Gascoigne

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There's only one Paul Gascoigne.

One Paul Gascoigne.

There's only one Paul Gascoigne.

Paul Gascoigne is the special one.

He's made a brilliant run.

Paul Gascoigne.

He was always

someone who I looked up to,

for the way he played football and, um,

and how good he was.

I still think to this day he was

the greatest England player.

Gascoigne.

He leaves two for dead.

Players in the middle... So close again.

Part of his genius,

part of his magnificence,

is the fact that he is so vulnerable.

Without that vulnerable side,

without that carefree side,

without all the things

that come with Gazza,

I don't think Paul Gascoigne

would have been the player that he was.

Is Gascoigne

going to have a crack?

He is, you know! What a play! Brilliant!

He's the best in the world.

Honestly, the best in the world.

I remember Walter Smith

coming in from training once,

and he grabbed us by the neck

and he wanted a word with us,

and he was f***ing serious.

And he went, "I've just been to see

a psychiatrist about you,"

he says, "And there's nothing

I can do about it.

"Just leave you, you're a genius.

"Now get the f*** out of my sight."

That was hilarious,

you know, I went, Wow."

I was born in Gateshead.

I loved my childhood, you know,

even though we didn't have much as a family.

My mum worked really hard.

She had three or four jobs.

That's the way things were then, you know?

A lot of people lived

for the weekends, like, on a Saturday.

The atmosphere around Newcastle

when it's matchday is incredible.

You know, everyone's got a buzz,

because when Newcastle win,

it makes the weekend for everybody up there.

I mean, where I lived,

it must have been about eight miles away,

and you could hear even

the Gallowgate End singing, you know?

And also, when you hear the crowd,

I'll get my ball out in the street

and, as if I was playing there.

We used to play in the sheet,

where we ail had the gates at the house.

We would, like, say,

"That one's my goal, that gate, "

and we used to use a tennis balk.

And I loved it.

All the kids would be doing other things,

I would just be with this tennis ball non-stop.

I remember watching

a match once where Johann Cruyff

did a turn and I was like, "Wow."

And I just tried 10 remember how he did it

and went out and practised with a tennis ball.

When I was seven, it was my birthday

and my dad bought us

my first leather football.

And this thing never left my foot.

I took it to the park,

I took it to the school.

I hid it so the teachers couldn't see it.

Then after school I'd kick it about

with the guys.

And then I remember one day

I wanted to play football and

it was 7:
00 at night and I'm in my room

and I've got this ball.

So I climbed out the back window

and down the drainpipe

and just kept on kicking it in the back garden.

And I just loved it.

From seven to 14 was Redheugh Boys Club

every night, you know,

this is every night for years.

And I absolutely loved it because

we'd go there, train, for, like,

40 minutes, or whatever, and then we got to

play on the Saturday or the Sunday

for the boys club and go away with them,

and just mixing with other guys

who were decent footballers, you know?

I just loved entertaining.

You know, there's no better feeling than just

trying to putting a smile on someone's face.

When I scored, I remember all the parents

cheering and all that, you know?

And that was a great feeling.

I've got the winner,

so I thought, well, you know,

how good it would be to do that

in front of, like, the Gallowgate End,

in St James' Park.

Growing up, Keith, who was my best mate,

I used to be at his an the time.

His mum, Maureen, was a lovely woman.

His dad, Harry, was sound, you know,

he always watched Keith play

and he used to have a car and he used to

take you to the matches and that.

I just felt like I had two families at that age.

You know, I was fortunate.

And me and him used to go

to Redheugh Boys Club,

and his little brother, Steven.

One day, his mum says,

"Look, Keith, take Steven."

And he was eight,

and you know how brothers are

and he went,

No, I'm not going if Steven's going."

And she went, "Paul, will you take Steven?"

I went, "Yeah, I'll look after him."

But I was only 10.

I was only 10.

So I'm taking Steven. Must have been

about 300 yards up the road, 200 yards.

And we went in the shop and

I said, "Quick, let's run,

and then we run out of the shop

and he was ahead of me by about a yard

and a car hit him.

It was horrific. He must have went

about 30 yards in the air,

about six foot off the air

and just stayed that level

and shoes come off, he was hit that hard.

I ran down the street,

knelt down on my knees,

and put him on my lap,

and I was just seeing his lips moving a bit,

and I want to talk, so I'm, like,

"Come on, Steven, you all right?"

And I seen his lips moving,

not knowing that was his last movement.

And I was stuck with this and I...

He passed away.

He didn't move, obviously,

and I was just, like, screaming.

"Help, Help," and this guy

wouldn't get out of the car.

And then I just seen

his mum coming, Maureen,

she come running over and I was like...

You know, I think that was my first funeral,

and it wasn't, wasn't nice.

I was only young and I didn't

I didn't know how to take it.

I remember Keith

coming upstairs and he went,

"Come on Paul. It's okay.

Give him a cuddle,"

and then pulling, lifting him out of the coffin,

and kissing him and saying sorry.

He got cremated,

and afterwards, like, Keith says,

"Come and stay with me for a while."

And I stayed in the room where the coffin was

for three days

and that wasn't too good.

You know, I just, I didn't even sleep.

Just wide awake. Just, you know,

keep looking all the time, thinking,

"That's where the coffin was."

And then after a few days,

I went back home, you know?

But she was affected for a long time,

Maureen, I know that.

You know, I remember her getting tablets

to make her sleep.

She couldn't sleep, you know.

I don't blame her. Losing her son.

Obviously Harry had to stay strong

because he was obviously the father.

But then sadly both of them

passed away, you know, with cancer.

Which I found out,

which was quite upsetting.

So I never really got to buy her

that kettle I owed her,

because I blew her kettle up.

When I put the kettle on

there was no water in.

So she always remembered,

"You owe me a kettle."

I remember afterwards,

I started developing twitches like...

Making stupid noises

and I couldn't get rid of flashing like that.

And then my mum took us to a psychiatrist

and he wanted to play with sand.

And I just went, "Mum, don't take us

back there any more. And she didn't.

Um, so I don't think I started

psychiatrists early.

But we used to laugh about it, my mum,

and my brothers and my sisters.

I wouldn't do it and then all of a sudden, like,

my sister would come by

and she went "Paul..."

And do that

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