In a career which has spanned nearly twenty years, Gascoigne signed for his hometown club aged 17 and played with distinction for the Magpies for four seasons before he was lured south by Tottenham for £2 million in July 1988.

Manager Terry Venables obviously saw something he liked and Gascoigne repaid the manager's faith in him from the moment he made his Spurs debut against, of all teams, Newcastle.

In December 1989, a few months after his first Tottenham start, he made his England debut in the December friendly against Denmark at Wembley, which England won thanks to a solitary goal from Neil Webb.

Despite only coming on as a substitute for the five minutes, Gascoigne let his natural talents shine and he made enough of an impression for Bobby Robson to keep him in his England set-up.

In April 1989, he scored his first international goal for England in another substitute appearance in the World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley, which England won 5-0.

Gascoigne's impact had been such that when coupled with his good form in 1989/90, England manager Bobby Robson decided to include the brilliant young midfielder in his final squad of 22 for the 1990 World Cup finals in Italy.

Gazza was outstanding, operating in the heart of England's midfield and, for the first time, earning himself a reputation outside of Britain as a truly gifted player.

In the Second Round match against Belgium, he won and took the free kick from which David Platt volleyed home England's goal and then, in the quarter-final against Cameroon, he supplied the defence splitting pass which lead to Gary Lineker being fouled and the awarding of England's second, match-winning penalty.

In England's semi-final against West Germany, Gascoigne again played well as England went out to the eventual champions after a penalty shoot-out. However, it was his tears at picking up a booking which would have put him out of the final that many people remember most.

In the season after returning from his World Cup heroics, he almost single-handedly got Spurs through to the 1991 FA Cup Final against Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, the most memorable moment coming when he scored a brillaint 30-yard free-kick in the semi-final against Arsenal.

In the Final at Wembley, Gascoigne seemed not to be able to control himself and it wasn't long before he made an awful tackle on Nottingham Forest's Garry Parker, thrusting his right boot way too high and into Parker's chest.

Shortly after, an even worse challenge on Gary Charles was maybe the pivotal moment in Gascoigne's career. The tackle saw Charles recover but Gascoigne stretchered off with a torn cruciate ligaments in his right knee.

After a long period out of the game, he finally recovered in May 1992, passing fit to complete his long since negotiated £5.5m move from Spurs to Rome.

Gascoigne's time in Italy was in truth not a happy one. After making his Serie A debut for Lazio against Genoa in September 1992, the low points that he experienced were far more numerous than the high ones.

Plagued by constant injuries, Gascoigne only made 22 league appearances in 1992/93 and just 17 the season after that. Some utterly outstanding displays - including a match-winning display against city-rivals Roma - are not enough to convince Lazio of Gascoigne's worth, though, and the midfielder moved to Rangers in the June of 1995.

After a slow start Gascoigne begins to find his feet in the back end of the 1995/96 season. Constantly turning in brilliant displays, Gazza scored a wonderful hat-trick on the final day of the season against Aberdeen to win Rangers their eigth championship in a row.

Named Scottish Footballer of the Year, Gascoigne bounced into the England squad for the 1996 European Championships, not having played for the Three Lions for virtually all of the 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign.

In the single most memorable moment from his whole career, he scores a fantastic goal against Scotland in the group stages to secure a crucial win for his country.

Back to full fitness for the first time in years, he plays an important role in England's run to the semi-finals of Euro 96 where England lose once again on penalties to the Germans.

Two more years at Rangers followed, with Gascoigne playing as well as ever, winning the 1997 League championship and League Cup.

Midway through the 1997/98 season, though, Gascoigne moves to Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough and makes his debut in the League Cup Final which his new side lose.

Exclusion from Glenn Hoddle's 1998 World Cup squad sees Gascoigne's international career come to an end and since then he has had spells at Burnley, Everton and abroad in China with Gansu Tianma.

Paul Gascoigne Factfile 

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Gateshead, England
Date of Birth: 27 May 1967 
Height: 5' 10''
Weight: 11 12 
Clubs: Newcastle Utd, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, M'boro, Everton, Burnley 
Position: Midfielder

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1984/85

Newcastle United

2

0

1985/86

Newcastle United

31

9

1986/87

Newcastle United

24

5

1987/88

Newcastle United

35

7

1988/89

Tottenham Hotspur

32

6

1989/90

Tottenham Hotspur

34

6

1990/91

Tottenham Hotspur

26

7

1991/92

Tottenham Hotspur

0

0

1992/93

Lazio

22

4

1993/94

Lazio

17

2

1994/95

Lazio

2

0

1995/96

Rangers

28

14

1996/97

Rangers

26

13

1997/98

Rangers

20

3

1997/98

Middlesbrough

7

0

1998/99

Middlesbrough

26

3

1999/00

Middlesbrough

8

1

2000/01

Everton

14

0

2001/02

Everton

18

1

2001/02

Burnley

6

0