Gazza is fondly remembered at Lazio for moments of brilliance on the pitch and his memorable antics off it
The day before the England team boarded their flight home from the 1990 World Cup, it was already becoming clear that soon enough, Paul Gascoigne would be returning to Italy on a more permanent basis.
Gascoigne had been England’s star performer as Bobby Robson’s side reached the semi-finals, earning admirers from several of Serie A’s grandest clubs in the process. Eventually, Gazza would join Lazio in 1992, but his time in Italy might have started much sooner – and at a different club entirely.
Minutes after England’s third-place play-off against the host nation, a visitor entered their dressing room, flanked by security staff. Though none of the English players knew his identity, the man seemed important and was eager to meet Gascoigne. When he emerged from the shower, Gazza was introduced to the visitor, proceeding to grab him in a headlock and jokingly slapping his head several times.
Those there to witness it would have been forgiven for thinking the pair were old friends, not meeting for the first time. It was soon explained that the man was Gianni Agnelli, president of the Fiat motor group and chairman at Juventus. Needless to say, any speculation linking Gazza with a move to Turin quickly faded.
Two years later, he made the move from Tottenham to Rome, arriving at Lazio 12 months later than planned after suffering his infamous knee injury in the 1991 FA Cup final. Purely in a football sense, Gazza’s three-year stay in Italy could be described as a disappointment. Injury problems limited him to just 43 Serie A appearances and six goals.
There were no league titles, no trophies won. And yet, despite this, he was adored there. His first goal salvaged a draw in the dying seconds of the Rome derby, going some way to cementing his fans’ favourite status amongst his new club’s supporters.
The affection towards him transcended the Laziale, too. While his time in the Eternal City was punctuated with some unforgettable moments which showcased his brilliance on the pitch, part of his popularity is owed to his antics off it. The Agnelli anecdote was probably a sign of things to come.
Gascoigne had earned a reputation for playing pranks on teammates before he touched down in Italy. Adapting to a new lifestyle and culture in an unfamiliar country failed to dampen his mischievous streak. In one widely told story, former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo, then a young midfielder at Lazio, fell victim to him. Gazza had found a snake in his garden and slipped it inside a coat pocket of the unsuspecting Di Matteo. Asking his young teammate if he could borrow some change, Gazza stood by and watched as a horrified Di Matteo reached inside his pocket and grasped the snake.
On another occasion, Gascoigne spied an opportunity to use the long tunnel at the entrance to Lazio’s training ground for a more spontaneous trick. The team bus would pass through the tunnel as it arrived at and departed the training complex and was briefly plunged into darkness as it did. Utilising those few seconds of darkness, he removed his clothes so that when the bus emerged from the tunnel, then-manager Dino Zoff was presented with the sight of a completely naked Gazza standing before him.
Close to that same tunnel was also the setting for one of the more controversial practical jokes he would play on his Lazio teammates. There are several versions of the story with slightly different details in places, but all are in agreement that the team’s players had been concerned that Gascoigne hadn’t reported for training one morning. Then, by the roadside on the approach to the training ground, there he was, lying motionless and soaked in blood next to a crashed motorbike. Panicked by what they were seeing, several of the players instantly rushed to help him.
As they reached him, they quickly realised things weren’t as serious as they’d initially appeared. Grinning, he quickly leapt to his feet. The ‘blood’ had actually been tomato sauce, and a laughing Gazza licked some of it away.
He had staged a potentially fatal motorcycle crash, all in the name of having a laugh.
Gascoigne left Lazio for Rangers in 1995. He returned to Rome in 2012, guest of honour at the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio hosted Spurs in a Europa League game. ‘Welcome back Gazza. Lionheart, headstrong, pure talent, real man: still our hero,’ read one of the banners unfurled in the crowd. The experience moved him to tears.
The injuries had limited what Gazza could do at Lazio but the club’s supporters held fond memories of the occasions he did pull on their shirt. There is no doubt, also, that some of the stories about what he got up to away from the field of play left a lasting impression.
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