When Paul John Gascoigne joined his hometown club, Newcastle United as an apprentice in 1983, it was the beginning of an extraordinary career - not just in terms of football either. He made his Football League debut for them as a substitute against QPR at St James' Park in 1985, and went on to make 99 League and Cup appearances for them from 1985-88, scoring 25 goals. Tottenham was to be his next stop, with manager Terry Venables paying Newcastle £2m for his signature in July 1988. In September that year, he made his Spurs debut at Newcastle in a 2-2 draw.

Shortly after his Tottenham bow, he made his England debut in the 1-0 victory over Denmark at Wembley, coming on as a sub in the last 5 minutes. In April 1989, he scores his first international England during a substitute appearance in the World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley - with England winning 5-0. It was after a string of impressive performances in various friendlies & World Cup qualifiers that Bobby Robson decides to include the brilliant young midfielder in his final 22 for the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy - his inclusion signalled the beginning of England's resurgence in world football.

Gazza was a breath of fresh air in England's midfield during the Italia 90 World Cup finals, as they played their way through to the semi-finals - eventually losing to West Germany on penalties. His tears in that game - in response to a booking that would have meant he would have missed out on an appearance in the final had England got through - brought him instant worldwide fame.
After returning from his World Cup exploits, he almost single-handedly guided Spurs to the F.A. Cup Final against Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest - scoring a fantastic 30-yard free-kick in the semi-final against Arsenal along the way.

In the final itself in 1991, Gascoigne appears to be out of control from the kick-off. He makes a shocking challenge on Forest's Garry Parker, forcing his right boot, high into Parker's chest. The referee was the now retired Roger Milford, and he showed great leniency towards him by deciding not to book him. This decision proved to be a bad one, as he did not calm down. Shortly after, an even more horrific clash with Forest's Gary Charles ends with Gascoigne rupturing the cruciate ligaments in his right knee. After a lengthy lay-off, he finally recovers by May 1992 to pass fitness tests set by Lazio specialists on his knee to complete his long-awaited £5.5m move from Spurs to the Rome club - making his Serie A debut for them against Genoa in September 1992. His career in Italy is not a great one, hampered by bad press, and bad luck with injuries.

On June 3 1995, he makes his first England appearance for 15 months as a substitute in a 2-1 victory over Japan at Wembley, and then flies to Glasgow after the match to announce his transfer to Walter Smith's Glasgow Rangers. It wasn't until the latter part of the season that he really started to turn in some impressive performances. The most memorable being the final game of the season against Aberdeen, where he scores a sensational hat-trick to seal the Scottish title in May 1996 - Rangers' eighth title in a row - and is also named Scottish player of the season to round of a fine first season in Scotland. He plays a starring role in England's run to the semi-finals of Euro 96 - scoring a breathtaking solo goal against Scotland along the way. This was another tournament where Gazza was to suffer defeat at the hands of the Germans, with England again losing on penalties.

In 1997 he returns from injury to help Rangers secure a record-equalling ninth League title, and in July that same year he signs a new three-year contract with Rangers to keep him in Glasgow until the year 2000. However, after a severe warning from the Scottish F.A. regarding his conduct, following a flute-playing gesture while warming up on the touchline during the match against Celtic - Rangers decide to cash in early on their midfield star. In 1998, Rangers agree to sell him to Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough - who is chasing promotion back to the Premier League - for £3m.

Shortly after helping his new club win their place in the top flight, Glenn Hoddle sensationally omits Gascoigne from his party of 22 for the 1998 World Cup Finals in France. He did not help his cause when he was spotted out drinking until the early hours with friends, and he is also spotted by a photographer in a kebab house in London, resulting in his picture being splashed across the front pages of the national 'comics'. When he is discovered to have been drinking on the evening prior to Hoddle announcing his final squad that proved to be the final straw.

Gazza's career at Middlesbrough was one of ups and downs, and he constantly struggled with his fitness, being sidelined by a number of unfortunate injuries. When Bryan Robson finally decided to release Gazza on a free transfer in July 2001, with a year of his contract still to run, his former Rangers boss Walter Smith - now manager with Everton - decided to give his ex-Rangers star yet another chance to save his career. After fighting his way into a regular place in the Everton starting line-up, Gascoigne picked up yet another injury, forcing him to go through a series of operations, sparking rumours that he would be forced to retire.

This was not to be the worst of his problems however, when on June 4th 2001, Paul Gascoigne - under instructions from his manager Walter Smith - checked himself into an Arizona clinic for the treatment of alcoholism and depression, and finally admitted to the football world that he WAS an alcoholic. He underwent a 28-day rehabilitation programme, but has himself made it clear that his problems are far from over, and that with every new day, comes a new battle to stay off the drink. Despite these problems, and the obvious media speculation as to whether his career in English football was over, Gazza again defied the odds, and had returned to first team action in the 2001/2 campaign, putting in some impressive performances.

However, after being in and out of the Everton first team during the early part of 2002, Gazza decided to drop down a division for the second time in his career by joining First Division Burnley until the end of the 2001/2 season. When Walter Smith was sacked by Everton, he was always going to be seriously considering his future. He is a close friend of the scot, and obviously felt that he could not perform to the best of his abilities in his abscence. Smith twice saved Gazza's career when it hung in the balance, and he owes him a great debt.

Gazza made a total of five appearances for the clarets in their push for promotion to the Premier League, but unfortunately they just missed out on a play-off spot, despite a last day of the season victory over Coventry City. He is now at the end of his short-term Burnley contract, and speculation regarding his immediate future is high. In a recent interview, he stated that he did not know if he will play football again. Although Burnley boss Stan Ternent was reportedly keen to keep him on at Turf Moor, Gazza said that he would not be making any decision on his future until after the World Cup. Gazza, has reportedly had offers to go and play in the United States, Dubai and Saudi Arabia,when his career in England is over. He was part of the World Cup panel for the british terrestrial tv channel 'ITV'.

After the world cup, Gazza decided to try his luck in the US with a week of trials at Washington MLS outfit D.C. United. However, this came to nothing, with D.C. officials seemingly put off the move with concerns over the great man's past behaviour. With the America always being lauded as the land of opportunity and second chances, we think that this was a feeble excuse for wasting Gazza's time and efforts. Why he was asked to go for trials in the for instance was beyond us, as there were doubts from the D.C. camp right from the start.

Then just when it seemed as though Gazza was running out of options, Chinese B-league side Gansu Tianma offered him the opportunity to have trials with the club, with a view to a permanent contract. Gazza took them up on the offer, but failed to impress the club's officials with his first sessions. Then upon getting a further chance to impress, Gazza did just that, and as a result secured a one year deal with the club in January 2003, a deal which was to involve a coaching role, where he was also understood to have been asked to take on a role as consultant to the club's academy - we hope that he can make a success of this.

However, after an impressive first few games, scoring with a long range solo effort on his debut, Gazza again checked himself into a clinic suffering from depression. Rumours flew around regarding his future once again, with moves back britain with Stockport County and Swindon Town among those most talked about. At the time of writing the SARS virus has put paid to any hopes of playing first team football, and Gazza is apparently keen to come home to end his career with a british club, but only time will tell.

We hope that he decides to continue playing after this set-back, and in Britain too. We both agree that we have yet to see a British footballer, past or present that compares to the man they call 'GAZZA'. Whether he is on form, and in shape, or off the boil, and out of sorts, when he gets his foot on the ball, you sit up in anticipation. True, he doesn't ALWAYS deliver the goods, but it is exciting nonetheless. No other footballer from these shores has had that effect in my opinion, and we seriously doubt that we will ever see his like in the game again; he is a one-off, a real throwback to the old days with his willingness to collect the ball and run at defenders.

Paul Gascoigne is quite simply, a misunderstood genius, which was - and still is - hammered by the media for anything he does. Sometimes he deserves criticism for his actions, but not from the media, they are just running him down for the sake of their daily sales figures. Gazza is an entertainer both on and off the field, and we should make the most of the last few years of his career, so let's appreciate his genius while we still can - because players like him are too few and too far between.