At the weekend, I met Paul Gascoigne, England football player, in a club in Newcastle. Here is my report (video footage available):
On Friday I met Paul Gascoigne (Gazza), the former England footballer, in a club in Newcastle. Days earlier, I’d been telling my girl about the best goal I ever saw. It was Paul Gascoigne’s goal for England against Scotland in 1996. I showed her the goal on Youtube and she had to admit to being impressed at Gazza’s skill in chipping the ball over Colin Hendry’s head, running around him and volleying the ball into the back of the net.
Now, sitting in the corner of the club was Gazza and his two friends. Or should I call them ‘minders’? Or maybe they were ‘carers’ because Gazza was in a bad state. He was totally wasted from the booze and hardly knew where he was. I didn’t recognise him at first, but sure enough, I looked again, and it was definitely him.
Gazza was drinking Guinness and seemed to also be under the influence of his friends who were lining up shots for him and moving him around the club. ‘Paul, over here! Gazza, man, this is yours’, beckoning to him and trying to get him to focus. Gazza staggered around half-propped up by the people shaking his hand. There was a private party upstairs and hot girls were coming down to meet him. Some hugged him but he didn’t seem to quite register who they were. A vacant smile suggested enjoyment, generally, though.
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