44 Facts About Paul Gascoigne

1. Paul Gascoigne is an English retired football player.

2. Paul Gascoigne captained Newcastle to victory in the FA Youth Cup in 1985.

3. Paul Gascoigne had all opportunities to be the best youth player but his Notoriety prevented him.

4. Paul Gascoigne was noticed by football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, though failed to impress in a trial at Ipswich Town.

5. Paul Gascoigne was given an eight-week suspended sentence on 9 December 2010.

6. Paul Gascoigne was taken into protective custody to prevent self-harm.

7. Paul Gascoigne took part in the first edition of Soccer Aid in 2006, playing for an England team captained by Robbie Williams.

8. Paul Gascoigne signed an exclusive deal with The Sun, which did not prevent the newspaper from joining its rivals in sensationalising the various scandals he became embroiled in.

9. Paul Gascoigne was appointed manager of Conference North club Kettering Town on 27 October 2005, and planned to put in enough money to own one-third of the club to show his commitment.

10. Paul Gascoigne played in all three of the group games in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and England topped Group F, Gascoigne providing the assist for Mark Wright's winner against Egypt.

11. Paul Gascoigne played four games for the England B team.

12. Paul Gascoigne made an immediate impact; in the fifth league game of the season in the Old Firm match at Celtic Park he scored a goal after running almost the full length of the pitch.

13. Paul Gascoigne kept his place in the team and captained the club against US Cremonese when regular captain Roberto Cravero was substituted.

14. Paul Gascoigne made his Serie A debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against Genoa which was televised in Britain as well as Italy.

15. Paul Gascoigne was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1990, and on accepting the award said that "I haven't won anything in the game as yet.

16. At the age of 18 Paul Gascoigne signed a two-year £120 a week contract at Newcastle, with the club having a further two-year option clause.

17. Paul Gascoigne was signed on as an apprentice at Newcastle on his sixteenth birthday.

18. Paul Gascoigne was noticed by football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, though failed to impress in a trial at Ipswich Town.

19. Paul Gascoigne was part of the England squad that reached fourth place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he famously cried after receiving a yellow card in the semi-final with West Germany, which meant he would have been suspended for the final itself had England won the game.

20. Paul Gascoigne 'broke into my house and raided my fridge', says ex-Rangers ace.

21. Paul Gascoigne broke into Ally McCoist's house to raid his fridge and nearly got hit with a golf club during their time together at Rangers.

22. On 6 January 2017, a spokesman for Paul Gascoigne confirmed that he had entered a rehabilitation centre in a serious effort to stay "alcohol-free" in 2017.

23. In January 2014 Paul Gascoigne entered rehab for his alcohol addiction for a seventh time at a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton.

24. In August 2011 Paul Gascoigne sued The Sun, claiming that its coverage of him during the Raoul Moat incident interrupted his treatment for alcoholism.

25. On 9 July 2010 Paul Gascoigne appeared at the scene of the tense stand-off between the police and the fugitive Raoul Moat, claiming to be a friend of Moat and stating that he had brought him "a can of lager, some chicken, a fishing rod, a Newcastle shirt and a dressing gown.

26. Paul Gascoigne was arrested for a disturbance outside a takeaway in February 2010.

27. Paul Gascoigne was hailed as a hero after, on 17 April 2017, he reportedly confronted and repelled would-be burglars of a neighbour's home near his own in Poole.

28. On 27 December 2016 Paul Gascoigne was hospitalised with head injuries including broken teeth after being kicked in the back down stairs in a London hotel, where he allegedly made racist remarks according to a witness.

29. In September 2016, Paul Gascoigne admitted using "threatening or abusive words or behaviour" after telling a racist joke in November 2015 and racially abusing his black bodyguard.

30. In November 2008, Paul Gascoigne was faced with a bankruptcy petition over a £200,000 tax bill, having not filed any tax returns for more than two years.

31. Paul Gascoigne had a son, Regan, with Sheryl and adopted Sheryl's two children from her first marriage, Mason and Bianca.

32. Paul Gascoigne married his long-term girlfriend Sheryl in Ware, Hertfordshire, in July 1996, after they had been together for around six years.

33. In 2015 Paul Gascoigne was the subject of a documentary called Gascoigne.

34. In August 2014, Paul Gascoigne began playing amateur football after signing for Bournemouth Sunday League Division Four team Abbey.

35. On 25 July 2009, Paul Gascoigne appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the BBC television quiz The Weakest Link, where he engaged in banter with host Anne Robinson.

36. Paul Gascoigne was at the centre of the action again in the quarter-final clash with Cameroon when he gave away a penalty, which Cameroon converted.

37. Paul Gascoigne left Boston after he made five appearances in a three-month spell, citing professional reasons including his coaching career.

38. In July 2004, Paul Gascoigne was signed as player-coach by League Two side Boston United, and upon signing spoke of his coaching aspirations, saying that "I can become a great coach and a great manager".

39. In summer 2002, Paul Gascoigne went on trial with American club DC United, but rejected a contract.

40. Paul Gascoigne signed a two-year contract with Everton, managed by former Rangers boss Walter Smith, after joining on a free transfer in July 2000.

41. In January 1998, Paul Gascoigne courted serious controversy during a goal celebration where he mimed playing a flute during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park.

42. When he was ten, Paul Gascoigne witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, the younger brother of a friend, who was killed in a traffic collision.

43. Paul Gascoigne was born in Gateshead, County Durham on 27 May 1967.

44. Paul Gascoigne will not be inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, after organisers performed a U-turn on their decision to nominate the former Rangers and England midfielder.