Top facts about Paul Gascoigne, England's most gifted footballer

Gazza is the nickname given to Paul John Gascoigne, an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is generally regarded as England's most gifted footballer of his generation.

Gascoigne, who was born and raised in Gateshead, joined Newcastle United as a schoolboy before turning professional in 1985. He was sold to

for £2.2 million three years later. In 1991, he won the FA Cup with Spurs before being sold to Lazio for £5.5 million.

He joined Rangers for £4.3 million in 1995 and helped the club to two league titles, as well as a Scottish Cup and a Scottish League Cup. In 1998, he moved to England with a £3.4 million transfer to

. Since appearing in the 1998 Football League Cup Final, he made his Premier League debut in the 1998–99 season.

Gascoigne's life became consumed by serious mental and emotional issues, notably alcoholism, in the latter part of his career and especially after retirement. He has been imprisoned or sectioned many times, and his hardships are often covered in the British papers. He has managed to survive without drinking on several occasions, but recovery programs have only offered brief relief.

His coaching career was cut short due to personal problems, and he has not worked in football since being fired as the manager of Kettering Town in 2005.

An all-included article of top facts about Paul Gascoigne, England's most gifted footballer

We are not planning to take your time on these introductions thus we would move on to the main parts of the

top facts about Paul Gascoigne

right away.

Paul Gascoigne information

In this section of the top facts about Paul Gascoigne, we'll look at some of his most basic knowledge for those who may not be acquainted with him or have just seen him on a few occasions in different programs or in the field but want to learn more.

• Personal information

• Full name:

  Paul Gascoigne

• Date of birth:

  27 May 1967

• Age:

  54

• Star Sign:

  Gemini

• Star sign features:

  Social, talkative, whimsical

• Nationality:

  English

• Place of birth:

  Gateshead, England

• Marital status:

  Single

• Religion:

  Christianity

Football information

• Position:

  Attacking midfielder

• Total appearances:

  541

• Club appearances:

  468 

• National appearances:

  73 caps

• Foot:

  Right

Last team:

Physical stats and appearance

• Height:

  1.77 m

• Weight:

  74 kg

• Hair color:

  Salt and Pepper

• Hairstyle:

  Bald top

• Skin color:

  White

• Facial hair:

  Clean

Now that we've covered all of the essential stuff about Paul Gascoigne for those who don't know who he is, it's fair to move on to the next section of

top facts about Paul Gascoigne

.

 Paul Gascoigne Transfermarkt

Let us take a look at his statistics on

. Once you head over to his page on this website you will probably notice that he is missing a market value graph which almost all players have. Well, not in this case, thus we are a force to limit this section of

top facts about Paul Gascoigne

to is statistics and achievements.

As far as his statistics go, he has received 36 yellow cards and one yellow which led to receiving a red card and getting sent off.  However, he only has 4 red cards, which is shockingly less than what we have expected from such a player.

8 assists on his name through his career. Although we think that it was much more than just 8 but as far as his statistics on Transfermarkt go, it seems that this number is the times that he assisted a playmate to score a goal.

Now for his achievements, he was honored as the player of the year once, English FA Cup, and 2 times Scottish championship winner. He has also lifted the Scottish cup once.

Paul Gascoigne childhood

Top facts about Paul Gascoigne start from when he was born on May 27, 1967, in Gateshead, County Durham. John (1946–2018), his father, was a hod carrier, and Carol, his mother, worked in a factory. In honor of Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the Beatles, he was given the name Paul John Gascoigne.

In the Low Fell region of Gateshead, he attended Breckenbeds Junior High School and then Heathfield Senior High School. When playing for Gateshead Boys, he was spotted by football scouts, but he struggled to impress in an 

 trial.

After failed trials with Middlesbrough and Southampton, he was signed as a schoolboy by Newcastle United, the team he loved. Jimmy "Five Bellies" Gardner, Gascoigne's friend, led him into a lot of trouble. The two were also prosecuted and charged for a hit-and-run crash. Gascoigne has been dubbed "George Best without the brains" by Newcastle chairman Stan Seymour Jr.

Though Gascoigne had a promising football career, he grew up in an unstable and tragic setting. During his early years, his family lived in a small attic room in a council house with a communal toilet, and they moved several times.

Gascoigne observed the death of Steven Spraggon, a friend's younger brother, in a car accident when he was ten years old. His father started to have seizures during this time.

Gascoigne developed obsessions and twitches and was sent to therapy, but he quickly dropped out after his father voiced reservations about the recovery procedures.

Gascoigne developed a gambling obsession, constantly wasting all of his money on them, and started shoplifting to support his habit. Another disaster struck him when a friend he had encouraged to join

from Middlesbrough died while working on a construction site for Gascoigne's uncle.

At the age of 14, Brian Tinnion knew Gascoigne for the first time when he signed for Dunston Juniors, a team Gascoigne also played for. Tinnion clarified that, although Gascoigne gradually rose to prominence, by the age of 15, most people believed Ian Bogie would be the best player in the Newcastle youth system.

Gascoigne chose professional football as a means of providing for his family – his parents and two sisters – because he saw it as a way of making more money than the rest of the family could.

When he was a member of Newcastle's youth team, he was often overweight. Newcastle boss Jack Charlton said Gascoigne was "a little chubby" and didn't look like a footballer. Gascoigne was a fast-food junkie who ate Mars bars and other junk food. Charlton was unconcerned because he thought Gascoigne's weight would lend him more power on the football field which would not slow him down.

He also said that Gascoigne was susceptible to gaffes and was a prankster at a young age. Gascoigne was warned by Charlton about his fast-food diet and given two weeks to lose weight. Gascoigne then trained in a black bag for ten days.

Paul Gascoigne personal life

Gascoigne, Danny Baker, and Chris Evans had a well-publicized relationship in the 1990s, and Gascoigne often appeared on their Talksport and TFI Friday radio and television programs.

A weird fact of top facts about Paul Gascoigne is that Gascoigne revealed in October 2004 that he wished to be known as G8, a variation of his surname's first letter and the number he wore on his football jersey since it "stands for nice."

Gascoigne was served with a bankruptcy motion in November 2008, after failing to file any tax returns for more than two years and owing a £200,000 tax bill. Despite owing £32,000, he avoided being found bankrupt by the High Court in London on May 25, 2011.

Gascoigne has three autobiographies: Gazza: My Story (co-authored with Hunter Davies), Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons (co-authored with Hunter Davies and John McKeown), and Glorious: My World, Football, and Me (co-authored with Hunter Davies and John McKeown).

He mentions medication for bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, and depression in Gazza: My Story and Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons.

His addictive behavior is often described in the books, and it has contributed to him developing addiction problems to alcohol, cocaine, chain smoking, gambling, high-caffeine energy drinks, fitness, and fast food.

Paul Gascoigne family

In July 1996, Gascoigne married his long-term girlfriend Sheryl Failes in Ware, Hertfordshire, after a six-year engagement. Then, he confessed to physically abusing Sheryl during their union. In early 1999, they divorced. Sheryl published her autobiography, Stronger: My Life Surviving Gazza, in 2009.

Gascoigne had a son with Sheryl, Regan, and later adopted Mason and Bianca, Sheryl's two daughters from her first marriage. Bianca is a model and TV host who has starred in the reality show Love Island.

Paul Gascoigne in other fields

In order to cover all the aspects of his life, we need to move out of the football field and get to his life in other fields in top facts about Paul Gascoigne.

He reached number 2 in the UK Top 40 with "Fog on the Tyne," a joint cover with Lindisfarne that won him a gold disc, at the height of "Gazzamania" following the 1990 World Cup. He founded Paul Gascoigne Promotions and recruited a team of people to deal with the hundreds of demands he received from businesses looking to use his image and/or endorsement to sell their products.

He reached an exclusive contract with The Sun, but it didn't stop it from sensationalizing the numerous controversies he was involved in, as did its competitors. Gazza's Superstar Soccer and Gazza II were the two video games he endorsed.

He played football with children from the SOS Children's Village in Botswana in August 2006 as part of the Football Association's international outreach week. Gascoigne made an appearance on a Sporting Heroes version of the BBC television quiz The Weakest Link on July 25, 2009, where he bantered with host Anne Robinson.

The next day, he took part in a charity football match between England and Germany to raise money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. In 2006, he played for an England team captained by Robbie Williams in the first edition of Soccer Aid.

Gascoigne started playing amateur football in August 2014, when he signed with Abbey of the Bournemouth Sunday League Division Four. Gascoigne, a documentary on him, was released in 2015.

Paul Gascoigne controversies

Here is where the top facts about Paul Gascoigne take a dark turn.

After an altercation at the Malmaison Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne in February 2008, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. To avoid self-harm, he was placed in protective custody. In June, he has sectioned again, and in September, he was admitted to the hospital following an alleged suicide attempt in which he overdosed on alcohol and medications.

In February 2010, Gascoigne was arrested for causing a commotion outside a takeaway.

He was charged with drunk driving, driving without a license, and driving without insurance the next month. On July 9, 2010, Gascoigne claimed to be Raoul Moat's brother and claimed to have given him "a can of lager, some chicken, a fishing reel, a Newcastle shirt, and a dressing gown" to the tense stand-off between the police and the fugitive.

He was refused entry to the Moat. Gascoigne sued The Sun in August 2011, alleging that the newspaper's coverage of him after the Raoul Moat incident interfered with his alcoholism therapy.

Gascoigne was arrested for drunk driving in October 2010. In

upon Tyne Magistrates Court, he confessed to going more than four times above the legal limit. Gascoigne was arrested for drug use just one day after being warned he could serve a jail term for drunk driving.

He was supposed to appear in court on November 11th to be fined for drunk driving, but instead, he went to detox on the south coast of England and was granted an eight-week suspended term.

On 4 July 2013, he was arrested at Stevenage railway station for threatening a railway security officer and being intoxicated and disorderly; he was fined £1,000 after admitting the charge and ordered to pay £100 restitution to the guard.

He was fined and put under a restraining order in October 2015 for bullying an ex-girlfriend and threatening a photographer. After telling a derogatory joke in November 2015 and racially insulting his black bodyguard, Gascoigne confessed to using "offensive or aggressive language or actions" and was fined £1,000 in September 2016.

After being hit in the back and sliding downstairs in a London hotel on December 27, 2016, Gascoigne was sent to the hospital with a head injury, including fractured teeth. His rapist was sentenced to 23 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £7,800 in restitution.

Paul Gascoigne alcoholism

Gascoigne's lawyer, Terry Baker, told BBC Radio 5 Live in February 2013 that he had relapsed: "He won't thank me for doing it, so he wants to find treatment right now. As an addict, his life is still in jeopardy. Maybe no one will be able to rescue him – I'm not sure. I just have no idea ".

Thanks to financial assistance from ex-cricketer Ronnie Irani and broadcaster Chris Evans, Gascoigne was put in intensive care in a US hospital while being treated for alcoholism in Arizona in a recovery program.

Gascoigne visited a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton in January 2014 for the seventh time to treat his alcoholism.

He was admitted to the hospital again in August after an incident outside his house, this time for his issues. Police were called to his home in Poole on October 23, 2014, after he went on a drinking binge; the following day, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and admitted to a hospital for a three-day detox.

Gascoigne's spokesperson announced on January 6, 2017, that he had joined a recovery center in a serious attempt to remain "alcohol-free" in 2017. British Transport Police arrested Gascoigne at Durham railway station on August 20, 2018, for allegedly sexually harassing a woman on a train.

He was charged with sexual harassment in November 2018. In October 2019, he was found not guilty of sexual harassment after calling the woman a "fat loss" and telling the court that he had just given her a "peck on the lips" to "build her morale" and that there was no sexual motive.

Paul Gascoigne mental issues

Gascoigne initially went to rehab in October 1998, after being admitted to Priory Hospital after a drunken session in which he drank 32 shots of whisky, making him "rock bottom."

At the time, Gascoigne's manager Bryan Robson checked him into the facility when he was asleep. He was released two weeks after the recommended minimum stay of 28 days, at his own request. His trips to the Priory were less regular after that, and he finally resorted to alcoholism.

Bill Kenwright, Gascoigne's then-chairman, called John McKeown, Gascoigne's psychiatrist at the Priory, in 2001, and arranged for further therapy to help Gascoigne curb his drinking.

Paul Gascoigne social media

As far as we have searched, he only has a verified Instagram account by the name of paul_gascoigne8. He currently has near 300 thousand followers on this platform and he has been marked as a public figure on Instagram.

He usually posts awkward selfies of himself either standing beside his bike or with sunglasses indoors. He also has pictures of his children and ex-wife.

Paul Gascoigne net worth and salary

Despite our search in the documents and the information that we had available, we were unable to find an estimated amount of his net worth and salary, thus we are afraid that we can’t provide accurate information about this matter in the top facts about Paul Gascoigne.

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