with his uncle in the building trade while waiting for an opening at Newcastle and was killed in a building site accident.
Newcastle United
Gascoigne captained Newcastle's youth team in the 1984–85 season, winning the FA Youth CupFA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...
where he scored twice in the second leg of the final against Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
. Manager Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
upon first seeing him, noted his weight problems, to which he threatened to kick Gascoigne out of the club within two weeks if he did not get a handle on it. Gascoigne forced himself to work extremely hard over the next two weeks and eventually Charlton picked him as a substitute for the Tyne-Wear derby
Tyne-Wear derby
The Tyne and Wear derby is a local derby between the association football clubs Newcastle United and Sunderland. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two cities of Newcastle and Sunderland just ten miles apart. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with...
with Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
, although he did not make it onto the pitch. He made his first team debut at home to Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
on 13 April 1985, coming on as a substitute. Soon after he signed his first professional contract, and made a further appearance for the first team. Willie McFaul
Willie McFaul
William Stewart McFaul, known as Willie and Iam, is a former Northern Irish football player and now coach....
took over as manager soon after and awarded Gascoigne his first start in the black and white shirt, on the opening day of the 1985–86 season at Southampton. He scored his first goal at home to Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...
in a 3–0 victory at St James' Park
St James' Park
St James' Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of between 52,387 and 52,409.St James'...
on 21 September 1985, with a further eight following in the 1985–86 campaign. Newcastle finished 11th in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
that season and, at the end of it, Gascoigne was featured on the front cover of the Rothmans Football Yearbook.
Gascoigne's burgeoning career seemed to rise in conjunction with his capacity for getting into trouble. After a hit and run incident with his drinking mate, Jimmy 'Five Bellies' Gardner, initially wrecked the car to make out it had been stolen before admitting their crime, Gascoigne was fined £260 and given eight points on his 'non-existent licence'. He was told by Mr McKeag, one of the Newcastle directors, that this would be his last warning. Gascoigne later passed his test after having initially bribed an examiner who subsequently failed him anyway. His rise through the Newcastle youth team was not a happy one as he felt constantly picked on about his weight and his misbehaviour. After one instance where he felt particularly picked on, he took a groundsman's tractor and drove it straight into the dressing room wall, jumping off just before impact – he was fined £75 for this. Though confident in his ability, Gascoigne confessed to envy of Ian Bogie
Ian Bogie
Ian Bogie is a former footballer, now football manager. He spent two decades as a professional player, from 1985 up until 2001 he was playing in the Football League, where he made 382 appearances....
who he felt was a superior player to him.
Gazza also had doubts as to the direction the club was going, especially when they sold Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...
, something he felt was a bad sign. In all competitions he made a total of 107 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 25 goals. At the end of the 1987–88 season, he was named as the Barclays Young Player of the Year and was subject of offers from both Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
. Gascoigne's first choice was Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
but with no offer forthcoming, Gascoigne promised Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
that he would sign for Manchester United. Ferguson duly went on holiday to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, where he received the news that Gascoigne had signed for Spurs, for a British record fee of £2million. The record lasted just six weeks until Tony Cottee
Tony Cottee
Anthony Richard "Tony" Cottee is a former football player who now works as a television football commentator...
moved from West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
for £2.3million.
In his 1999 autobiography, Ferguson claimed that Gascoigne was wooed into signing for Tottenham after they bought a house for his impoverished family.
Ferguson expressed that the biggest disappointment in his managerial career was "not getting Gazza"
Tottenham Hotspur
Under Terry VenablesTerry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables , often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England...
, Gascoigne developed into an international class footballer. He had a stocky, powerful build that allowed him to hold off defenders and weather challenges. He combined his attacking flair with hustle and tenacity, but sometimes reckless tackling. In his first season at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
he helped Spurs to sixth in the First Division, and to third position the following season. Over these two seasons he made a total of 75 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals. In the 1990–91 season Tottenham reached the FA Cup Final
FA Cup Final 1991
The 1991 FA Cup Final saw Tottenham Hotspur win the FA Cup for a then-record eighth time, by beating Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Wembley in the 110th FA Cup Final....
after failing to get past the Third round for the previous two seasons. Gascoigne scored six goals on the road to the final, including a spectacular free-kick against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in the semi-final at Wembley.
However the final, against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
, turned out to be disastrous for Gascoigne as he sustained a serious injury. Going into the final he had already agreed terms to join Italian club Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
in an £8.5 million deal and wanted to leave Spurs on a high to show the world how good he was. Just minutes into the game he committed a dangerous knee-high foul on Gary Charles
Gary Charles
Gary Charles is an English former footballer who played at right-back.-Playing career:Charles won two caps for the England team and turned out at club level for Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Aston Villa, S.L. Benfica, and finally West Ham United. Charles was famously fouled by Paul Gascoigne in...
but ruptured the cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee...
s in his right knee in the process. He subsequently collapsed after taking his place in the defensive wall for a free kick, from which England team mate Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce
Stuart Pearce OBE is an English football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the England national under-21 team and the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team...
scored. Tottenham went on to win the Cup in extra time, which Gascoigne witnessed from his hospital bed. As a consequence he missed the entire 1991–92 season while he recovered, suffering a further knee injury in Autumn 1991, when an accident at a nightclub on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
ruled him out for even longer.
The saga over Gascoigne's proposed transfer to Lazio dominated the tabloid press throughout 1991, often overshadowing the key national news of that time – namely the recession and rise in unemployment that it sparked – although the broadsheet newspapers generally kept stories about Gascoigne confined to their back pages.
Lazio
He finally joined Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million, making his debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against GenoaGenoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
which was televised in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
as well as Italy. In his first season at the Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome, Italy. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football...
, his form was inconsistent but he scored his first goal in the 89th minute to equalise during the Rome derby against AS Roma. However, he failed to fully settle in Italy and was beset by media interest and injury, notably breaking his cheekbone in April 1993 and his leg a year later; the latter injury keeping him out for the majority of the 1994–95 season. In all competitions he made 47 appearances for Lazio, scoring six goals.
During his time in Italy, he was interviewed by a Norwegian TV reporter, prior to England playing them, for a message to the people of Norway. His infamous reply was "Fuck off Norway"
Rangers
Gascoigne signed for Glasgow RangersRangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
in July 1995, for a reported fee of £4.3 million. He made an immediate impact, in the fifth league game of the season in the Old Firm
Old Firm
The Old Firm is a common collective name for the association football clubs Celtic and Rangers, both based in Glasgow, Scotland.The origin of the term is unclear. One theory has it that the expression derives from Celtic's first game in 1888, which was played against Rangers. However, author,...
match at Celtic Park
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,...
he scored a memorable goal running almost the length of the pitch. On 30 December 1995, in a match against Hibs
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
, Gascoigne comically 'booked' referee Dougie Smith. Smith had dropped his yellow card and Gascoigne picked it up and showed it to the official, before returning it. Smith was not amused and booked Gascoigne. Rangers went on to win the league, clinching the title in the penultimate game of the season against Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. After Rangers went 1–0 down in the early stages Gascoigne went on to score a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
despite, in his own words, being tired and running on pure adrenaline. Along with the equaliser he scored in the Rome derby for Lazio, Gascoigne identifies this hat-trick as one of his best footballing moments. Rangers subsequently won the Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
, and Gascoigne picked up both the Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards. Rangers won the league title again in 1996–97
1996-97 in Scottish football
The 1996–97 season was the 100th season of competitive football in Scotland. This season seen a playoff system introduced between the 2nd bottom club in the Premier Division and the 2nd top club in Division One.-Scottish Premier Division:...
, their ninth in succession, and also the League Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
where Gascoigne scored twice in the Final.
In January 1998 Gascoigne again courted controversy after he mimicked playing a flute (symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers) during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park, which was televised live on Sky Sports. He had previously done the same after scoring against Steaua Bucharest in a 1995 pre-season friendly which had gone largely unnoticed. The gesture infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. His wage was said to be in the region of £25,000 a week. He also received death threats from reputed members of the IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
.
In 2006 Gascoigne was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame
Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame
The Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame is a list established in 2000 by the then Rangers chairman, Sir David Murray, to honour the club's notable players.Each year more names are added by a panel consisting of selected ex-Rangers legends...
alongside former teammate Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup is a Danish former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth...
at a ceremony in the Glasgow Hilton.
Later career
After initial speculation linking him with a move to Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
, he eventually left Scotland to join Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
for £3.4 million in March 1998. His first match was the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
final against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in which he came on as a substitute. He played seven games in Division One, helping Boro into the Premier League as runners-up to Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
. Personal problems limited his subsequent appearances for Boro and he joined Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
(managed by former Rangers boss Walter Smith
Walter Smith
Walter Smith, OBE is a Scottish football manager. His most recent job was at Scottish Premier League club Rangers.Smith had a relatively modest playing career, consisting of two spells with Dundee United which was split by a short time at Dumbarton.A pelvic injury meant he moved in to coaching at...
) on 17 July 2000, scoring his first goal against Bolton Wanderers in November 2001, and finished the 2001/02 season with the final few games of the Division One season with Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
, who missed out on the playoffs (and the chance of Premier League football) by finishing in seventh place with an inferior goal difference of only 1 compared to sixth-placed Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
.
In summer 2002, with his career coming to an end, Gascoigne went on trial with American club D.C. United
D.C. United
D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...
, but failed to win a contract. In January 2003, he signed a nine-month contract with Chinese club Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma was a football team based in Lanzhou, Gansu province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League....
in both a playing and coaching role, but after going to America for treatment against drink and depression in April, he failed to return. The eruption of the SARS virus in China only further halted any thoughts of returning. Instead, he returned to England and later trained for six weeks with Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
, but was not offered a contract for their 2003–04 Premier League campaign.
On 30 July 2004, Gascoigne was signed by League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
side Boston United as player-coach, but only made 5 appearances and scored no goals before leaving three months later. He was, however, a strong favourite at York Street
York Street
York Street, currently styled as The Jakemans Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boston, England, and is the home ground of Boston United. Originally called Shodfriars Lane, football has been played on the site since the late 19th century by a variety of Boston teams, but...
due to his status.
International career
Gascoigne was first called up to the full England squadEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
by Bobby Robson
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
for a friendly against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
, in September 1988. He scored his first goal for England in a World Cup Qualifier against Albania
Albania national football team
The Albania national association football team is the national association football team of Albania and is controlled by the Football Association of Albania...
. The following match saw him make his first start and he played in most matches in the run in to the 1990 World Cup with England finishing second in their group. He secured his place in the World Cup squad in a 4–2 win against Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia national football team
The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...
when he scored one goal and had a hand in the other three.
He played in all three of the group games as the 1990 World Cup held in Italy got under way, and England topped their group, Gascoigne providing the assist for Mark Wright's winner against Egypt. In the first knockout game against Belgium he notched another assist. With the score at 0–0 towards the end of extra time, Gascoigne got the ball in the middle of the pitch and attacked, winning a free kick. He chipped the ball into the penalty area and David Platt volleyed the ball into the net to send England into the quarter-finals where they faced Cameroon
Cameroon national football team
The Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables , is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is Africa's most successful side in FIFA world cup; having qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times – in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010– more than any...
. Gascoigne was at the centre of the action again when he gave away a penalty which Cameroon scored from. England were 2–1 down in the last ten minutes of the match. In extra time he found Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
with a through-ball from which Lineker won, and subsequently scored, a penalty which proved to be the winning goal.
On 4 July 1990 England played West Germany in the World Cup semi-final in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. After going 1–0 down early in the second half, Gascoigne's Spurs team-mate Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
equalised for England with ten minutes remaining to force extra time. Gascoigne, having already received a yellow card during England's 1–0 victory over Belgium in the second round, showed his tenacity again as he fouled Thomas Berthold
Thomas Berthold
Thomas Berthold is a German football coach and former defender.-Career:Berthold was born in Hanau, Hesse.He played 332 games in the Bundesliga, scoring 22 goals. He began his career in 1982 with Eintracht Frankfurt and played for them until 1987. From 1987 until 1991 he played in Italy: for Hellas...
and was booked, which meant that he would be suspended for the World Cup Final if England won the match. Television showed that he had tears in his eyes following the yellow card. The match culminated in a penalty shoot-out with Gascoigne originally intended to take the third kick, however he didn't feel that he was in a fit state to take the penalty, so Platt took it and scored. The Germans eventually won after Chris Waddle missed his penalty and England failed to reach the final. He was named in the tournament All-Star team for his performances and returned to England to a frenzy that became known as Gazzamania. Five years later, a TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advert for Walkers Crisps (also featuring Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
) referenced to Gascoigne's tearful appearance in the semi-final. Gascoigne's fearless, talisman
Talisman
Talisman have several meanings:*TalismanBooks and novels* The Talisman , a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott* The Talisman , a novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub...
ic performances at the Finals were appreciated by the team. Speaking in 2010 Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...
said : "The great thing about Gazza is that he didn't respect who he was playing against. He didn't even know who he was playing against. When I mentioned Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
he thought it was a country."
By the time of his serious injury in the 1991 FA Cup Final, he had earned twenty England caps. After his recovery he was usually picked by Graham Taylor for England matches until the broken leg sustained at Lazio ruled him out for a whole year. He became a key part of Terry Venables
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables , often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England...
' team in the run-in to Euro '96
1996 UEFA European Football Championship
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England, who won the right to host the tournament ahead of bids from Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands. It was the tenth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first to use the...
. In the first game against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...
he was substituted but scored in the second game against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
. A minute after David Seaman
David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury...
had saved a penalty, Gascoigne received the ball from Darren Anderton
Darren Anderton
Darren Robert Anderton is a retired English footballer who spent most of his career with Tottenham Hotspur as a midfielder. He played 30 times for the England national football team, scoring 7 goals.-Career:...
on the left outside the Scotland penalty area. He moved as if to play the ball down the outside, but flicked the ball over Colin Hendry
Colin Hendry
Edward Colin Hendry is a retired Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a defender. Hendry started his career with Dundee in 1983 and spent spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool...
with his left foot and changed direction. Hendry was completely wrongfooted and, as the ball dropped, Gascoigne volleyed it with his right foot past Andy Goram
Andy Goram
Andrew Lewis Goram is a former Scotland international association football goalkeeper. He started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Rangers during the 1990s, when he earned the moniker "The Goalie"...
. The goal was followed by the "Dentist's chair" celebration referring to an incident before the Euro 1996, where England team players were photographed on a drunken night with Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
and Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder, winger and playmaker. Having spent his playing career at two of European football's most successful clubs of the 20th century, Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as a spell at Manchester City, McManaman is the most...
shown drinking in a dentist's chair, as well as, rather controversially, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place...
first class flight
Flight
Flight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....
cabin
Aircraft cabin
An aircraft cabin is the section of an aircraft in which passengers travel. At cruising altitudes of modern commercial aircraft the surrounding atmosphere is too thin to breathe without an oxygen mask, so cabins are pressurized at a higher pressure than ambient pressure at altitude.In commercial...
. After the goal Gascoigne lay on the ground as if he were sitting in the dentist's chair, and teammates sprayed water from bottles into his open mouth.
In the third group game against the Netherlands Gascoigne contributed to a 4–1 victory, providing the corner which led to the second goal and crafting the third goal with a mazy run into the Dutch penalty area. After beating Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
on penalties, England met Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
in the semi-final. Early on Gascoigne's corner again led to an England goal, and extra time was again required. England lost to Germany in the resulting penalty shoot-out and, once again, Gascoigne shed tears. He was named to the tournament All-Star squad along with Shearer and Steve McManaman.
Under Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
, Gascoigne was picked regularly over the next year and a half helping England qualify for the 1998 World Cup. But with injury and disciplinary problems affecting his game, he was left out of the final squad by Hoddle. British tabloid newspapers showed pictures of a drunken Gascoigne eating kebabs in the early hours of the morning only a week before the final squad was due to be chosen. On being told he was out of the squad, Gascoigne wrecked Hoddle's room in a rage before being restrained. Five other players were also left out the squad, including Phil Neville, who was later consoled by Gascoigne. Hoddle later hit back at Gascoigne, declaring publicly that it was the latter's own fault that he was not included in the squad. But while Neville went on to win many more caps, Gascoigne was never to play for his country again, having won 57 caps and scored 10 goals.
Managerial and coaching career
Having already gained some coaching experience in China, he signed for Boston UnitedBoston United F.C.
Boston United Football Club are an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They currently play in the Conference North. The club is known as 'the Pilgrims' in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who fled from Boston to the USA and founded Boston, Massachusetts. The club's...
on 30 July 2004. After being at the club for 11 games he left (partly as a result of the club refusing to let him participate in the reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!) on 5 October 2004, to begin a football coaching course. He made a total of five appearances for the club but scored no goals. In the summer of 2005 he spent two months as player-coach at the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United
Algarve United
Algarve United Football Club, commonly abbreviated to Algarve United, is an association football club based in Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal...
, but a proposed contract never materialised and he returned to England. He then became manager of Kettering Town
Kettering Town F.C.
Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...
on 27 October 2005. His tenure at Kettering lasted just 39 days, and he was dismissed by the club's board on 5 December 2005, along with assistant manager Paul Davis
Paul Davis (footballer)
Paul Vincent Davis is an English former footballer.Born in Dulwich, London, Davis signed for Arsenal as an apprentice in 1977 and turned professional the following year...
. The club's owner blamed Gascoigne's alcohol problems, stating that he drank almost every day he worked. Gascoigne later claimed in his book Being Gazza that the owner had interfered incessently and harboured ambitions of being a manager himself, despite knowing little about football. He was subsequently interviewed by Sky News, in which he appeared drunk although in his book he claimed it was due to his poor mental state, tiredness and prescribed medication which gave the impression of appearing "out of it".
Gascoigne came close to being appointed manager of Garforth Town
Garforth Town A.F.C.
Garforth Town Association Football Club are an English football team based in Garforth, West Yorkshire. They currently play in the Northern Premier League Division One North, the 8th level of the English football pyramid.-History:...
in 2010, saying "I feel strong right now. For me personally it's a big challenge. It's whether the players want to join me in that challenge. I never knew when I'd get back into football. I want to take the club forward and I want the players to develop". However, Gascoigne was never seen at a Garforth Town match, and after weeks of talks between his agent and the club, he decided to turn down the offer, though reiterating his desire to return to football management and insisting that he had not made a U-turn over taking the job, stating that some people (such as the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
) had jumped the gun in announcing his appointment.
Other projects
At the height of "Gazzamania", he reached number 2 in the UK Top 40 with "Fog on the Tyne", a collaborative cover with LindisfarneLindisfarne (band)
Lindisfarne were a British folk/rock group from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1970 and fronted by singer/songwriter Alan Hull. Their music combined a strong sense of yearning with an even stronger sense of fun...
. He also toured Europe with Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
.
He promoted two videogames: Gazza's Superstar Soccer
Gazza's Superstar Soccer
Gazza's Superstar Soccer is a football game released for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500/600, Atari ST and Commodore 64 platforms. It was created in 1989 by Empire Interactive, and was named after the popular English footballer Paul Gascoigne...
and Gazza II
Gazza II
Gazza II is a football game released for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad GX4000, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500/600, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and PC platforms...
, as well as featured in an advertising campaign to promote the Fabergé brand Brut
Brut (cologne)
Brut is the brand name for a line of men's grooming and fragrance products first launched in 1964 by Fabergé. The Brut line would grow to include aftershave, balms, and deodorant...
.
He worked as a pundit on ITV's World Cup team in 2002. In 2005, he made an emotional TV appearance on a BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
programme about ex-footballers. Speaking to Scottish ex-footballer Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...
, he talked about his problems and how he had had to cope with not being the player he used to be. He also mentioned he was determined to get back into the game by obtaining the proper coaching badges needed to manage a team.
In August 2006, he visited Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
on behalf of the FA's international outreach week and played football with the children from the SOS Children's village there.
On 25 July 2009 Gascoigne appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the
BBC television quiz The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
where he engaged in banter
with host Anne Robinson
Anne Robinson
Anne Josephine Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter, known for her assertive views and acerbic style of presenting. She was one of the presenters on the long-running British consumer affairs series, Watchdog, from 1993 to 2001 before returning in 2009...
and on 26 July 2009 he played in
an England v Germany charity football match to help raise funds for the
Sir Bobby Robson cancer fund.
Personal life
Gascoigne married his longtime girlfriend SherylSheryl Gascoigne
Sheryl Gasgoigne is a British television personality and author. She is the former wife of footballer Paul Gascoigne and the mother of glamour model Bianca Gascoigne...
(née Failes; born 24 September 1965) in Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
in 1996, only to divorce in 1998. In a July 1994 interview with a Sunday newspaper Gascoigne admitted beating her on a regular basis for two years. They have a son, Regan Paul Gascoigne (born Hatfield, 1996). He adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
Sheryl's two children from her first marriage. Paul's stepdaughter Bianca Gascoigne
Bianca Gascoigne
Bianca Gascoigne is a British glamour model and television personality. She is the daughter of Sheryl Gascoigne, and stepdaughter of Paul Gascoigne, a former footballer...
appeared on reality TV show Love Island
Love Island
Love Island was a daily British reality television programme. In the show, twelve single celebrities spent five weeks on an island in Fiji. Viewers would vote for the couple they would like to see in the "love shack" where the two would get to know one another better...
; his stepchildren claim that he beat them as well.
In 2004 he stated that he wished to be referred to as G8
G8 (disambiguation)
G8, G08, G.VIII, G.8, G-8, or Group of Eight may refer to:* Group of Eight, an international forum for eight industrialized nations; also known as the G7+1...
, combining his initial and his playing number.
His seven year old nephew Cameron Gascoigne signed a contract with Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
after he scored 22 goals in 30 minutes for Rutherford Swifts FC in the Youth League.
Private life alcoholism, health, legal and financial problems
In 2004 he published his autobiography Gazza: My Story, written with Hunter DaviesHunter Davies
Edward Hunter Davies is a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster, perhaps best known for writing the only authorised biography of The Beatles.- Early life :...
. He published a follow-up book Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons in 2006. In it, he detailed undergoing therapy for bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
, bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, and alcoholism. His heavy drinking was already a problem as early as 1993. An issue central to Gazza's decline as an athlete and increasing mental health problems was his inability to occupy himself when not able to play football. Hence his heavy drinking and various antics when injured, and subsequently retired from football, as described in Gazza: My Story. One such occasion saw him drive a car into Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
. Gazza confessed in a 2005 BBC documentary Life After Football with Alan Hansen that retiring from football had 'ripped his heart out' and intimated he was planning a playing comeback (which did not subsequently materialise) at the age of almost 38.
In January 2005 he was hospitalised with pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
.
On 5 December 2005, the day of his firing from Kettering Town after a little over one month in charge, he was arrested after an alleged assault on a press photographer outside a hotel in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The photographer later dropped these charges, but the same charge was again brought against Gascoigne in November 2006 over an alleged incident in a London nightclub. On the night of 13–14 September 2006 Gascoigne lost thousands of pounds in a seven hour gambling session at the Rendezvous Casino in Mayfair, during which he reportedly drank four bottles of Cristal Champagne and smoked at least 100 cigarettes.
In May 2007, it was reported that he underwent emergency surgery on a perforated stomach ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
, after falling ill celebrating his 40th birthday. He had his right hip replaced in December 2007. In February 2008 he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act
Mental Health Act 1983
The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to people in England and Wales. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons, the management of their property and other related matters...
after an incident at the Malmaison Hotel in Newcastle. He reportedly threatened to harm himself
Self-harm
Self-harm or deliberate self-harm includes self-injury and self-poisoning and is defined as the intentional, direct injuring of body tissue most often done without suicidal intentions. These terms are used in the more recent literature in an attempt to reach a more neutral terminology...
, and so was taken into protective custody as a precaution. He later admitted spending £2,000 a day on cocaine, giving drug dealers his bank card to go and take his money out, and paying a taxi firm to deliver whisky and vodka to his hotel room.
At this time he also admitted drinking fifty cans of Red Bull
Red Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
a day. Gascoigne claims that he almost died during his time in a rehabilitation
Psychiatric rehabilitation
Psychiatric rehabilitation, also known as psychosocial rehabilitation, and usually simplified to psych rehab, is the process of restoration of community functioning and well-being of an individual who has a psychiatric disability...
programme in 2008 and that he was revived three times after his heart had stopped. Gascoigne was outed as a smoker shortly before the 1998 World Cup, when Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
confirmed the player had been smoking since at least as early as 1992. While in the Priory rehab centre in London in May 2008 he was said to be refusing to eat any food, while smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day. Following a five day bender, Gascoigne collapsed in a bar in Portugal on 3 September 2008 after drinking twenty double whiskies, fighting with barmen over his bar bills, and fighting with his friend Jimmy Gardner over a £20,000 debt. Gascoigne had his stomach pumped in hospital following an overdose of alcohol and drugs on 12 September 2008, just hours after leaving a rehab clinic. Gascoigne told paramedics they should let him die. On 18 September 2008 he was arrested by police in Gateshead whilst trying to enter a closed pub.
On 24 September 2008 it was widely reported on the Internet that Gascoigne had died, but this was swiftly denied by the police.
In January 2009, home video clips of Gascoigne appeared in Surviving Gazza, a documentary screened on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, which depicted his family's efforts in 2008 to help and rehabilitate him. During the programme Gascoigne stated that he was in close personal contact with the Royal Family, the Prime Minister, the US president and the Pope. The conclusion at the end of the documentary was that their efforts had failed, and Gascoigne's alcoholism had continued despite a stint in rehab.
In March 2009 Gascoigne gave an interview with Sky News in which he admitted drinking four bottles of whisky a day in 2004, and drinking thirty cans of Special Brew a day in December 2008. Gascoigne has admitted that at his lowest point he was snorting cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and drinking a litre of gin a day, which left him delusional and afraid to leave his hotel room.
In April 2009, Gascoigne made two media appearances, appearing to be in the stage of recovery, on the UK mid-day programme Loose Women
Loose Women
Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...
and on the BBC football program Match of the Day 2
Match of the Day 2
Match of the Day 2 is a football highlights programme shown on BBC Two in the United Kingdom...
. He claimed that his stint at the Tony Adams "Sporting Chance" rehabilitation centre had finally allowed him to mature and that he was no longer a slave to addictions. He was also at the time in training for a forthcoming All Stars fund raising football match.
However, Gascoigne appeared in the press again on 3 June, appearing to have relapsed. His girlfriend Emma-Kate Dawson later reported he called her from Newcastle after an extended drinking session saying he had a knife and was suicidal. On 5 June 2009 Gascoigne was dropped from the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! before filming started after failing a psychiatric test. In September 2009 Gascoigne, who had repeatedly said he wanted to die, was in a coma after drinking forty pints of Stella Artois in thirteen hours.
On 7 February 2010, North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. The force covers England's largest county and comprises three area command units...
were called to a disturbance at a takeaway in Leeming Bar
Leeming Bar
Leeming Bar is a village in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England.-Geography:Located next to the A1 and near RAF Leeming it is home to the main depot and current terminus of the Wensleydale Railway at Leeming Bar railway station as well as the Dales & District bus company. It was...
, North Yorkshire. Gascoigne and another man were retained for questioning, and Gascoigne was arrested the following day and charged with drunk-driving.
In the late evening of 13 June 2010 Gascoigne was injured in a car crash in Newcastle. His condition was initially said to be serious, but he was later described as "comfortable". A 36-year-old female driver was arrested for suspected drink-driving.
On 9 July 2010, Gascoigne appeared at the scene of the tense stand-off between the police and Britain's most wanted man Raoul Moat. He gave several apparently drunk and barely-coherent radio interviews in which he claimed to be a friend of the fugitive and stated that he had brought him 'a can of lager, some chicken, fishing rod, a Newcastle shirt and a dressing gown'. He was denied access to Moat. Police stated there was no way that Gascoigne could have known Moat. Three days after Moat's suicide, Gascoigne entered rehab for the ninth time. He gave an interview with a local newspaper to deny tabloid claims that he had groped a shop assistant and asked a window cleaner to buy alcohol for him. Gascoigne has since admitted that he did not know Raoul Moat, confirming that at the time of the incident he had been bored and had started drinking earlier that evening.
On 8 October 2010 Gascoigne was again arrested for drink driving, having been observed driving his blue MG sports car erratically in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He admitted being more than four times over the limit at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
Magistrates Court on 20 October 2010, and has been bailed for sentencing on 11 November. District Judge Stephen Earl warned Gascoigne that he could face a prison sentence of up to 12 weeks. On 21 October 2010 Gascoigne was arrested for possession of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, after worried friends telephoned the police fearing that he had overdosed. After entering rehab for the tenth time he was arrested for destroying a hotel room. On 5 November 2010 Gascoigne, now living in another hotel after losing his house, was photographed being held up by two men after drinking heavily for over three hours. On the night of 10 November 2010 he was photographed vomiting out of a car window on the M1; the car was being driven by his agent and Gascoigne subsequently lit a cigarette at a petrol station while the car was being refilled. He was said to be drinking four bottles of wine a day, including a bottle of wine for breakfast with a double gin and tonic. Gascoigne checked himself into rehab for the twelfth time on 11 November 2010 rather than face court for his second drink driving charge. On the next day he was photographed buying items at a local off-licence. He received an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, at Newcastle Magistrates Court on 9 December 2010.
In October 2008 it was confirmed that Gascoigne, who was once worth £14 million, had only £250,000 left. In November 2008 he was given nine weeks by a judge to find £200,000 or face bankruptcy. In February 2010 it was revealed that Gascoigne needed help from the Professional Footballers' Association in order to have somewhere to live. In February 2011 Gascoigne was given six weeks to pay back £32,000 in taxes or face bankruptcy. On 25 May 2011 a judge dismissed a demand to declare Gascoigne bankrupt.
On 20 June 2011 Gascoigne appeared on stage in Bournemouth as part of a show suggested by staff at his treatment centre.
Gascoigne sued "The Sun" in August 2011, claiming its coverage of him during the Raoul Moat incident interrupted his treatment for alcoholism.
Honours
Club:Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
- FA Youth CupFA Youth CupThe Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...
- Winner: 1985
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
- Winner: 1991
Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
- Scottish Premier DivisionScottish Football League Premier DivisionThe Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system...
- Champions: 1995–96, 1996–97
- Scottish CupScottish CupThe Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
:- Winner: 19961996 Scottish Cup FinalThe 1996 Scottish Cup Final was played on May 18, 1996 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 111th Scottish Cup. Rangers and Hearts contested the match, Rangers won the match 5–1, thanks to a Gordon Durie hat-trick and a Brian Laudrup brace....
- Winner: 1996
- Scottish League CupScottish League CupThe Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
- Winner: 19961996 Scottish League Cup FinalThe 1996 Scottish League Cup Final was played on 24 November 1996, at Celtic Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 51st Scottish League Cup competition. The final was contested by Rangers and Heart of Midlothian. Rangers won the match 4–3 thanks to two goals each by Ally McCoist and Paul...
- Winner: 1996
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
- League CupLeague CupIn association football, a League Cup or Secondary Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament to be called "League Cup" was held in Scotland in 1946/47 and was entitled the Scottish...
- Runner-up: 1998
International:
England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
- 1990 FIFA World Cup1990 FIFA World CupThe 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
: 4th place - Rous CupRous CupThe Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America.-Overview:...
- Winner: 1989
- Tournoi de France 1997: Winner
- Umbro Cup 1995Umbro CupThe Umbro Cup was a minor international football competition, which took place in the summer of 1995 in England. The trophy was sponsored by the sports brand Umbro, and two of the participating teams had their kits manufactured by them....
: Runner-up - 1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament1998 King Hassan II International Cup TournamentThe King Hassan II International Cup Tournament was a minor international football competition, which took place in the spring of 1998 in Morocco....
: Runner-up
Individual:
- PFA Young Player of the YearPFA Young Player of the YearThe Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...
: 1988 - BBC Sports Personality of the YearBBC Sports Personality of the YearThe BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...
: 1990 - 1990 World Cup All-Star Team player
- Scottish Players' Player of the Year: 1996
- Scottish Football Writers' Player of the YearSFWA Footballer of the YearThe Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish football...
: 1996 - Inducted into the English Football Hall of FameEnglish Football Hall of FameThe English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...
in 2002 - Inducted into the Rangers Hall of FameRangers F.C. Hall of FameThe Rangers F.C. Hall of Fame is a list established in 2000 by the then Rangers chairman, Sir David Murray, to honour the club's notable players.Each year more names are added by a panel consisting of selected ex-Rangers legends...
in 2006
Career statistics
|-|1984–85
The Football League 1984-85
-Overview:The 1984–1985 season was the 85th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Howard Kendall’s Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind...
||rowspan="4"|Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
||rowspan="4"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||0
|-
|1985–86
The Football League 1985-86
-Overview:The 1985–1986 season was the 86th completed season of the The Football League.-Final league tables and results :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at the website, with home and away statistics separated.Re-election: During the first five seasons...
||31||9||1||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||35||9
|-
|1986–87
The Football League 1986-87
-Overview:The 1986–1987 season was the 87th completed season of the The Football League.-Innovations for this season:Playoffs to determine promotion places were introduced in 1987 so that more clubs remained eligible for promotion closer to the end of the season, and at the same time to aid in the...
||24||5||colspan="2"|-||2||0||colspan="2"|-||26||5
|-
|1987–88
The Football League 1987-88
The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...
||35||7||3||3||3||1||colspan="2"|-||41||11
|-
|1988–89
The Football League 1988-89
The 1988–1989 season was the 89th completed season of the Football League.No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place....
||rowspan="4"|Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
||rowspan="4"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||32||6||colspan="2"|-||5||1||colspan="2"|-||37||7
|-
|1989–90
The Football League 1989-90
The 1989–1990 season was the 90th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. To date, this remains...
||34||6||colspan="2"|-||4||1||colspan="2"|-||38||7
|-
|1990–91
The Football League 1990-91
The 1990–1991 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal took their second league title in three seasons despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points...
||26||7||6||6||5||6||colspan="2"|-||37||19
|-
|1991–92
The Football League 1991-92
The 1991–1992 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of players like Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David...
||0||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||0||0
|-
|1992–93||rowspan="3"|Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
||rowspan="3"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||22||4||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||26||4
|-
|1993–94
Serie A 1993-94
The 1993–94 Serie A was won by A.C. Milan, being the 14th title for the rossoneri.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:23 goals* Giuseppe Signori 18 goals* Gianfranco Zola 17 goals* Roberto Baggio...
||17||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||17||2
|-
|1994–95||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|1995–96
Scottish Football League 1995-96
Statistics of the Scottish Football League in season 1995–96.-Scottish Premier Division:-Scottish League Division One:-Scottish League Division Two:-Scottish League Division Three:...
||rowspan="3"|Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
||rowspan="3"|Premier Division
Scottish Football League Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system...
||28||14||4||3||3||1||7||1||42||19
|-
|1996–97
Scottish Football League 1996-97
Statistics of the Scottish Football League in season 1996–97.-Scottish Premier Division:-Premier Division/Division One playoff:*Hibernian 1-0 Airdrieonians*Airdrieonians 2-4 Hibernian...
||26||13||1||0||4||3||3||1||34||17
|-
|1997–98
Scottish Football League 1997-98
Statistics of the Scottish Football League in season 1997–98.-Table:-Top scorers:-Table:-Top scorers:-Table:-Top scorers:-Scottish League Division Three:...
||20||3||3||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0||28||3
|-
|1997–98
The Football League 1997-98
The 1997–1998 season was the 98th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Champions Nottingham Forest and runners-up Middlesbrough won promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking. Charlton Athletic won the playoffs to end an eight-year absence from the top...
||rowspan="3"|Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||7||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||8||0
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||26||3||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||29||3
|-
|1999–00||8||1||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||11||1
|-
|2000–01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...
||rowspan="2"|Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||14||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||15||0
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...
||18||1||4||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||23||1
|-
|2001–02
The Football League 2001-02
-Overview:The 2001–2002 season was the 102nd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables and results :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website, with home and away statistics separated...
||Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
||Championship
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||6||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||6||0
|-
|2003||Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma
Gansu Tianma was a football team based in Lanzhou, Gansu province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League....
||China League One||4||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||2
|-
|2004–05
The Football League 2004-05
The 2004–2005 season was the 105th completed season of The Football League.-Overview:This season the league was contested through three divisions. 2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football...
||Boston United
Boston United F.C.
Boston United Football Club are an association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. They currently play in the Conference North. The club is known as 'the Pilgrims' in reference to the Pilgrim Fathers, who fled from Boston to the USA and founded Boston, Massachusetts. The club's...
||League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
||4||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0
267||45||16||9||30||9||colspan="2"|-||313||63
43||6||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||47||6
74||30||8||3||7||4||15||2||104||39
4||2||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||2
378||83||28||12||37||13||15||2||468||110
|-
|1988||2||0
|-
|1989||4||1
|-
|1990||13||1
|-
|1991||1||0
|-
|1992||2||2
|-
|1993||6||2
|-
|1994||1||0
|-
|1995||6||0
|-
|1996||11||3
|-
|1997||8||1
|-
|1998||3||0
|-
!Total||57||10
|}