Gazza: A wayward genius keeping the demons at bay

PAUL GASCOIGNE was at Wembley on Saturday night, one of a number of stars from England's 1996 side to pay tribute to Terry Venables, their manager and mentor.

They also paid tribute to other departed heroes from the past, including Stan Bowles and Brazil legend Mario Zagallo, and Gascoigne, unfeasibly close to the Royal Box considering he is still considered one of football's bad boys, might well have been thinking: “There but for the grace of God go I.” 

Gazza's flirtations with fate – and the law – have been well-documented throughout his adult life, from his 'daft-as-a-brush' days as a teenage prodigy at Newcastle United, to his turbulent, and far-from private life since retiring over 20 years ago.

His problems with women, drugs and alcohol plus regular run-ins with the police and papparazzi have peppered our news pages, long after he finished as a headline-maker on the back pages.

But he is back in the limelight now, on best behaviour, looking and sounding better than in recent years, and enjoying a renaissance as a story-teller par excellence.

Last week he was in London and Glasgow, enrapturing those supporters of Tottenham and Rangers who have yet to see anyone better than Gazza in his pomp. An audience with Paul Gascoigne may not bring the eloquence of Peter Ustinov or David Niven, but his stories are wonderful and his personal story is still fascinating.

This was the boy wonder from unfashionable Gateshead who became arguably the best player in the world for a brief period 30-odd years ago, until a combination of injuries, addictions and poor decisions blighted his career.

From 1989 to 1991, when his career trajectory started spiralling downwards after sustaining a serious and self-inflicted knee injury in the