Tottenham Hotspur (England), SS Lazio (Italy), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland),
Middlesbrough (England), Everton (England), Burnley (England), Boston United (England)
Honours
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Biography
Paul Gascoigne (born in Gateshead, England on May 27, 1967) is
an English football player, often referred to by his nickname
Gazza.
His career has included playing for Newcastle United, Tottenham
Hotspur, Lazio, Middlesbrough and Rangers. He has also played 57
games for England. He is currently on a football coaching course.
Gascoigne grew up in the Dunston area of Gateshead and played
for the local Redheugh Boys Club. He signed for Newcastle United
in 1983 as an apprentice and made his first team debut in 1985.
In total, he made 99 appearances and scored 25 goals for
Newcastle before being bought by Tottenham Hotspur in 1988 for
£2 million. Later that year he made his first England appearance
when he came on as a substitute in a game against Denmark.
In 1990 he was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year after an
emotional performance at Italia 90, where he cried in the semi
final after receiving a booking which would have seen him
suspended for the final had England won. An injury in the 1991
FA Cup Final against Nottingham Forest prevented him from
playing for more than a year. As he recovered from injury, he
moved to Serie A side Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million. Beset by
injury and intrusive media interest, he had little success
playing for his new club side and returned to the UK in June
1995 to play for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. After
scoring a hat-trick in the final game of the season against
Aberdeen, he was awarded the title of Scottish Player of the
Season.
During Euro 96, Gascoigne enjoyed arguably the best form of his
life, scoring a spectacular goal against Scotland and coming
within an inch of scoring against Germany in the semi final.
Problems with form, injury and discipline saw him omitted from
the France 98 squad by coach Glenn Hoddle, Gascoigne was never
to play for his country again. He had joined Middlesbrough in
1998 but continuing problems with drink led to him being
released from his contract. Gascoigne then joined Everton and
after a period of rehabilitation from his now acknowledged
problem with alcoholism, he moved on to Burnley. In 2002,
Gascogine went on trial with US club D.C. United, but failed to
win a contract. Later, his career reached such a low that he was
last seen playing for a second division team in China called the
Gansu Agricultural Land Reclamation Flying Horses - but failed
to allow the player to find his earlier form.
On 30 July 2004, he signed a deal to become player-coach for
Football League Two club Boston United. After leading the club
for 11 games he left the club on 5 October 2004 to begin a
football coaching course. He made five appearances for the club
but didn't score any goals.
In October 2004, he announced that he wanted to change his name,
and later told a television audience that he wanted to be called
"G8". He said he wanted to do this because "it sounds a bit like
great, well it does with my geordie accent". Gascoigne is
estranged from his wife Sheryl and they have a son, Regan.
Career statistics
Going into the 2004/05 season, Gascoigne scored a total of 110
goals in 457 appearances for the 8 clubs he played for. At an
international level, he played 57 times for England and scored
10 goals.
