“FISHING… IT’S THE MOST EXCITING SPORT IN THE WORLD!”
Football legend Paul Gascoigne has rediscovered his love for fishing. Editor-in-Chief Steve Fitzpatrick caught up with ‘Gazza’ as he was filming for a new Korda TV show…
PAUL Gascoigne is regarded by many as the most naturally gifted footballer of his generation.
Winning 57 caps during a decade-long England career, he was responsible for some of the most memorable moments in the Three Lions’ modern history.
Who can forget the tears of the 1990 World Cup in Italy?
His skills and passion were instrumental in helping England reach a rare semi-final berth, but during the match against West Germany he was to receive a yellow card that would rule him out of an appearance in the final, had England won the game.
England failed to make it to the 1994 World Cup in the United States, despite some classic performances from the fun-loving Geordie in the qualifiers, but two years later he would have his moment in front of an expectant home crowd at Euro ’96.
While the nation chanted ‘Football’s Coming Home’ he scored an unforgettable goal, ranked as one of the best in the tournament and one of England’s all-time greats, against arch-rival Scotland at Wembley.
It wasn’t just his international games which lit up football – his list of clubs showed his services were very much in demand in the 1990s, with a career starting in the youth team at Newcastle United, and taking him to Spurs, Lazio, Rangers and Everton, to name just a few.
It was in the early 1980s, while at Newcastle, that he discovered something which would run in parallel with his football through his playing days, and something he still remains as passionate about today as he did back then – fishing.
Gazza admits that he would stop at nothing to get time on the bank, and regularly went out trout fishing before heading off to training, sometimes still dressed in his fishing gear, including waders, and with a couple of freshly-caught trout in his bag!
In the 1990s he was also a regular in Angling Times, appearing in a series of on-the-bank features
fishing on rivers and lakes, as well as gracing the front cover of our 1992 Yearbook.
The last time the Angling Times cameras joined Gazza on the bank it was pranks galore, and our photographer ended up with a pint of maggots down the back of his shirt… an incident he recalled when Angling Times photographer Lloyd Rogers and I joined him on the banks of Guru Makins Fishery last week.
Now 51, he was there to shoot a new TV show with The Big Fish Off and Monster Carp star Ali Hamidi and the lads from Korda – and it wasn’t long before we saw the Gazza the public love.
Within minutes of getting out of the car he was busy signing autographs, taking selfies with the girls from the café, and entertaining the matchmen preparing for the Wednesday open.
When we got to the bank, though, I saw a very different person emerge, the real Paul Gascoigne, and I was genuinely impressed by his humble nature, his openness, and his genuine love for fishing. With expert coaching from Ali, the cameras rolled and the alarms screamed as mirrors, commons, and the odd bream hit the back of the net.
Each fish was met with a big kiss and excitement.
In the quiet spells between fish his one-liners cracked us all up and he had an endless stream of stories, from meeting the Pope and Colonel Gadaffi to waking up in the middle of nowhere in Mexico and going fishing for trout.
To my surprise he also had a lot of love for Angling Times and, unlike some superstars who won’t even give you the time of day without a string of agents, Gazza was very generous with his time with us.
We sat next to each other in carp chairs and talked for half-an-hour about fishing and football in one of the most frank interviews I’ve ever been privileged to be part of.
They say ‘never meet your heroes’ – well, Paul Gascoigne turns that phrase on its head.
As we prepared to part company (and Lloyd checked down the back of his jacket, just in case) I went to shake his hand and say thank you.
Instead he grabbed me, kissed me, gave me a massive hug and talked about meeting up as mates to go fishing again soon.
As Lloyd and I headed back around the lake to the car, all we could hear was the bite alarm screaming and laughter from the real Paul Gascoigne enjoying the sport which has stuck with him through all the highs and lows of a remarkable life.