39 Days of Gazza

As the first-time manager of a provincial non-League football team, former England star Paul Gascoigne promised to fulfil their dreams. Then in the space of just 39 days, both manager and team saw a dramatic reversal of fortune...Gazza was the English football icon on the 1990s. His magnificent midfield play provided some of England's most memorable moments, and he enjoyed a headline-grabbing career with Newcastle United, Tottenham, Lazio, Glasgow Rangers, Middlesbrough and Everton. Then it all went terribly wrong. He still made the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons - alcoholism, drugs, wife-beating, personality disorder, run-ins with the law, nervous breakdown. Like his great hero, George Best, Gascoigne seemed to have passed a personal point of no return. Then, in the autumn of 2005, he was given a chance to rebuild his career with his first job as a football manager. As part of a consortium which bought Kettering town, Gazza reinvented himself. Appearing to have his personal problems under control, he took charge - full of big ideas about steering the club into the Football League and towards the big time. The people of Kettering were star-struck by the celebrity among them. And yet, within just a few short weeks after Gascoigne was appointed manager, he would be sacked amidst an increasingly bizarre series of allegations, leaving a once hopeful club on its knees. Read more