For those of us who had the distinct good fortune of seeing Paul Gascoigne play for Spurs, the sight of him scoring a 'goal' in a legends' match at Ibrox last month made painful viewing. Able to manage only the most fleeting of cameos, 'Gazza' was treated like a competition winner. The opposing defenders - and goalkeeper - deliberately contrived to gift him a scoring chance from close range, which he converted at a walking pace, having first miskicked the ball.
It is almost incomprehensible looking at Gascoigne now - ravaged as he is by alcoholism and repeated bouts of poor mental health - to believe that he is the same man once heralded as the world's finest footballer. The BBC's new two-part documentary Gazza adroitly charts the meteoric rise that catapulted Gascoigne to a level of stardom and scrutiny unlike anything ever encountered by a British footballer before. But it is its sympathetic and compassionate handling of his inexorable descent that makes the film a standout.
The documentary opens with archive footage of a teenage Gascoigne exhibiting the mesmeric mastery of the ball that would prove to be his blessing and his curse. Watching the naivete of his early interactions with the tabloid press, it is tempting to conclude there was seldom a person less prepared for fame's searing spotlight. One formal media conference for his then boot sponsor, Brooks, witnesses a besuited Gascoigne sporting a tie adorned with a sprawling naked woman. That nobody around him had advised against this sartorial choice foreshadowed what was to come. The film shows how Gascoigne was left largely unguided, acting purely on the instincts that made him such a luminescent talent on the pitch but left him so vulnerable off it. As one Sun newspaper journalist recalls: "Pay enough money, and we'd notice Gazza would turn up for the opening of an envelope. There was no one interested in his welfare."
Gascoigne's fine performances but teary exit from the 1990 World Cup demanded that newspaper editors transplant Gascoigne from their back page to the front. Half the population watched on as Gascoigne was overwhelmed by the emotion of the semi-final defeat against West Germany. Upon his return from Italy that summer, the British public's appetite for him proved insatiable. The documentary potently explores how Gascoigne unwittingly became a pawn in a circulation war between Rupert Murdoch's News International and Robert Maxwell's Mirror Group. Soon after the World Cup, we see Gascoigne appearing on the Wogan chat show. At one point, the avuncular host dispenses with questions to offer his young guest a warning: "We have a tradition in this country in the press. As soon as you become enormously successful, there reaches a point where they decide 'we're going to knock you off the parapet.'" Perhaps had members of the studio audience held up 'Wogan Knows' signs, Gascoigne might have taken heed. His wholly inadequate response? "I'm working so hard to behave myself Terry ... I'm just one of the lads to be fair?"
We are then taken inside The Sun's Wapping headquarters, where a maxim for the paper's staff hangs from the ceiling:
"MAKE IT FIRST
MAKE IT FAST
MAKE IT ACCURATE"
As the documentary progresses, it is abundantly clear the third of these instructions is very much negotiable. "DO IT TO THEM BEFORE THEY DO IT TO US" is emblazoned on another wall. Against this, being "one of the lads" offered Gascoigne scant protection.
Journalist Greg Miskiw, who served six months in prison for his part in the phone-hacking scandal that engulfed the News Of The World, explains: "There are some characters you know are going to go off the rails, and Gazza was one of them. We used to think ahead of the curve. We set up a network of people who were close to Gazza and then lured them into selling stories."
It is against this backdrop that Gascoigne's deranged performance in the 1991 FA Cup Final should be viewed. Paul Stewart - who rescued the match for Spurs after Gascoigne had left the pitch on a stretcher having committed two wild tackles - recalls how his teammate's behaviour had changed during the run to Wembley. Stewart recounts how Gascoigne had developed several facial ticks and exhibited obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Indeed, Gascoigne revealed it had been necessary for the club doctor to sedate him on the eve of the semi-final against Arsenal. That Gazza produced perhaps the most iconic moment in Tottenham's history - scoring THAT free-kick past David Seaman - in such a state of anxiety, remains a testament to his otherworldly talent.
The knee injury sustained in the FA Cup Final marked the end of the Gascoigne ascendency. There would still be flashes of brilliance - the documentary shows a beautiful weaving run and finish scored for Lazio against a Sevilla team that included Maradona. And then, of course, there is the sublime goal against Scotland at Euro 96. But the injuries and off-field controversies had by now taken their toll. It was during his unhappy stay in Rome that reports of Gascoigne's abuse of his then partner Sheryl Failes began to seep out. The documentary quite rightly highlights the severity of the violence perpetrated by Gascoigne and the wholly inadequate response of the football authorities to it. After joining Rangers, Gascoigne was the subject of headlines telling of a particularly vicious beating he'd doled out to Sheryl in the Gleneagles Hotel. Even so, there was no clamour from within the game for him to lose his place in the England squad.
While not looking to excuse Gascoigne's behaviour, the documentary sheds new light on how the couple's turbulent relationship was manipulated and then exploited by elements within the British media. The role of perma-smirking Rebekah Brooks (then Wade) in Gascoigne's woes is absolutely staggering. Having ingratiated herself with Gascoigne and Sheryl while working as a feature writer for the largely benign News Of The World Magazine, Brooks seized her opportunity. A raft of 'exclusives' on the couple - including the inside story of Gascoigne's omission from the 1998 World Cup - propelled her to the most powerful positions in the British newspaper industry. In 2000, aged just 32, Brooks was installed as the News Of The World's editor, before taking up the same position at The Sun in 2003. It was on her watch that the practice of phone hacking among the paper's reporters flourished.
As former News Of The World man Paul McMullan reveals in the documentary, Paul Gascoigne was one of the most high profile victims. "His phone was being listened to three or four times a day ... wherever he went, we'd be there waiting, hounding him, stalking him. The drunker he got, the stupider he got, the more paranoid he got, the crazier he got, the more stories we would get." Gascoigne even started to believe his mother was selling him out as private conversations between them appeared in print.
Ultimately the News Of The World was shut down following the shocking revelations that its journalists were illegally accessing celebrities' voicemails. Brooks would later face trial over the phone-hacking scandal but was cleared. She received a £10 million payoff from News International and was later rehired as the company's CEO.
In 2015 Gascoigne received damages from the Mirror Group, which had also been found to have hacked his phone. Speaking at the time, he said: "I'd like to trade my mobile phone in for a coffin because these guys have ruined my life."
Paul Gascoigne has reportedly been to rehab seven times. In February 2008, he was sectioned under the mental health act. Later that year, he was rushed to hospital following a suspected overdose.
The documentary concludes with a final haunting scene of Gascoigne in the present day, walking toward the camera with his fishing rod. We are told he now lives alone on the South Coast. Anyone who loved him as a footballer - and empathises with him as a human being - will hope that, at last, he has found some peace.