Paul Gascoigne

Date and Place of Birth 27th May 1967 - GATESHEAD   Transfers to and from Burnley from EVERTON - 17th March 2002 released - 1st July 2002   First and Last Burnley Games BRADFORD CITY (h) - 20th March 2002 replaced by Andy Payton   COVENTRY CITY (h) - 21st April 2002 sub: replaced Ian Moore   Other Clubs NEWCASTLE UNITED, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, LAZIO, RANGERS, MIDDLESBROUGH, EVERTON ---------------------------------------- BOSTON UNITED

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Paul Coppack

If one was to ask a random member of the general public to name a famous English footballer, you wouldn't be surprised to here the name Paul Gascoigne.

Gazza is famous for being a brilliant, yet controversial football player showing outstanding skill on the international stage, scoring great goals and being as daft as a brush. He is one of the few footballers to book a referee, receive death threats from the IRA, having his nuts grabbed by Vinnie Jones… and then sign for Burnley!

For years the tabloids claimed he was past it… but it was not until his spell at Turf Moor they finally had the evidence to prove their headline, but it was almost very different.

Paul John Gascoigne was born in Gateshead and was spotted by Newcastle United in 1980 after he'd had unsuccessful trails with Ipswich, Southampton and Middlesbrough, and after captaining Newcastle's FA Youth Cup Final team he made his debut for the Magpies in 1985, coming on as a substitute against Queens Park Rangers.

In 1987 he was named as Barclays Young Player of the Year after becoming a hero amongst the Geordie supporters. But Gazza had another admirer; Manchester United's Alex Ferguson showed an interest in taking him to Old Trafford. However it was Tottenham Hotspur was stole his signature to break the English transfer record signing him for £2.3 million.

One of the first famous Paul Gascoigne moments is when he faced one of footballs biggest hard-nuts - Wimbledon's Vinnie Jones. A well-known picture features Jones grabbing Gascoigne by the testicles with Gazza screaming in agony. After the game, Jones received a single red rose in the Wimbledon dressing room; and in return Gazza received a toilet brush.

Gazza flourished at White Hart Lane, but his Spurs career ended with a disastrous injury. He broke down during the FA Cup final against Nottingham Forest. He was involved in two horror tackles with Garry Parker and Gary Charles - rupturing the cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Before the Cup Final, Gazza agreed to join Lazio in an £8.5 million deal, but had to sit out his first season with the Italian Club - this was pretty much the story during his time in Italy.

Although Gascoigne made 47 appearances and scored 6 goals, including one against AS Roma, injures kept him out. He never really settled and eventually moved back the UK in 1995 signing for Glasgow Rangers.

His time in Scotland was much more consistent, although he was involved in controversy. For about 6 months Gazza received death threats from the IRA after he mimicked playing a flute in celebration at an Old Firm match which enraged the Celtic fans, he was fined £20,000.

But more positively, Gazza won the Players' Player of the Year and the Football Writers Player of the Year. Rangers won the league title again in 1997, their ninth in succession; they also won the Scottish Cup and the League Cup where Gascoigne scored twice in the Final. But one of his most memorable moments in Scotland was when he scored a wonder goal, running the full length of the field to score against Celtic.

Gazza was back, and at international level he reminded everybody what he was all about. Playing for England, who were the home nation in Euro96. He was in excellent form in the team's great performances against Holland and Germany, and it was Gazza's goal against Scotland which was the highlight of the tournament. He skilfully chipped the ball over Blackburn's Colin Hendry then volleyed it into the net. His England team-mates joined him with the "Hong Kong Dentist Chair" celebration as the Wembley crowed went wild.

His next move was to the English First Division with certain-to-be-promoted Middlesbrough managed by his former England team-mate from World Cup Italia 90. Bryan Robson paid £4.3 million to take him to the brand new Riverside Stadium, where the prospect of playing with Paul Merson appealed to Gazza.

He made his debut in the League Cup Final defeat against Chelsea in 1998, but feeling a bit of an impostor, he gave his losers medal to Craig Hignett who wasn't even included on the substitutes bench despite playing in the previous rounds.

With Gazza back in the North East, he travelled back to his school and confronted his former Geography teacher who told him "he would never make it as a footballer", and after a laugh and a joke, Gazza then proceeded to comically interrupt the other classes by sticking his head though the door and introducing himself to the astonished school children. This was typical Gascoigne behaviour.

Middlesbrough were promoted to the Premiership, coming runners up to Nottingham Forest and Gazza was pretty sure he was going to cement his place in Glenn Hoddle's England plans.

However he was wasn't picked for the 1998 World Cup Squad, news that shocked the nation. Walter Smith previously warned Gascoigne that Glenn Hoddle wanted to make a point, and after 57 caps for his country, he would never play for England again. Gascoigne's marriage to Sheryl ended after she is granted a quick divorce. The player left his wife with a black eye and badly bruised face and arm after he attacked her in a drunken rage in Gleneagles in Scotland.

His next destination was Everton in 2000, The Toffees had recently lost their more experienced players such as John Collins, Don Hutchison and Nick Barmby, who joined local rivals Liverpool, and with Walter Smith in charge - Gazza felt pretty much at home and he dreamed of playing for England one last time.

But he was a bit hit-and-miss at Goodison Park, displaying some good performances, but he was hounded by niggling injuries and drink, drugs and depression, his past was beginning to catch up with him - the tabloids - yet again - started to sharpen their knives.

Walter Smith left Goodison Park and was replaced by Preston's David Moyes, and it was inevitable that Gazza was going to leave too, so Burnley manager Stan Ternent brought him to Turf Moor.

Burnley, although being inconsistent results wise, were pushing for a play-off place in the First Division, but unlike the signing of Ian Wright two years earlier, Clarets fans seemed a bit split on the signing of the 34 year old, it was certainly a gamble by Ternent and the Burnley board.

Was Gazza in the right form physically and mentally to pull on the Claret and Blue shirt?

The documents were not signed in time for him to make his debut against Preston North End, but he was introduced to the crowd before the game. Watching from the Bob Lord Stand, Gazza had the pleasure of witnessing David Johnson playing his socks off in his Burnley debut as The Clarets brushed aside their local rivals, and Bertie Bee showed the North Enders how to defend by rugby tackling a streaker.

Wearing the 34 shirt, Gascoigne eventually made his debut in a 1-1 draw against Bradford City at Turf Moor. As with the signing of Wright, Burnley's attendances increased and the Gazza merchandise sold like hotcakes - but on the whole, his spell at Burnley was an uneventful one.

Supporters would see him demonstrate glimmers of the old "Gazza Magic" that football fans had seen him display at the highest level, only for him to lose possession again. Unlike in the Premiership, the second tier of English football proved he didn't have time and space he needed, and he lost his necessary pace for that level.

Playing for a struggling First Division team was a bit of a culture shock for an unfit Gazza, and he found it very difficult to get into a good run of form. He started three of his six appearances on the Burnley bench, at one point there was rumours that he had parted company with The Clarets before the disappointing away defeat to Grimsby Town.

But Gazza stayed for the duration, accepting a drop in his wages with Stan Ternent explaining to him he was only going to be played for the more vital games…

The final game of the 2001/02 season saw Burnley play Coventry City at Turf Moor, already relegated Stockport County had to beat Norwich City or Burnley had to score more goals than The Canaries to grab the final Play-Off place, but it didn't start to well.

After only a few minutes, Stockport's goalkeeper Andy Dibble was sent off at Edgeley Park and Norwich were firm favourites to stuff County… but amazingly they were only winning by two goals coming up to the final whistle.

Already one up against Coventry, Burnley were in control at Turf Moor, but just couldn't put the ball in the net. If there was one man to save the day, that man was Paul Gascoigne!

Stan Ternent had no choice, the game needed him and the fans wanted him. He replaced Ian Moore with 7 minutes to go with Turf Moor hoping Gazza could be the man save Burnley's fading hopes of glory… and it almost happened.

In the last minute, Burnley won two free kicks on the edge of the penalty area, it was in the script that Gazza was going to step up to fire Burnley in the top six. Turf Moor was silent, his strike for Tottenham against Arsenal in the 1991 Cup Final was fresh in the memories of everybody in the ground… but the Coventry 'keeper Magnus Hedman made two wonderful saves to stop Gazza's tremendous attempts.

The unlucky Burnley team were pipped to the Play-Offs by Norwich City by the Goals Scored rule, and after half a dozen games with no goals, Paul Gascoigne played his final match for The Clarets.

With his new and preferred nickname "G8", Gascoigne tried to win contacts in Dubai and with MLS outfit DC United, but he found it difficult to get deals, despite claiming Premiership clubs were interested in him.

He had a short spell with Chinese B-League side Gansu Tianma, playing 4 games and scoring 2 goals. He trained with Wolves to maintain his fitness, and was then appointed Player / Coach at Boston United but quit after 4 months.

In 2005 he agreed to become manager of non-league Kettering Town, and was very popular with the fans, his appointment brought a lot of excitement, media attention and sponsorship deals to the club.

His first stint of management was blossoming, but after 39 games in charge he was sensationally sacked by the chairman Imraan Ladak for apparently drinking excessively, something that G8 disputes.

Paul Gascoigne has been out of the professional game since, but I doubt the football world and the tabloids have heard the last of him.

Links

Gazza says no to Garforth (07/10/10)