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Gascoigne-Official Trailer

Gazza producer on making Paul Gascoigne film: He’s so vulnerable and so fragile but that’s what makes him a wonderful footballer - News - Films - The Independent
The two minute trailer for new documentary Gascoigne couldn’t fail to give you goosebumps, whether you’re a football fan or not. For one of the first times, Paul Gascoigne has looked back on his footballing career and in some ways it’s more poignant to hear him talk about his success than the decades of alcohol abuse and tabloid drama which followed.

One of the producers, Nick Taussig, tells me that the film was all the former Spurs and England star’s idea. “Jane Preston [the director] had made this film for ITV, Being Paul Gascoigne, and Paul had found that experience quite frustrating because I think that focused on his family dysfunctions and his drinking and his constant rehabilitation. He said to Jane at the end, ‘I’d love to do something about my career as a footballer’.

“In the last ten years since he retired he’s become tabloid fodder for various reasons, and we thought we could do something here which is more about him and looking at him in a slightly more objective, less salacious way. What emerged quite quickly was that Paul had really wanted to do something like this, where he’s got to now, he’s quite dependent on the tabloids to make a living, and he wanted there to be a more serious portrait of his playing career.”

While there were many highs, the deep lows also started during his professional career which saw him play for Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers and England. Getting Gascoigne to sit down and churn through all that happened to him during this period was never going to be easy. “It was almost a kind of psychotherapy; it was a very intense interview. It was almost like going to rehab in a way, the amount we were talking about things,” Tausig says.

It wasn’t just Gascoigne’s memories but those of his team mate Gary Lineker, who says in the film that Gazza’s weaknesses also added to his success: “Part of his genius, part of his magnificence is the fact that he is still vulnerable. Without that vulnerable side I don't think that he would have been the player that he was.”

Manchester United player Wayne Rooney, whose talent has been compared to that of Gascoigne’s, says, “You don't shed tears on the football pitch if you don't care about playing for your country. I would say he the most exciting English player I have seen and certainly the best.”

Meanwhile Chelsea captain Jose Mourinho says that Gazza was “The Special One”, rather than he. “The fact that Jose referred to Paul as the Special One really meant so much to him. He was touched by all the comments about him. He’s so vulnerable and so fragile but that’s what makes him a wonderful footballer. Therein lies the story,” says Taussig.

Gascoigne, now 48, has famously battled an alcohol addiction for almost twenty years (he was first admitted to The Priory in 1998, and his friend Chris Evans paid for his most recent rehab stint in Arizona in 2013), and there were fears amongst the team that this documentary may never be finished. “Last year there was a point when we felt he might die. He had said to Jane I want to make this film before I die, he wanted a film that was about his career – and we thought a couple of times we might not be able to do it.”

But, luckily Gascoigne was going through a better period when the time came to film. Says Taussig, “He’s honest about his drinking, and he has good days and bad days. He will maybe drink one day in every ten, so most of the time he’s sober but then he’ll have a blip and those blips come as an emotional response to something that he can’t deal with. But he’s in a good space at the moment and this experience has undoubtedly helped him in many ways.”

Gascoigne is screened live across cinemas nationwide for one night only on 8th June, followed by a Q&A with Paul Gascoigne. The DVD/Blu-ray and digital download release is on 15th June
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Funny to me when he was playing he was never fragile or vulnerable, he just oozed ability all the time. I remember sitting pointing out to a friend of mine when we were watching him live on tv, how every pass he hit achieved something. Had a real knack of taking 2/3 players out the game with a 10-15 yard pass, a real skill to have the right weight of pass. Imagine if we had him in the same team as Hoddle or Modric, would have been a thing of beauty.
 
Jesus - getting emotional just watching the trailer. Lord knows what I'll be like watching the whole flick. He's the reason I support Spurs. It's his fault.
 
Geordie hero Gazza to take part in Q&A at one-off screening of documentary 'Gascoigne' - Chronicle Live
Troubled Geordie hero Gazza is to talk live about his life next week during a one-off screening of new documentary, Gascoigne.

The former football great will be taking part in a question-and-answer session being streamed live to North East cinemas when the film makes its debut on Monday.

...Ahead of a DVD release on June 15, it is having a nationwide screening at 6.50pm on Monday evening with the live chat with Gazza following via satellite link from the Brixton Ritzy Picturehouse cinema in London.

...His Q&A will be hosted by sports journalist Henry Winter and the panel will include Pete Davies, author of All Played Out - the “inside story” of the 1990 World Cup, and former player and manager Stuart Pearce.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/603107434148831232
 
Damn, had I known about this I'd have tried to get tickets, mind you they probably sold out within minutes of going on sale! Like others on here Gazza was the reason I started supporting Spurs!

He is a true (but flawed) legend!
 
That Italia' 90 photo brings back memories from my childhood, Gazza tearing around against Germany, getting booked, Lineker gesturing to Bobby Robson... amazing tournament.

I know there are many that gave up on him a long time ago but I always hoped he could/still can find a way to deal with everything and be happy in life
 
dingdongo said:
That Italia' 90 photo brings back memories from my childhood, Gazza tearing around against Germany, getting booked, Lineker gesturing to Bobby Robson... amazing tournament.

I know there are many that gave up on him a long time ago but I always hoped he could/still can find a way to deal with everything and be happy in life
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Addiction treatment is very difficult, and has a fairly low success rate, unfortunately. Andd from what has been reported Gazza has been getting a lot of different treatments. No wonder people give up on hope. However there a fairly well known, but from what I know little understood phenomenon, where a kind of "spontaneous recovery" happens somewhat later in life for a significant portion of those suffering with addiction.

I'll say there's always hope, even though the situation looks very difficult. One of the worries with substance abuse is that there's been permanent brain damage caused by the abuse over and beyond the physical and psychological dependency. From what I've seen of Gazza in interviews and TV appearances this hasn't looked a worry for him so far. Physically his body has obviously taken quite a beating, but he's seemed alright cognitively speaking as long as he's been sober.
 
normally I'd steer clear of these with a barge pole but obviously the tottenham connection and if this in any way keeps him on the straight and narrow, he's got my full support
 
anyone looking to see this - East Dulwich Picture House is screening it at 6:50 with the live Q&A from Brixton also, and there are plenty of tickets left
 
And listening and reading some of what he has to say now, dare i say it, but there does appear to be some hope, light at the end of the tunnel for him. Maybe it's this film or the proof and court settlement surrounding the tabloid scum intrusion into his life and phone. Perhaps he'll stumble into the next crisis but what he says below does show he has some clarity on his situation and is prepared to stare himself in the face and be truthful............


Paul Gascoigne says he is "happy in life" at the moment but revealed he was glad when he was told he was an alcoholic at the age of 33.

The former England international, who retired from football in 2004, has spent years battling alcoholism.

Gascoigne, 48, knew something was wrong during his playing days and spoke of his relief at finally being diagnosed.

"When it was explained, and when I heard other people's stories, I was like 'thank GHod'," he said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, he added: "I didn't know what was going on. Why did I wake up at 5am and want a drink? It was not normal.

"People want to know if there is any medication they can take when they have an illness and it was a relief."

In a wide-ranging interview, Gascoigne also spoke openly about:

  • his past struggles with alcohol
  • the way he has been depicted in the media
  • attempting to help Kenny Samson recover from alcoholism
  • struggling to watch current football
  • how Raheem Sterling should take booing as a compliment
"I am happy in life, I am happy with the way things are going," said Gascoigne.

"I know it won't last forever because I know what the press can write. The lies written about me over the last two years have been horrendous and you have to be strong to get through that.

"I accept that is going to be for life for me. I admit I haven't dealt with it properly sometimes and hit the drink, it hasn't been month-long benders, it has been a few days and I have paid the consequences.

"I might drink tomorrow, I might not. Hopefully I don't. When I drink, the only thing I am doing is making things bad for myself."

"I am a nice guy, I would not treat anyone the way I have been treated," said Gascoigne, who starred for England as they reached the semi-finals of both the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 European Championship.

"I don't play football any more so I have to earn money other ways. I get good jobs and the press write lies and I lose that job because they think I am in rehab, or injecting myself with heroin or jumping off a pier, or falling out of a casino drunk - but I am just sitting in the back garden doing nothing.

"I have to ring the lawyer again and it takes two years and in that two years I have lost money again.

"I went from being on the pitch all the time to being in courtrooms. I should become a lawyer and defend myself.

"Everything is good at the moment but I know what is going to happen in time."

Former England defender Kenny Sansom recently revealed he had contemplated suicide after becoming homeless because of his alcoholism, admitting in a Sunday Mirror interview he fears he will never stop drinking.

Gascoigne said: "I have paid about £300K of my money. I am trying. I want to win this over. I went to rehab to help Kenny and he ran out after half a day, he is not wanting that.

"I can't help him, no-one in the world can help unless he puts his hand up and says he needs help."

Gascoigne was capped 57 times by England and made more than 400 appearances for clubs including Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers, before retiring after leaving Boston in 2004.

"I still haven't coped. I hardly try and watch games because I still wish I was playing.

"I cannot handle watching players getting lots of money and not putting 100% in. The fans paid for my house, my car, my holidays - but I've seen players score a goal, even for England, and just walk back.

"There are young kids there seeing that and thinking it means nothing to score goals. I don't like that."

On Sunday, England forward Raheem Sterling was booed by some fans during the goalless friendly draw with the Republic of Ireland.

The 20-year-old Liverpool player has been criticised for wanting to leave the Reds and rejecting a £100,000-a-week contract with them.

England boss Roy Hodgson said he "trusts" Sterling, but suggested he also needs to work harder and develop a thicker skin.

"There are 11 players on the pitch and Raheem was picked out," said Gascoigne. "That means he is doing something right, because Roy knows he is a great player.

"I'd say to Sterling if you are getting kicked left, right and centre and getting booed it is because they are scared. They don't want you playing and don't want you on the ball because you are dangerous. Take it as a compliment.

"Take a little bit from your club manager, a little bit from England manager and a little bit from what is being said by other people as well. The time to worry is when they stop talking about you."
 
did you go to the Brixton screening? i only saw the satellite at East Dulwich but during the Q&A they mentioned loads of Spurs fans being locked out :D

seemed very happy when reflecting on his time with us
 
I enjoyed seeing him on that BT Sport show few months back with Robbie Savage and Russell Brand sitting next to him. Seemed in great spirits and even though he had a little moment when he realised how much he missed the game Russell Brand said something like, ''you gave everyone some great moments and even though you are not able to play anymore that greatness is still inside you..'' Was nice to see.

Also retold that story how he was a White Hart Lane helping get rid of the pigeons lol.. I'll try and dig out that clip.

 
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