Paul Gascoigne

Paul John Gascoigne, better known as Gazza, was born on 27 May 1967 and is a retired English attacking midfielder. He is considered one of the finest playmakers of his era and among the greatest English footballers ever. The National Football Museum calls him "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation". During his playing days, he enjoyed enormous popularity; in September 1990, broadcaster Terry Wogan described him as "probably the most popular man in Britain today". The intense public fascination and affection for him became known as "Gazzamania".

Gascoigne grew up in Gateshead and signed schoolboy terms with Newcastle United, turning professional there in 1984. Three years later, Tottenham Hotspur bought him for £2.2 million. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, then moved to Italian side Lazio for £5.5 million. In 1995, Rangers paid £4.3 million for him, and he helped them win two league titles, a Scottish Cup, and a Scottish League Cup. He returned to England with a £3.4 million transfer to Middlesbrough in 1998, making his Premier League debut in the 1998–99 season after already playing in the 1998 Football League Cup final. He joined Everton in 2000, followed by spells at Burnley, Gansu Tianma, and Boston United.

Between 1988 and 1998, Gascoigne earned 57 caps for England, scoring ten goals. He was part of the squad that finished fourth at the 1990 World Cup, where he famously wept after receiving a yellow card in the semi-final against West Germany—a booking that would have ruled him out of the final had England won. He also helped England reach the semi-finals of Euro 96, scoring a goal against Scotland that was later described in 2013 as "one of the most iconic goals in the game's recent history". His career featured several notable goal celebrations, including the "dentist's chair" routine at Euro 96 and, while at Rangers in 1998, mimicking playing the flute in reference to the Protestant Orange Order.

After his playing career ended, and even in its later stages, Gascoigne’s life was dominated by severe mental and emotional struggles, especially alcoholism. He has been jailed or sectioned many times, and his difficulties are frequently covered by the British press. He has repeatedly tried to stay sober, but rehabilitation programmes have offered only temporary relief. These issues ended his coaching ambitions, and he has not worked in football since being sacked as manager of Kettering Town in 2005.

Gascoigne was born in Gateshead on 27 May 1967. His father, John (1946–2018), worked as a hod carrier, and his mother, Carol, was a factory worker. He was named Paul John Gascoigne after Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the Beatles, and he has Irish ancestry through his grandparents. He attended Breckenbeds Junior High School and later Heathfield Senior High School, both in the Low Fell area of Gateshead.

Scouts noticed him playing for Gateshead Boys, but a trial at Ipswich Town did not go well. Further trials at Middlesbrough and Southampton also failed, before his boyhood club Newcastle United signed him as a schoolboy in 1980. Former Ipswich and Newcastle scout Charlie Woods claimed Ipswich were keen, but Newcastle acted quickly once they found out. Gascoigne often got into trouble with his friend Jimmy "Five Bellies" Gardner; the pair were taken to court and fined over a hit and run incident. Newcastle chairman Stan Seymour Jr. described Gascoigne as "George Best without brains".

Though he succeeded on the pitch, his childhood was marked by instability and tragedy. His family initially lived in a single upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom, moving several times during his early years. When he was ten, he witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, a friend’s younger brother, in a traffic collision. Around the same time, his father began having seizures. Gascoigne developed obsessions and twitches, and was taken to therapy, but quit after his father questioned the treatment methods. He became addicted to gaming machines, spending all his money on them, and started shoplifting to fund the habit. Another tragedy struck when a friend he had encouraged to join Newcastle from Middlesbrough died while working on a building site for Gascoigne’s uncle.

Brian Tinnion first met Gascoigne at age 14 when Tinnion joined Dunston Juniors, another side Gascoigne played for. Tinnion recalled that while Gascoigne eventually stood out, most people at 15 thought Ian Bogie would be the top player from that Newcastle youth group. Gascoigne wanted to support his family financially and saw professional football as a way to earn more money than the rest of his household combined. He enjoyed the game and later wrote that "I didn't have twitches or worry about death when I was playing football". He became an apprentice at Newcastle on his 16th birthday.

While in the Newcastle youth side, he was usually overweight. Manager Jack Charlton said Gascoigne was "a bit chubby" and did not look like a footballer. He ate Mars bars and other junk food, but Charlton was not overly concerned, believing the weight would give him extra strength on the pitch and did not seem to slow him down. Charlton also noted early signs that Gascoigne was gaffe-prone and a prankster, and warned him about his junk food diet.