This is a tale that started in tears, carries on with tears, and barring a resumption of the age of miracles, will end in tears. Paul John Gascoigne’s tumultuous life has been tinged with unhappiness and misfortune since his humble beginnings in Newcastle when his demons first surfaced and football became his only refuge. His incredible skills would lift him to stardom, but he’ll be remembered as much for his outrageous antics as his astounding midfield play.

Gascoigne is possibly the most naturally gifted player English football has ever produced and undeniably one of its greatest personalities on and off the pitch. In the wake of his outstanding performances in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Gazza-mania swept the United Kingdom and he reached number two in the UK Top 40 with his song ‘Fog on the Tyne’. Few English footballers have become as recognizable and as loved as Paul Gascoigne and he was memorably branded “daft as a brush” by then England manager Sir Bobby Robson.

On the pitch, Gascoigne was a revelation. Despite his size, he commanded the deftest of touches, the ability to run at defenders, an inch-perfect pass, and a flair for the unpredictable. He also possessed a cheeky sense of humour that could occasionally get him into trouble with officials – such as the time he booked a referee who had dropped his yellow card on the pitch! Throughout his career with Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Glasgow Rangers, Middlesbrough, and Everton, Gascoigne was the ultimate performer and exuded a simple love of the game.

Some of Gascoigne’s greatest moments were in the shirt of England for whom he played 57 times, scoring 10 goals. He steered England through to the semi-finals of both the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, losing penalty shoot-outs to Germany on both occasions. In the 1990 match, Gazza was booked, meaning he would miss the final if England went through. His subsequent tears became an iconic image of the ultimate, passionate sportsman. Pundits agree that, in terms of talent, Gascoigne wasn’t just any ordinary player. He was famous because he was the most talented British player since George Best. No British player who has emerged since, with the possible exception of Wayne Rooney, has possessed the ability he did. But most believe he never fulfilled his potential in a career plagued by problems linked to heavy drinking.

At first, his lager-fuelled antics in bars and clubs across Europe were regarded by many as overblown enthusiasm. Even during his stint at Lazio, he succeeded in outraging the whole of Italy by belching on national television.

However, Gascoigne’s clown image disguised serious personal problems which eventually led to his exclusion from the England World Cup squad in 1998. He even was spotted eating kebabs with radio and television personalities Chris Evans and Danny Baker the day before selection for the World Cup squad was to be made. He proceeded to smash up the manager’s hotel room to bits when given the news. On another occasion, when Gascoigne was not picked for a team, he squirted tomato ketchup all over one of his teammates and then ran to his room to cry. He was like a toddler trapped inside in a grown man’s body.

The hangers-on and backslappers had drifted away and Paul Gascoigne was suddenly very alone. He was always a man who used football as a sanctuary from the problems that tormented him in his personal life. And now that football and his celebrity friends have left him behind, Gascoigne’s escape route has been cut off. It is not that the game has deserted him. It is that alcoholism appears to have a stronger hold over him. And now, he has become the latest example of a famous sportsman struggling to adapt to life after the applause has died away. Alcohol problems and depression have dogged his attempts at management and he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a photographer on the day he was sacked from one job, although the charges were later dropped.

In January 2005, he was hospitalized with pneumonia, sparking fears over his long-term health. Trouble struck again in December 2005. Gascoigne was arrested for an alleged assault after photographers scrambled to take his picture outside a hotel in Liverpool , just hours after he left as manager of Kettering FC. Gascoigne’s 39-day reign at Kettering ended in acrimony, with chairman Imran Ladak claiming the former England midfielder was “under the influence of alcohol before, during and after several first-team games and training sessions.” Another alleged incident with a photographer a year later saw Gascoigne in the news again.

In February 2007, Gascoigne underwent emergency surgery for a punctured stomach ulcer after apparently being taken ill as he was celebrating his 40th birthday with family and friends in his home town of Newcastle . The following year in 2008, Gascoigne hit rock bottom when he was taking cocaine and drinking a litre of gin per day. This lead to the former England international being sectioned under the Mental Health Act three times by courts. At one time, Gascoigne had been detained for a series of bizarre incidents at a city hotel. He was picked up by police following a disturbance. It followed claims he was almost permanently drunk, set off a fire alarm, spent hours gambling with staff and wandered around clutching plastic, battery-operated parrots. There were also reports he would order raw liver from room service and answer his door stark naked.

Subsequently in 2009, a documentary released about Paul Gascoigne, includes footage of his 12 year old son cruelly telling television cameras, “I don’t think there’s any point in helping him,” and that “he’s probably going to die soon.” These are not simple words to hear from a child to a father. Remember, this year alone, Paul Gascoigne has already been arrested three different times. In other words, Gascoigne seems to be arrested at least once or twice a year for almost the last seven or eight years straight.

Is he beyond salvation? That depends on who you listen to. Many senior figures in the game have compared Gascoigne’s footballing retirement to that of George Best and voiced regret that more had not been done to save him from his own demons. Genius is close to madness, and whether you believe a game’s player can touch genius or not, Gascoigne has come as close as any.

The reality is that there are many people who prove themselves inadequate to the demands of coping with the world, who really cannot take care of themselves, who really never do get the hang of grown-up life. Each of these people have their own tragedies, leaving trails of victims. But few of this type started with so much talent or gave and received so much joy. This tragic story comes down to what Gascoigne wants for himself. No one can force this once great footballer to do what he doesn’t want to. But I believe he genuinely wants to be involved in football in some capacity; it’s what he loves and what he knows in life. This one simplistic reason is why I think the English FA needs to step in and help “Gazza” so he doesn’t harm himself any more than he already has.

Paul Gascoigne as a sporting, social, and cultural phenomenon is a fascinating subject, but he is also a man with a huge amount of inner pain. It is a tragedy that such a talented and promising man could fall so far by the wayside, but I would imagine he knows (or knew) that his life could be so much more, and I can’t help but think that only makes things worse for him.

I truly hope he recovers.

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With the recent news of Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers putting across their aspiration to exit the Scottish Premier League (SPL); the question is whether the ‘Old Firm’ should be allowed to join the Premier League. The soccer governing body FIFA says that both Scottish clubs could ‘hypothetically’ make the move to the English Premiership. Fact is that there are a number of football clubs that already play in leagues other than the ones governed by their own countries. Already a small number of Welsh teams such as Cardiff City, Swansea City. Wrexham, Newport County , Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay play in the English Leagues . So why can’t the Scottish clubs do the same thing the Welsh clubs are doing in England?

Since we have two clubs with average gates of 60,000 and 50,000 in that order; it is only appropriate and fitting to call both Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers “big clubs.” Only Manchester United and Liverpool FC have a clear cut advantage of global support than Glasgow Celtic for example. This level of support is apparent in North America alone. Seventy thousand people don’t just show up for a game without a valid reason. Their fan-bases and traveling support are massive worldwide, and their very presence in the English Premiership would draw an increase in media coverage – and not just from the Scottish press – as well as supplementary TV and sponsorship money. The top-placed club in Scotland receives £2.6million from sponsorship and media rights per annum. The bottom club in England is relegated with a package of just over £30million. Dimitar Berbatov transferred from Tottenham to Manchester United for £30m-plus in the last summer. The record transfer between two Scottish clubs is only £4.4m. Financially, there is no comparison. It is fair to say that the SPL’s comparative poverty means both Glasgow clubs are restricted in terms of challenging for top signings and that a move to England would be advantageous and constructive to clubs with massive arena and huge worldwide fan bases. The FA Premiership is now a worldwide brand. Fans and players from all over the world want to play or watch the best, and given the performance of English clubs in Europe recently, it is unquestionably so. Who knows with better competition, better training facilities and techniques; there may be the chance of producing another Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Dennis Law or even Alan Hansen, which is something the Scottish football has not managed to do so since the seventies or eighties. I am unequivocally convinced, every team playing in the English Premiership at the time of their induction would benefit financially. So what is the problem?

The justification for the move down to England unavoidably leads to several questions: Could they survive in the English Premiership? Frankly it’s complicated to dispute that they wouldn’t, for both footballing and financial reasons. Pessimists and so-called soccer experts can point to the fact that there is not really much of a competition in Scotland and the only stiff competition is between Rangers and Celtic, which is a regrettable fact. This reality is perhaps compounded by the fact that when Rangers or Celtic have faced other British teams in “Battles of Britain” in the old UEFA Cup or the Champions League, they have produced displays well above their respective income levels.

Keep in mind both Rangers and Celtic have been Uefa Cup finalists in recent season. As a consequence people may then speculate about the future of the other Scottish teams which make up the remainder of the SPL – Aberdeen, Dundee United, Heart, Hibs etc. (or simply put the leftovers of the SPL).  The Old Firm’s attendances account for roughly 60% of the fans watching the SPL on any given weekend, meaning interest could go one of two ways – go through the roof because of the additional competition, or nose-dive because of the lack of quality. It is mind boggling that Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen FC was the last team in the 1984-85 season to be crowned champions outside of the Old Firm. I am sure there would be a high percentage of Scottish people who would welcome the additional competition in the SPL after the exit of the Old Firm.  How do you think the other teams’ supporters would feel winning the league and heading into Europe on a regular basis?

The final question is how the English FA would incorporate the Old Firm into the present structure should they be given the green light to join?

I have come with three proposals for the English FA to consider:

The first suggestion would be for the two Glasgow teams to enter the English League at the Championship League Two level (The old fourth division). In other words the lowest professional league in England… So they would start at the bottom of the Football Association ladder and then work their way up to the pantheon of English football. Meaning it could take them anywhere from 4-7 years to enter the English Premiership. There are presently 24 teams in that division. I am sure the English FA could bend the rules and allow 26 teams to compete for one full season, and then the Old Firm would “earn” their way up to the English Premiership just like everyone else. Therefore, it is imperative to play four additional games, with the season starting a week earlier and also finishing a week later.

The second proposition is that the Premiership could be increased from 20 to 22 teams for one season, and again the additional four games could be covered by starting the season a week earlier, finishing a week later. So in order for this to happen, I am proposing that the Old Firm be involved in a possible play-off with the seventh and eighth placed teams in the Championship (the old second division). By doing this, they would have to warrant their right to play in the English Premiership, and nobody would be penalized. In fact, two additional teams from the Championship would have a chance of gaining promotion instead of the Old Firm. However, if the Old Firm is unsuccessful in their play-off ties, they would then start their new existence in the Championship, and would have to earn promotion like everyone else. So for that solitary season 5 teams would be promoted instead of the usual three. Then the following year the English FA can then decide whether to keep the league of 22 teams or maybe reduce it back to 20 teams.

The last solution is in a roundabout way for the Old Firm to pay the English Premiership teams a one off balloon payment of anything from £100-£150M to be immediately included into the Premiership. I am sure this proposal would interest the majority of the teams in the league. And the money would then be split up equally between the 20 already existing clubs. Then again the league is obviously expanded from 20 to 22 teams for one season and at the end of the season five teams are relegated instead of the usual three.

All this is in theory. I know that Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, is completely against the Old Firm moving down south to England. He has gone on record by stating that he would block any attempt of move to the Premiership. The reality is that Scudamore is forgetting is that a large part of English Premiership is foreign owned, administered and staffed. The Glazer family, Stan Kroenke, Tom Hicks and George Gillett only invested into English soccer for one reason and that is to make money. When all’s said and done, Scudamore is just a face representing the English Premiership, he doesn’t have the final say on this matter as he is certainly not the person pumping well over £1 Billion into the English Premiership; it is Rupert Murdoch and Sky Television. If Murdoch wants the Old Firm in the English Premiership then in all probability happen it will happen.

On the flip side, if the Richard Scudamores of the world are successful in stalling the move into the English soccer league, I would suggest that the Old Firm along with the likes of Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven from Holland, FC Mechelen, Anderlect, Club Brugge, Standard Liege from Belgium with FC Basel, FC Zurich, Servette FC, Grasshopper Club Zurich from Switzerland, Rapid Vienna, Austria Vienna, Sturm Graz, from Austria, Rosenborg, FC Helsinki, FC Copenhagen, Malmo, FC Gothenburg, Bronby, FC Haka from the Nordic countries form a super league so that they compete with the teams based in England, Italy, Germany and Spain for TV and Revenue funds.  Otherwise these leagues and teams will continue to be third level football. In the long run, this may harm the Champions League, however none of these teams will win that competition with the way the current format is set out.

In conclusion, the way the Champions League is formatted, the majority of time we are not really getting the best teams winning the competition as in the past when the competition was only for the champions of a specific country. Rangers and Celtic moving to the English Premiership would certainly be interesting, but as I’ve pointed out above, I wouldn’t be too shocked if there were some pretty major continental reactions.

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Who can remember the smoldering heat of Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, Argentina were already a goal up against England (due to divine intervention according to Argentinean folklore)…. In a sequence of outright mind-blowing passage of play, Diego Armando Maradona at the halfway waltzed, tangoed, foxtrotted and rumbaed his way past almost the entire England team to score what has since been selected the greatest goal in the history of football. He may be considered as one of the most disreputable figures in English sporting history, but the talent clearly was there for all to see. His vision, skill, speed and above all his endurance was the stuff of legends. He was born to play the game…

As they say comparing player from different eras is such a subjective matter and simply put a bloody hassle. My old headmaster used to tell me as wee boy that nobody was ever better than Bobby Moore, Johan Cruyff and Alfredo di Stefano, my uncle says Georgie Best and Pele truly walked on water and not one single player has come anywhere close to matching their skill level, despite his recent antics, I still believe Maradona is the greatest….although I have always had a soft spot for Marco Van Basten arguably the most complete forward of all time. Even a friend’s son reckons Lionel Messi and Zidane are the ones for him….

Wherever you go, whether it is the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or even Anfield, the names will be different from the ones being whispered around the Santiago Bernabeau, Camp Nou or the San Siro….

Conceivably that is why we all love football so much, to a larger extent sports in general. At all times we believe that the top professionals of ‘our time/era’ are the greatest of all time. The reality is that it is complicated to compare these great players since they are all from a different period.

I wonder if Pele would be able to have the stamina and strength to play in today’s Premiership; furthermore if Messi or Ronaldo were beamed back over thirty years ago would they be able to cope with the heavier leather balls and the lack of referee protection? I am guessing soft free kicks were not ever part of the game back then!

My guess is that we can evaluate them by how good they were in the company of their generation. It is absolutely pointless paying attention to unreliable substantiation because the fans of each player will only tell you why their particular favourite is the best of all time.

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