England legend Paul Gascoigne has opened up about his never-ending battle to stay sober, revealing he will be staying in his agent’s guest room and has returned to attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Gascoigne, 56, has publicly struggled with mental health issues and alcohol addiction since ending his historic football career.
Considered one of the greatest English players of all time, Gascoigne earned 57 caps for his country and starred for a host of teams, including Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers.
But now, as revealed during an interview with High performance‘Gazza’ lives with his manager Katie Davies on a residential street in Poole, on the south coast of England.
“I used to be a happy drunk. I’m not anymore. I’m a sad drunk. I don’t go out drinking, I drink inside the house,” said the former midfielder.
England legend Paul Gascoigne, 56, has opened up about his never-ending battle to stay sober.
Considered one of the greatest English players of all time, Gascoigne earned 57 international caps for his country.
‘People know Paul Gascoigne, but nobody knows Gazza. Even me sometimes. I have been unemployed for many years, when I had my ligaments done and then my kneecap, I missed four years of football. He would have played 100 international matches (for England).
‘I try not to get depressed because the world is already depressed enough. And when I’m really down, that’s when I have a drink to cheer myself up.
“I don’t think I’ve let down any coaches, players or fans, you know.” If there was anyone I disappointed, it was myself. But it was more the drinking side, when I finished playing.
Gascoigne, who was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 before ending his career in 2004, has struggled with his battle for sobriety since his retirement.
He went to rehab for the seventh time for alcohol addiction in 2014, attending a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton, and even paid £20,000 to have anti-alcohol pellets placed in his stomach in a bid to stop drinking. He admitted during a 2021 interview that he “will always be an alcoholic.”
Gascoigne’s battle with alcohol has also led to a series of arrests for disorderly conduct and drunk driving offences. The former superstar admits that she hardly watches football anymore because she misses it so much.
‘If I want it to be a bad day, (all I have to do is) go to the pub. If I want it to be a good day, I take out my fly rod and go fishing,’ he added.
‘It’s not the drink, it’s the after. After looking at my phone and seeing 30 messages or missed calls, I know I’m in trouble. But I’ve been good. Last year wasn’t brilliant, it was on and off for a couple of months.
Gascoigne, who used to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings “all the time” but now goes much less frequently, admitted that he is trying to visit more frequently.
‘I went to a meeting the other night, so it was good. Just an AA meeting. I went with a friend and it was good. They are fine, they are harmless,” she said.
A generational talent, Gascoigne was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
Pictured during a television interview with ITV last year, Gascoigne has publicly struggled with mental health issues and alcohol addiction since his retirement from football in 2004.
The former England international pictured with his coach Katie Davies in October 2019.
Now, instead of binge drinking, Gascoigne drinks plenty of coffee. The former soccer player admitted during the interview that he usually drinks six coffees at 10 in the morning and in total approximately 15 packets of Mocha a day.
“It’s really easy, I just try to stay away from places,” he continued. ‘If I have a drink, I have it because I want to, it’s not for any particular reason. I don’t blame anyone, I used to blame a lot of people when I was drinking. “It’s fucking because he did that.” “Because so and so he did this.”
“After attending the first couple of meetings, I followed the 12 steps and one of them was to meet the person you blamed and apologize.”
The English legend talked about how he once apologized to a shop owner after stealing a chocolate bar. The salesperson told Gascoigne that the store’s CCTV cameras had caught it, but he decided not to do anything about it because it was “him.”
Some members of the public, however, are less kind and forgiving of Gascoigne. Katie, who doesn’t keep alcohol in the house, revealed that some people occasionally leave bottles of gin on the doorstep, hoping Gascoigne will unknowingly pick up the bottle and opportunistically take a photograph.
Gascoigne spoke about his life after football and how he deals with his past: “I called Katie in November a few years ago crying my eyes out.
“What I and other people went through, jail and rehab (getting cocaine out of toilet seats) and then being asked to be an ambassador for my country, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“When I visit these places, I hardly talk about football, more about the crazy things I used to do. I have to go right in and make them laugh.
Gascoigne cries after England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to West Germany in July 1990.
He admitted that he hardly watches football anymore because he misses the ‘buzz’ of playing
“There were a few times when I cried on stage. You miss it on a Saturday, you know, entertaining people. He made me very emotional and you miss it.
‘I can be emotionally soft. Sometimes it doesn’t take us long to cry. I keep a lot of things there, things that I should share but that I’m afraid to share with people. I don’t think he’ll ever grow up, which I don’t care about, you know?
‘I am proud of what I have given to people. I gave almost a million pounds to 10 different charities and called them to keep it secret.
‘I have never (given up). I think the moment I will give up will be when I am in a wooden box. Other than that, I will continue fighting.”