Gazza; It All Ends In Tears

[Duffer]

GAZZA: IT ALL ENDS IN TEARS

 

 

SOCCER star Paul Gascoigne's switch to Morpeth has ended in tears.

 

The former England star, 35, will not be joining town on a match-to-match

basis, it was confirmed yesterday morning.

Gazza's old pal David McCreery telephoned us to say that there was no longer

any truth in the rumours.

Morpeth Chairman Ken Beattie had been trying to persuade the former

Newcastle, Lazio and Rangers midfielder to turn out for Town as a way of

getting his match fitness back.

"It looks like Paul is going to look at some different offers," he said. "It

is a disappointment for Morpeth Town as the prospect of him playing in just

a few games would have been great for us.

"Things can change pretty quickly in football and it would seem that there

are other options open to the player which I think is unfortunate from our

point of view but we'll just have to accept the decision and move on from

it."

Gascoigne has been staying in a hotel in the Morpeth area and, as it was

exclusively revealed by the 'Herald', was using Morpeth's facilities to

train with Newcastle Falcons coach Steve Black.

It was during this period that the player and the Town Chairman talked about

him turning out for the team on a temporary basis.

This prompted the national press to swamp the non-league club with phone

calls, and there was also a lot of overseas interest in the story.

"The last few weeks have been very busy for the me and for the club," added

Ken. "The phone has been ringing all the time I've had enquiries from dozens

of national newspapers and radio stations, and fielded calls from

journalists in the USA and Germany all wanting to know about Gazza.

"They were are all eager to find out what his next move was going to be, but

only Paul knows that now. I've just been trying to get on with running my

business through all this and it has been tough balancing the two together."

Earlier in the week Town boss Keith Grant said the prospect of Gazza playing

for his team had sent a buzz through the Craik Park dressing room, and no

matter what happened with the playing deal he had still provided a huge

boost.

"Some of the players were overawed when they saw such a great player in our

dressing room," he said. "It certainly was an inspiration for them to go out

and win the game.

"Paul's a lovely lad, really down to earth, and it was great of him to come

in and have some banter with the players before kick off it gave them a lift

and I think since he came here the whole club has been buzzing with

excitement."

"I would have loved to have had him in my side, even if it was only for a

couple of matches, as he's still got those abilities that took took him to

the very top of the game.

"Its still been great having him about the place because he's such a massive

character and always takes time to talk to you on the Saturday he was at our

home game he took ages signing autographs for the youngsters."

He added: "I won't forget the impact he had for Morpeth.

"On match day there were a lot more cars in the car park and I could tell

there was a good few more at Craik Park than we normally get. There was even

a car load down from Scotland to see him play and that shows how much worth

a high profile player can have for a club."