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 fucking 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*ck 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.

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