Paul John Gascoigne (born 27 May 1967 in Gateshead, England), often referred to as Gazza, is a retired English football player who is widely regarded as one of the most gifted footballers of his generation. He has also had spells as a manager and coach, most recently at Kettering Town in 2005. Playing in the position of midfield, his career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio and Rangers; and he was also capped 57 times for England.

Paul Gascoigne


Newcastle UnitedPaul captained Newcastle’s youth team in the 1984-85 season, winning the FA Youth Cup where he scored twice in the second leg of the final against Watford. Manager Jack 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 Paul 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, 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, Paul was featured on the front cover of the Rothmans Football Yearbook.

Paul Gascoigne

In all competitions he made a total of 107 appearances for Newcastle, scoring 25 goals. He scored one goal against Swindon Town in the 1987-88 FA Cup Fourth Round that lives long in the memory of the Newcastle supporters. Gazza received the ball about 40 yards out and, after running towards goal, capped a 5-0 victory with an unstoppable shot that ended up getting stuck in the stanchion. At the end of the 1987-88 season, he was named as the Barclays Young Player of the Year and had courted the attention of 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 only to find out that Gascoigne had signed for Spurs, who paid Newcastle a fee of £2.3 million which was then a British transfer record.Tottenham Hotspur

Under Terry Venables, Gascoigne emerged as an exceptional young midfielder with the rare ability to beat opponents and score superb individual goals. He had a stocky, powerful build that allowed him to hold off defenders and weather challenges. He combined his attacking flair with hustle and tenacious, 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 Wembley, most notably he scored a spectacular free kick in the semi-final against Arsenal, the opening goal in a 3-1 win.

Paul Gascoigne

However the final, against Nottingham Forest, turned out to be a disastrous for Gascoigne as he injured himself badly. 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 took out Garry Parker with a horror tackle that he was not even booked for. Ten minutes later he scythed down Gary Charles, rupturing the cruciate ligaments 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 the process which further delayed his comeback.Lazio

He finally joined Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million, making his debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against Genoa which was televised in Britain as well as Italy. In his first season at the Stadio Olimpico Gazza’s form was inconsistent but he memorably 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 intrusive 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 6 goals.

Paul Gascoigne

RangersIn July 1995 he signed for Rangers of the Scottish Premier League, for a fee of £4.3 million. He soon made an impact at Rangers, running almost the length of the pitch to score in the Old Firm match at Celtic Park, the fifth league game of the season. On 30 December 1995, in a match against Hibs, Gascoigne ‘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 for real, much to the consternation of the crowd and players. 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 Paul Gascoigne found his life being threatened by the IRA after he mimicked playing a flute 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 provocative gesture infuriated Celtic fans and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers and was subjected to IRA death threats for around six months after the incident.

Paul Gascoigne

Later careerIn March 1998 he left Scotland and joined Middlesbrough for £3.4 million. 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 Premiership as runners-up to Nottingham Forest. Personal problems limited his appearances for Boro and he later spent two seasons at Everton, and finished the 2001-02 season at Burnley.

In 2002, with his career coming to an end, Gascoigne went on trial with US club D.C. United, but failed to win a contract. In January 2003, he signed a nine-month contact 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 then-Premiership Wolves but was not offered a contract.

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