Initially, his family lived in a single upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom and moved several times during his early life.

[31] Willie McFaul took over as manager for the 1985–86 season and named Gascoigne in his starting lineup from the opening game of the campaign; he took the place of Chris Waddle, who had been sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

[47] In his first season at White Hart Lane, Gascoigne helped Terry Venables's Tottenham Hotspur to sixth in the First Division, scoring 7 goals in 37 appearances.

[51] Gascoigne was named on the PFA Team of the Year in the 1990–91 season as Tottenham reached the FA Cup Final, with victories over Blackpool, Oxford United, Portsmouth, Notts County and North London derby rivals Arsenal.

[53] Going into the final against Nottingham Forest, Spurs had readily accepted an offer from Lazio and Gascoigne had already agreed to the playing terms to join the Italian club.

[54] His final was to end in injury; however as 15 minutes into the game, he committed a dangerous knee-high foul on Gary Charles and ruptured his own cruciate ligaments in his right knee.

[61] He failed to fully settle in Italy and was beset by negative media interest which was not helped by the numerous occasions he punched reporters, and the time when he belched down a microphone on live television.

[64] His form was inconsistent in his first season at the Stadio Olimpico as he had previously spent a year out injured, but he endeared himself to Eagles fans when he scored in the 89th minute to equalise during the Rome derby against AS Roma.

[78] Rangers went on to win the Scottish Premier Division, clinching the title in the penultimate game of the season against Aberdeen at Ibrox Stadium; Gascoigne scored a hat-trick including two solo efforts.

[82] The Gers won another double by also winning the Scottish League Cup, beating Hearts 4–3 in the final at Celtic Park, with Gascoigne scoring twice and Ally McCoist claiming the other two goals.

[86] In January 1998, Gascoigne courted serious controversy when he mimed playing a flute (symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers) while warming up as a substitute during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park.

[87][88] Having already made the same gesture as a goal celebration shortly after joining the club in 1995, at that time claiming to have been ignorant of its meaning,[11] his actions infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident.

Gascoigne scored just 3 goals in 28 games and was sold on [11] while Rangers failed to win any trophies after he had departed, losing the league title to Celtic and the Scottish Cup final to Hearts.

[96] They ended the season in ninth place and having scored 3 goals in 26 top-flight games Gascoigne was linked with a recall to the England squad, who were now managed by former teammate Kevin Keegan and lacking a creative presence in midfield.

[96] His career went into terminal decline during the 1999–2000 campaign, with Gascoigne breaking his arm after elbowing opposition midfield player George Boateng in the head during Middlesbrough's 4–0 defeat to Aston Villa at the Riverside Stadium.

[99][100] He started the 2000–01 season well despite not playing every game due to his lack of fitness, but a series of niggling injuries and his ongoing depression took him out of the first team picture by Christmas.

[101] After spending time at an alcohol rehabilitation clinic in Arizona,[102] Gascoigne was fit enough to play for the "Toffees" in the 2001–02 season, and he scored his first goal for the club – and last in English football – away to Bolton Wanderers on 3 November.

In extra time, he made a successful through-ball pass from which Gary Lineker won and subsequently scored a penalty, which proved to be the winning goal.

Television cameras showed that he had tears in his eyes following the yellow card, which made Gascoigne a highly popular figure with the sympathetic British public.

His successor Graham Taylor dropped Gascoigne in favour of 32-year-old Gordon Cowans in a Euro '92 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in November 1990, citing tactical reasons.

[149] The last of these games was played in Hong Kong, after which numerous England players were photographed on a night out in which Gascoigne and several others having drinks poured into their mouths whilst sitting in the "dentist's chair".

[154] England drew 1–1 with Germany in the semi-finals, and Gascoigne missed the chance to win the game in extra time when he came inches away from connecting to an Alan Shearer cross yards in front of an unguarded German net.

[157] Qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup went down to the last group game against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico, and Gascoigne put in a disciplined and mature performance to help England secure the 0–0 draw that was enough to take them through to the tournament.

[158] Following qualification, British tabloid newspapers would publish pictures of Gascoigne eating kebabs late at night with his DJ friend Chris Evans.

[171] At the height of "Gazzamania" following the 1990 World Cup, he reached number 2 in the UK Top 40 with "Fog on the Tyne", a collaborative cover with Lindisfarne that earned him a gold disc.

[174] On 25 July 2009, Gascoigne appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the BBC television quiz The Weakest Link, where he engaged in banter with host Anne Robinson.

[175] The next day, he played in an England versus Germany charity football match to help raise funds for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

Football writer Brian Glanville said that Gascoigne displayed "a flair, a superlative technique, a tactical sophistication, seldom matched by an England player since the war.

[220][221] In February 2013, his agent, Terry Baker, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Gascoigne had relapsed again: "He won't thank me for saying it but he immediately needs to get help ... His life is always in danger because he is an alcoholic.

[222] Gascoigne was placed in intensive care in a U.S. hospital while being treated for alcoholism in Arizona in a rehabilitation programme thanks to financial support provided by ex-cricketer Ronnie Irani and broadcaster Chris Evans.