Paul Gascoigne - Biography

Last Editor: curtwhiting				Paul Gascoigne Biography -   Name : Paul Gascoigne Date of birth : May 27, 1967 Place of birth : Gateshead, County Durham

Paul Gascoigne Trivia -

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Paul Gascoigne Detailed Biography -

Paul John Gascoigne (born May 27, 1967 in Gateshead, County Durham) is an English football coach and former player, often referred to by his nickname Gazza. His career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Middlesbrough, Everton and Rangers, and he also played 57 times for England. He was one of the most prominent sports celebrities in the United Kingdom in the 1990s after gaining fame bursting into tears because he had been disqualified from playing with England in the next round of the 1990 World Cup. Since then the media have avidly followed his sometimes troubled life. Recently he was sacked as manager of Kettering Town. Gascoigne grew up in the Dunston area of Gateshead and played for the local Redheugh Boys Club. After three unsuccesful trials at Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and Southampton, he signed for Newcastle United in 1983 as an apprentice and made his first team debut in 1985. In total, he made 107 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. After Italia 90, with Gazzamania at its height, he reached number 2 in the UK top 40 with "Fog On The Tyne", a collaborative cover with Lindisfarne. 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 penultimate game of the 1995/96 season against Aberdeen, he was awarded the title of Scottish Player of the Season. During Gascoigne's time with Rangers he secured 3 Scottish Premier League Winners medals. During Euro 96, Gascoigne enjoyed arguably the best form of his life, scoring a spectacular goal against Scotland and coming within an inch of tapping in a goal from Steve McManaman's cross against Germany in the team's ill-fated and emotionally charged semi-final, where Gazza shed tears again after England lost on penalties. 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. For more on this interesting scandal, see Gazzagate. 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. He then joined Chinese club Gansu Tianma, but failed to find his earlier form, and left after playing just four games. In 2002 Gascoigne was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. 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 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 Gascoigne who suffered domestic abuse from Gascoigne and they have a son, Regan. In 2005, he made an emotional TV appearance on a BBC One program about ex-footballers. Speaking to Scottish ex-footballer Alan Hansen, he talked about the problems he's had and how he's 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. Gascoigne was appointed manager of the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United in June 2005, but failed to settle at the club, and left to become manager of Conference North team Kettering Town on October 27, 2005. His tenure at Kettering lasted just thirty nine days, and he was dismissed by the club's board on December 5, 2005, along with assistant manager Paul Davis. Later the same day, Gascoigne was arrested over an alleged assault of a journalist outside Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool, but the journalist withdrew his complaint three days later.