Gazza is dying in front of us
Fans' horror at trembling, frail hero
STUNNED fans watched frail soccer legend Paul Gascoigne shake and sob his way through a charity appearance and said: “It was like watching him die in front of our eyes.”
The ex-England ace, 45, trembled uncontrollably and unleashed a torrent of swearwords during Thursday’s bash in Northampton after downing pints of lager. One guest said: “It was horrible seeing him like that.”
Fans told how trembling Gascoigne’s shambolic performance had “the atmosphere of a funeral”.
And one said sadly: “It was tragic. The consensus was certainly that he does not have long left.”
Gazza made a rambling ten-minute appearance at the hotel bash, where 500 dinner guests had paid £100 a seat to see him.
He was seen downing pints of lager before the compere announced that the star, who has battled booze and drugs since ending his glittering playing career, had been taken ill and needed hospital attention.
Guests were then told he would still appear — but were urged to be “patient” with him.
Gazza was eventually helped on stage by two security guards from the Northampton hotel for a question-and-answer session with his agent Terry Baker.
But the audience watched aghast as he shook uncontrollably and fluffed a string of scripted lines before bursting into tears. At one point he told punters: “I’m sorry, three days on the whisky, I’m sorry.”
Diners said he was trembling so badly they thought he had Parkinson’s disease.
Last night a further 15 public speaking bookings for the former Newcastle, Spurs and Lazio hero were cancelled.
One guest at Thursday’s function, staged by Northampton Town FC, said: “It was horrible seeing my hero in that condition. There was a lump in everyone’s throat when he left the stage.
“The room really did have the atmosphere of a funeral and the consensus was certainly that he does not have long left.”
Another guest said: “It was tragic. We paid for the evening to celebrate and support a football hero.
“But instead it felt like we were watching him die in front of our eyes.”
During his stage appearance, Geordie Gazza was asked what it felt like to play for his country.
But he could not speak and, after an uncomfortable pause, began sobbing.
He later launched a foul-mouthed rant about the current England set-up and its multi-millionaire stars. Mr Baker asked him to curb his language, but ended the session when he did not.
One fan wrote in an online account of the evening: “The compere told us that unfortunately Gazza was very ill.
“He had taken a funny turn due to the medication he takes and should really be in hospital.
“Gazza was helped on stage and was sat on a sofa. He was shaking uncontrollably all the time. His agent asked who was the best player he’s played with and Gazza said, ‘Bryan Robson. But he’s a ****. They’re all ****s. You’re all ****s’.
“His agent apologised and he apologised too. He broke down three times while on stage.”
Hi Im a City fan Ok, there are lots of football fans on this forum I know. I came across this on the Bluemoon forum, it breaks my heart to post it, your a football fan andl understand why... I loved Gascoine as many of you did. But here goes:-
Gazza, with 57 England caps, was later driven straight to his south coast home. Mr Baker insisted the former midfield ace does not drink whisky and had jumbled up a scripted joke about being on a “whisky diet”.
He said: “Paul has made a huge effort to straighten his life out, but wasn’t very well.
“He probably shouldn’t have gone out but he didn’t want to let down all those people.”
The Sun told how Gazza fell off the wagon last June during a speaking tour in Dubai. Asked how he was last night, Gazza said: “What happened in Northampton?”
