July 11, 2010

What's Gazza up to? : Twenty years and seven days ago, Paul Gascoigne's defining moment came on a football pitch in Turin. What's he up to this final World Cup weekend? Oh, you know, just normal stuff like taking a taxi from Newcastle to Rothbury to try and diffuse the police stand-off with the gunman Raoul Moat. "I brought a dressing gown for him, a big jacket, I brought some chicken, some bread - I know you're going to laugh at this one - I brought him a can of lager. I brought him a fishing rod, cause I heard he was by the river, and I brought a fishing rod, so we can fish together and I'll have a chat with him." [YouTube audio from radio interview with Gazza]

posted by JJ to soccer at 04:56 AM - 3 comments

Gazza related story. A few years ago my cousin and her husband answered a frantic knock on their back door late one night. They live in rural Warwickshire, so this was a bit unusual. Opening the door, they found a dishevelled looking Gazza, muttering strange things to himself. They got him inside, made him a cup of tea and rang the local police. He'd apparently been sectioned and had escaped from his carers.

Sad way to be for anyone, not just a star footballer fallen on hard times.

posted by owlhouse at 06:31 AM on July 11, 2010

When, in his playing days, Gazza was, to use his own words "a bit mental", it was usually quite funny. These days, it's tragic. Booze, drugs and mental illness; dangerous combination.

posted by JJ at 07:42 AM on July 11, 2010

I think it was nasty and irresponsible for the radio station to interview him when he was clearly wasted. As JJ says, Gazza was comical and the butt of many jokes when he was playing, but now it's just sad.

posted by afx237vi at 12:33 PM on July 11, 2010

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