GAZZA AT BOSTON
Paul Gascoigne’s swansong
IT’S not unusual for former top-flight players to find themselves filtering down the divisions as their playing days begin to slow down. Peter Beardsley turned out for the likes of (an at-the-time Second Division) Manchester City, Fulham and Hartlepool United in the late 1990s.
Peter Shilton made a handful of appearances for Leyton Orient as he chased down the elusive 1,000th career game while Chris Waddle can still be occasionally seen trotting out for Sheffield-based Non-League club Hallam.
Here, we have the story of another England legend turning out for a club in the bottom tier of the Football League in 2004.
Despite the team’s abject failure at Euro 2004, England supporters were salivating at the prospect of their latest lynchpin, Wayne Rooney, leading the national team to glory for many years to come.
In fact, as Rooney Mania began to run wild, the teenage Everton striker was beginning to draw comparisons to one of his idols, Paul Gascoigne, given the eerily familiar way that both players announced themselves onto the international stage while playing for England at a major tournament.
A couple of seasons prior to England’s travails in Portugal, Boston United had finally made their Football League debut after close to 70 years of trying since their formation in 1933.
Indeed, the Pilgrims went into the 2004-05 season in League Two as one of the favourites for promotion.
By the time the campaign was about to start, Paul Gascoigne’s career was beginning to wind down.
Last seen in English football in 2002 in a short spell at Burnley, Gazza had swapped Lancashire for China, making four appearances and scoring two goals for Gansu Tianma before leaving the club to travel to America for treatment after the perennial problem of alcoholism began to haunt the former Tottenham man.
Seeking a fresh start, Gazza, then 37, signed for Boston United in a blaze of publicity on a player-coach deal, hoping to garner experience that could hopefully lead to him taking a managerial position in the future.
The big question was could the old pro lead his new side to glory in a plot similar to that of a Hollywood movie?
After being named in the team in two pre-season friendlies (albeit as an unused sub), Gazza’s Pilgrims debut came as the club were riding on the crest of a wave with just one defeat from their opening four League Two games, although he was unable to prevent his new club from going down 1-0 to Cheltenham Town when he came on as an 81st-minute substitute at Whaddon Road.
Despite being somewhat fortunate to still be on the field at one point, Gascoigne squandered a golden chance to notch his first goal for the club on his first start as he helped Boston to a fine 3-1 win on August Bank Holiday Monday against Ian Rush’s Chester City at York Street.
Gazza supplemented his run-out against Chester by completing the full 90 minutes in the next game as Boston continued their decent run with a 2-1 win over Cambridge United.
After missing Boston’s 4-3 League Cup win over Luton Town, Gazza’s next appearance came in a pulsating Lincolnshire derby against Lincoln City at Sincil Bank.
With the home side 2-0 up and seemingly cruising to victory, Gascoigne was brought on just after the hour mark with hope of an unlikely result starting to evaporate.
However, Boston were handed a lifeline with seven minutes left when they netted a penalty. With time ticking away, Gazza swung in a free-kick that was met by former Premier League striker Jason Lee to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
After another appearance on the teamsheet as an unused sub, it seemed fitting that a top flight outfit would provide the opposition for Gazza’s Boston United swansong - Fulham arrived at York Street for a League Cup second-round clash.
Despite his wealth of experience, Gazza was unable to inspire his side to an unlikely upset as Boston went down 4-1 with his final appearance lasting 68 minutes before being substituted for Simon Rusk.
And that really was that for Gascoigne at Boston, save for two unused sub appearances against Leyton Orient and Scunthorpe United.
Gazza departed the club in early October 2004 and rumours began to spread that he was preparing to swap Lincolnshire for Australia - not to play in the A League but instead take part in I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
These were quickly quashed with Gascoigne himself going on record to cite ‘professional reasons’ and further coaching opportunities as his reasons for departing.
This was, in fact, the last time Paul Gascoigne pulled on his boots in a professional capacity. He would crop up again just over a year later in charge of Non-League Kettering Town.
A big question was posed: was the world ready for Gazza, the manager?
For more from Dan Barker Gray, check out: footballreload.blogspot.com