‘GAZZA AND I HAD TEARS IN OUR EYES’
THIRTY YEARS ON, EX-SPURS PHYSIO RECALLS GASCOIGNE’S WEMBLEY CUP FINAL AGONY
THIRTY years on, it remains one of the most iconic moments in FA Cup final history.
Paul Gascoigne, biggest star in the game, being carried off after suffering a cruciate knee injury in his challenge on Nottingham Forest’s Gary Charles in the 1991Wembley final.
It was a shocking incident which will inevitably be played in the build-up to this weekend’s final.
One man who saw it close up was former Tottenham physio John Sheridan. He has written a book – The Limping Physio – to be published in the autumn.
“We both knew it was a serious injury straight away,” he said. “I remember after he came off waiting for the doctor and we both had tears in our eyes.As a physio you’re so close to the players. I was ready to go to the hospital with Paul until the doctor said, ‘You can’t, there’s a game going on’.
“I went the next morning, up at 6.30am. I was in the operating theatre and watched the surgery. There was a fear he’d never play at the top level again.” Gazza was set to join Lazio in a big summer transfer. With Sheridan’s help he joined in the summer of 1992.
“There was so much pressure at the time,” said Sheridan, 78. “Tottenham’s finances meant they were counting on the transfer. Lazio gave him a deadline to get fit. It was such a big story that I ended up on the Nine O’Clock News.”
Sheridan is proud of what they achieved.
“I believed in Paul and he trusted me, which you need. I went to Rome on numerous occasions,” he said. “He actually played more games for England after the injury than before.”
Sheridan hurt his leg falling off a bus as a teenager, thus the title of his book. He hopes to inspire others with a disability.
He said: “I remember running onto the pitch, scared how fans might react when the physio came on with a limp.
“I knew I’d get stick from the Stretford End. But I doffed my cap to them, they laughed and people such as Cloughie or Fergie suddenly knew about you, the physio with a limp.”