Paul Gascoigne was once a beloved football player. Broadcaster Terry Wogan called him “the most popular person in Britain.” The public admired him greatly, a phenomenon known as “Gazza mania.” However, his life changed after he retired in 2004.
When Did He Start Drinking?
Paul Gascoigne first sought help for drinking in October 1998. He went to a treatment center but still drank 32 whiskies there. In October 2010, he was arrested for drunk driving. The day after being warned about jail, Paul Gascoigne was caught with cocaine.
Criminal Actions
Paul Gascoigne caused problems for others too. In February 2010, he was arrested for causing a disturbance outside a takeaway shop. The next month, he faced charges of drunk driving without a license or insurance. Later, in October 2015, Paul Gascoigne was fined for harassing an ex-girlfriend and attacking a photographer. In September 2016, Paul Gascoigne admitted to using racist language and was fined £1,000. In August 2018, Paul Gascoigne was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman on a train.
Why Did This Happen?
Paul Gascoigne’s fall may link to his troubled childhood and mental health issues.
Paul Gascoigne was spotted by a football scout in high school, but his early life was chaotic. His family was poor and moved often. At ten, Paul Gascoigne saw a friend’s brother die in an accident. At the same time, his father began having seizures, which affected him deeply. He developed obsessive-compulsive symptoms and tics. It’s not as if the opportunity for change hadn’t been presented to him before, after developing OCD Paul Gascoigne was taken for treatment, however his father’s distrust of the treatments caused him to miss his only chance to grow up normally.
After that, Paul Gascoigne became addicted to video games and would spend all his money on them, as well as shoplifting to satisfy his kleptomania.
On his 16th birthday, Newcastle signed Paul Gascoigne as an apprentice by .
However, his time in the Newcastle youth team was not all smooth sailing. Newcastle’s manager, Jack Charleston, said Gascoigne was “a bit fat” and didn’t look like a footballer, and Gascoigne was then wrapped in a black bag for 10 days.
I can’t begin to imagine how Gascoigne would have survived such an ordeal on his own.
Is There Hope for Change?
Throughout his decade-long existence, Paul Gascoigne was not without chances of salvation, yet they were all abandoned for reasons of others or himself.
At the age of ten, as a minor, his father ley Paul Gascoigne gave up the treatment of his obsessive-compulsive disorder. As an adult, Paul Gascoigne gave up on his alcohol addiction. His coaches had sent him to treatment centers several times, however, Paul Gascoigne often did not cooperate with the treatment and insisted on being discharged.
Thus, he gave up the only chance for transformation.
I think as I write this, you can understand why this highly regarded footballer fell from grace.
Gascoigne’s love of soccer was unquestionable and Paul Gascoigne once said, “I didn’t have twitches or worry about death when I was playing football”. Sadly, his love of soccer was not to be his salvation.
