Biggest Mistake Of Gascoigne's Life!

Last updated : 04 June 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor
Fears are growing over the health of the football legend after he was released from hospital.

The former England and Newcastle midfielder was sectioned under the Mental Health Act at the weekend.

But police in Hertfordshire say he has now been released from hospital.

The news comes after Gascoigne's sister Anna made a public appeal in a national newspaper for help to save her brother's life.

Hours before being sectioned at the weekend, the 41-year-old had collapsed in front of travellers at St Pancras railway station in London.

Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says he could have helped the fallen Geordie realise his football dream.

He admitted one of the biggest regrets of his Old Trafford career was missing out on the chance to sign Gazza when he left Newcastle in 1988.

The Red Devils chief feels United's support network could have helped him avoid his recent descent towards depression and psychiatric illness.

Ferguson: "Alan Shearer is one I wish I'd signed, but for me the most disappointing of all was Paul Gascoigne.

"He was the best player of his era, a breath of fresh air because he played with a smile.

"Around 1987, when Newcastle were bobbing above the relegation zone, we played them.

"My three central midfielders that day were Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside and Remi Moses, all great footballers, and he just tore them apart.

"Robbo and Whiteside were chasing him up and down the pitch, and they couldn't get near him.

"We spoke to him the night before I went on holiday. He says 'Go and enjoy yourself Mr Ferguson, I'll be signing for Manchester United'.

"So I went on my holidays but Martin Edwards (then chairman) rang and said 'I've got some bad news - he signed for Tottenham.

"They bought a house for his mother and father in the North East and that swung it'.

"I think it was a bad mistake, and Paul admits it. We had Bryan Robson, a Geordie, Steve Bruce, a Geordie, Gary Pallister, from Middlesbrough...

"We had a structure of players who could have helped him, and it could have given him some discipline."