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Gazza in Italy
A brilliant, funny and insightful analysis of Paul Gascoigne’s crazy up and downs during his three years at Lazio – a period which shows his entire career in microcosm.
4th July, 1990.Turin, Italy
England are on the brink of reaching their first World Cup final in 24 years. Twenty-three-year old Paul Gascoigne has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament. His athleticism, speed of thought and incredible natural gifts have given England fans renewed faith in their perennially underachieving national side.
Then in the 99th minute of a tense semi-final against Germany, Gascoigne lunges into a mistimed tackle. The ref awards him his second yellow card of the tournament, meaning that if England were to win, he would miss the final. Gascoigne turns away, tries to hold it together, but can’t. Floods of tears run down his face. We understand. We feel his pain and anguish. The legend of Gazza is born.
Two years later, after an injury-stricken season at Spurs, he arrives at Lazio for a then record transfer fee. Expectations are sky high; he is welcomed as a footballing Messiah by the Roman fans. But all is not what it seems. There are doubts over his fitness, doubts over how he will adjust to life in Italy, doubts over whether his obvious potential can finally be achieved. The three subsequent years in Italy, shot through with incredible highs and self-inflicted lows, show Gascoigne in all his complexity – an immense natural talent flawed by a too-fragile personality.
In Gazza in Italy, award-winning writer Daniel Storey brilliantly shines a light on an unexamined moment in Gascoigne’s career that encapsulates everything that we have come to associate with this most mercurial of childish joy, public gaffes, wondrous skill and saddening self-destruction. Funny and harrowing in equal measure, this book allows us a better, more rounded understanding of one of our greatest sporting idols, and of a tragically misunderstood human being.
4th July, 1990.Turin, Italy
England are on the brink of reaching their first World Cup final in 24 years. Twenty-three-year old Paul Gascoigne has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament. His athleticism, speed of thought and incredible natural gifts have given England fans renewed faith in their perennially underachieving national side.
Then in the 99th minute of a tense semi-final against Germany, Gascoigne lunges into a mistimed tackle. The ref awards him his second yellow card of the tournament, meaning that if England were to win, he would miss the final. Gascoigne turns away, tries to hold it together, but can’t. Floods of tears run down his face. We understand. We feel his pain and anguish. The legend of Gazza is born.
Two years later, after an injury-stricken season at Spurs, he arrives at Lazio for a then record transfer fee. Expectations are sky high; he is welcomed as a footballing Messiah by the Roman fans. But all is not what it seems. There are doubts over his fitness, doubts over how he will adjust to life in Italy, doubts over whether his obvious potential can finally be achieved. The three subsequent years in Italy, shot through with incredible highs and self-inflicted lows, show Gascoigne in all his complexity – an immense natural talent flawed by a too-fragile personality.
In Gazza in Italy, award-winning writer Daniel Storey brilliantly shines a light on an unexamined moment in Gascoigne’s career that encapsulates everything that we have come to associate with this most mercurial of childish joy, public gaffes, wondrous skill and saddening self-destruction. Funny and harrowing in equal measure, this book allows us a better, more rounded understanding of one of our greatest sporting idols, and of a tragically misunderstood human being.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 21, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 23, 2019
Paul Gascoigne, genial midfielder on the pitch and a trainwreck off it, moved to Lazio in 1993. On the back of a great Italia '90 performance he showed the Italians, and not just them, that English football is not only strength and endurance but flair and elegance. But most of all that his shenanigans have more to do with a long-standing depression (since his childhood days in Newcastle) than alcoholism. His addictions were purely escapisms which ruined a possibly great career (and life).
Must-read for football aficionados.
Must-read for football aficionados.
July 16, 2018
Funny and melancholy in equal measure. Storey sketches Gascoigne’s haphazard time in Italy with great detail and affection.
November 30, 2018
I’m not sure if this qualifies as a book as it is incredibly short at only 83 pages – the perils of buying an eBook and not checking how long it is in advance.
Gazza in Italy tells the story of England footballer’s Paul Gascoigne’s three-year spell at Italian club Lazio during the peak of Serie A’s reign as the best league in the world. Gazza was young and relatively fresh from his famous tears at World Cup semi-final in Italia ’90 when Lazio began to show an interest. The Italian club were flush with cash and seeking to build a Scuddetto winning team around the mercurial Geordie.
The move was delayed due injury but Lazio stayed committed and Gazza eventually rocked up in Rome. Storey recounts the highs and lows of Gazza’s time there – from brilliant goals to injury worries, from adoration from the fans to vilification in the media. At its heart, Storey is trying to square the circle – why is Gazza seen as having failed in Italy but still absolutely adored by Lazio fans 20 years on. It is a combination of individual
The most nostalgic part of the book for me was the background in how Channel 4 came to show live Serie A and Gazzetta Football Italia – my absolute favourite tv show as a kid. Storey poses the interesting theory that the coverage of Serie A in England helped shape the Premiership by exposing the British game to Italian football on a much more regular basis. However, Storey also appears to use the arrival of Arsene Wenger as the turning point for the Premiership modernising which is probably giving the Frenchman a little too much credit!
Storey also questions whether the move was right for Gazza given his addiction issues. The great ‘what if’ of Gazza’s career has always been whether there was an alternative path that he could have taken that would have seen him stay on top of his demons. Given the nature of his addictions it does seem unlikely, but, as Storey sets out, being away from home and highly scrutinised by an invasive media certainly couldn’t have helped.
Storey read widely for the story and the bibliography would be a great starting point for a PhD in Gazzamania. However, there don’t seem to be any original interviews of the kind that would help the book standout . I appreciate it’s a very short book that maybe wouldn’t justify the expense – but it makes the €5 price a bit steep for such a quick read. (I feel a bit bad complaining about price when authors struggle to make money but it would be remiss not to mention it my enjoyment was diminished by feeling I didn’t get a lot of book for my buck).
Overall, an enjoyable and insightful, if very short read. Interestingly it was originally launched as an audiobook only – narrated by the brilliant James Richardson who hosted Gazzetta Football Italia.
You can read all of my sports book reviews at https://allsportsbooks.reviews
Gazza in Italy tells the story of England footballer’s Paul Gascoigne’s three-year spell at Italian club Lazio during the peak of Serie A’s reign as the best league in the world. Gazza was young and relatively fresh from his famous tears at World Cup semi-final in Italia ’90 when Lazio began to show an interest. The Italian club were flush with cash and seeking to build a Scuddetto winning team around the mercurial Geordie.
The move was delayed due injury but Lazio stayed committed and Gazza eventually rocked up in Rome. Storey recounts the highs and lows of Gazza’s time there – from brilliant goals to injury worries, from adoration from the fans to vilification in the media. At its heart, Storey is trying to square the circle – why is Gazza seen as having failed in Italy but still absolutely adored by Lazio fans 20 years on. It is a combination of individual
The most nostalgic part of the book for me was the background in how Channel 4 came to show live Serie A and Gazzetta Football Italia – my absolute favourite tv show as a kid. Storey poses the interesting theory that the coverage of Serie A in England helped shape the Premiership by exposing the British game to Italian football on a much more regular basis. However, Storey also appears to use the arrival of Arsene Wenger as the turning point for the Premiership modernising which is probably giving the Frenchman a little too much credit!
Storey also questions whether the move was right for Gazza given his addiction issues. The great ‘what if’ of Gazza’s career has always been whether there was an alternative path that he could have taken that would have seen him stay on top of his demons. Given the nature of his addictions it does seem unlikely, but, as Storey sets out, being away from home and highly scrutinised by an invasive media certainly couldn’t have helped.
Storey read widely for the story and the bibliography would be a great starting point for a PhD in Gazzamania. However, there don’t seem to be any original interviews of the kind that would help the book standout . I appreciate it’s a very short book that maybe wouldn’t justify the expense – but it makes the €5 price a bit steep for such a quick read. (I feel a bit bad complaining about price when authors struggle to make money but it would be remiss not to mention it my enjoyment was diminished by feeling I didn’t get a lot of book for my buck).
Overall, an enjoyable and insightful, if very short read. Interestingly it was originally launched as an audiobook only – narrated by the brilliant James Richardson who hosted Gazzetta Football Italia.
You can read all of my sports book reviews at https://allsportsbooks.reviews
January 31, 2021
Gazza in Italy by Daniel Storey is a book lacking much in the way of substance. Supposedly it's a book at Gazza's three year stint in Italy but a quarter of the book is taken up by his career before the eventual move to Lazio, at which point the book then skims fairly rapidly over his time there with little in the way of insight or in depth analysis. Oddly enough the best parts are all quotes from Gazza's own autobiography which appears to have been Storey's main source barring the odd quote from a player or the Channel 4 documentary about Gascoigne.
There's a lot of fawning here from Storey, over not just Gazza the player but the man. The author is at great pains to excuse much of Gascoigne's poor behaviour throughout his career even going so far as to say "Football as a community must take much of the blame for Gascoigne's issues" while then also suggesting there's an argument that Gascoigne was in fact too talented a player. Total guff.
The absolute nadir however is the pop psychology and proclamations on mental issues presented as stated fact by Storey which is at best misguided and also quite disappointing from the author. Thankfully this is a short read and the audiobook being narrated by James Richardson made it at least bearable.
There's a lot of fawning here from Storey, over not just Gazza the player but the man. The author is at great pains to excuse much of Gascoigne's poor behaviour throughout his career even going so far as to say "Football as a community must take much of the blame for Gascoigne's issues" while then also suggesting there's an argument that Gascoigne was in fact too talented a player. Total guff.
The absolute nadir however is the pop psychology and proclamations on mental issues presented as stated fact by Storey which is at best misguided and also quite disappointing from the author. Thankfully this is a short read and the audiobook being narrated by James Richardson made it at least bearable.
August 17, 2020
Pleasant reading (or listening via the effervescent James Richardson). Stirs memories but adds little to what is already out there. I chuckled at the retailing of some timeless gazza anecdotes, and the inner romantic in me shouted 'go on' and punched the air with him when rewatching his Lazio and Pescara goals. I would recommend that anyone interested watches the channel 4 documentary on YouTube which covers most of the content here for free.
February 4, 2022
Fast paced anecdotal tale of Gazza's whistlestop tour of Rome. Although he was there a total of 3 years, it's fair to say injury stunted his impact in much the same way it did his initial move to the Italian capital in the first place.
Some good soundbytes from some of Gascoigne's former team-mates, management and other officials, the book adds a little context and colour to just how revered the boy from Newcastle became at Lazio, despite not pulling up many trees (unless there was a gag involved at the end of it). The word genius is often used, and very rarely rings true. They also say that most people of true genius are somehow fundamentally flawed, and as this book merely confirms that was the case with Paul.
All in all a very easy read about one of our greatest footballing exports, and arguably one of the finest footballers we have ever produced. Hopefully it will invoke some fond memories of some of the things Gazza should be remembered for, as much as those he sadly will be.
Some good soundbytes from some of Gascoigne's former team-mates, management and other officials, the book adds a little context and colour to just how revered the boy from Newcastle became at Lazio, despite not pulling up many trees (unless there was a gag involved at the end of it). The word genius is often used, and very rarely rings true. They also say that most people of true genius are somehow fundamentally flawed, and as this book merely confirms that was the case with Paul.
All in all a very easy read about one of our greatest footballing exports, and arguably one of the finest footballers we have ever produced. Hopefully it will invoke some fond memories of some of the things Gazza should be remembered for, as much as those he sadly will be.
January 1, 2020
Storey is one of the best football writers around at the moment, and all of his style, insight and talent is on show here. But there just isn't enough material to get his teeth in to. It's like a podcast episode. You really want more context either side. I think I would rather have read "Gazza in the 90s", because as it is, my real disappointment was that there wasn't more to it.
April 13, 2022
I realised while reading this that I didn't have TV for the early 1990s and it wasn't tuned to football much for the later 1990s so much of the history of Paul Gascoigne was new to me. If you like stories about football you'll enjoy it very much. What a crazy life! Huge respect to him for coming back after career ending injuries.
This book covers his history before he turned to the dark side.
This book covers his history before he turned to the dark side.
May 12, 2025
if you are a GAZZA fan this book is a must!
Good insight into his time at lazio, including the good the bad and the ugly.
thoroughly enjoyed it and very well written, so good I nearly did it in one sitting!
Good insight into his time at lazio, including the good the bad and the ugly.
thoroughly enjoyed it and very well written, so good I nearly did it in one sitting!
July 8, 2019
Pretty quick read, but a detailed look at Paul Gascoigne's three seasons in Rome playing for Lazio. If this is your area of interest, this is a really interesting read/listen
July 30, 2020
Relive the 90's
April 10, 2021
Short but interesting book about Paul's time in Seria A
February 7, 2024
Really enjoyed it, an insightful view into one of English footballs most naturally talented players moving to Italy and the ups and downs that came with it
April 29, 2024
Five star cover
October 21, 2025
It was alright, a good story of Gazza but just didn’t like it that much.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews