ENGLISH football's wayward genius Paul Gascoigne jetted into the country to help race cash for Radcliffe Boro in a friendly match which drew a record crowd of 1,703 to Stainton Park. Peter Collins talked to him about his life . . .

ALCOHOLISM blights millions of lives, with footballers like Paul Gascoigne more prone than most in succumbing to its self-destructive urges.

With the sporting world literally at his feet, the Geordie lad pressed the self-destruct button and descended into a world fuelled by booze and drugs, it led to the break-up of his marriage and the downward spiral of his career.

For many alcoholics it is the pressures of modern day life that turns them to seek solace in the bottle, for Gascoigne it was no different, although the life he lived in the media spotlight was hardly ordinary.

'Gazza,' as he became known to millions world-wide, let fame and fortune take over his life, leaving him with only one way to deal with all the adulation and riches.

"I've suffered a number of injuries during my time but I also screwed my life up myself," he said. "Alcohol, cocaine, I did things to myself nobody should do, but I've corrected that now and I think people are seeing the real Paul Gascoigne again.

"I think only my close friends liked me a couple of years ago, I certainly didn't like myself.

"It was no-one's fault but my own, I'd go to any lengths to get drunk, now I go to any lengths to stay sober.

"I'm getting my life back on track, I've been sober for 14 months now and I'm learning to live and enjoy my life again."

The 37-year-old Gascoigne, who began his career with hometown club Newcastle United before big money moves to Tottenham Hotspur, Italian club Lazio and latterly Middlesbrough, Everton and, briefly, Burnley, won 57 caps for England in a ten-year international career.

An attempt to resurrect his footballing fortunes in China with Gansu Tianma last year was ruined by alcoholism. As a result he attended a drying-out clinic in Arizona for five weeks and it has proved a turning point in his life, as he continues the battle to get it back into some kind or order.

One way he does that is by playing football, lots of it.

"If I can help anyone I will, it's just my nature, but I played the Radcliffe game for me, no-one else, because I love to play the game and it helps me.

"I am very grateful to Radcliffe for asking me to play for them, it certainly put a smile back on my face. I was thrilled.

"The manager Kevin Glendon was tremendous, Bernard Manning Junior and his dad were first class, and it was a privilege to be part of the club for a day.

"They flew me out, put me up in a hotel and they were going to fly me back to Germany, but I decided to stay an extra day and go and see Bernard at the Embassy club. He even gave me a gold watch to remember the occasion by.

"A lot of people have showed me a lot of kindness, they've helped me become a real person again and I now want to try and return that kindness by helping others.

"I've been playing in a series of charity football games across Europe for the past two weeks and playing for Radcliffe was a way of helping the club out.

"People came to see the match, to see me play and, hopefully it has helped the club. I've been told it has a very good name in the community and so it deserves any help it can get.

"But I'd also like to help people like me who have had their lives ruined by alcohol and other addictions. There are three million alcoholics in the UK and three million suffering alcoholics that need help. I was lucky, I could afford to get help, most of them can't. So anything I can do to help, I will.

"One way has been to show how it can ruin your life and I think I have done that in my book (Gazza: My Story).

"I was very honest about what it did to me, I bared my soul and a lot of people have said that that honesty has helped them to confront their own addiction and do something about it.

"We all need help. People tried to help me but I was beyond it. Eventually I did listen, and did something about it and it has worked."

He has this advice to anyone tempted to hit the bottle: "Don't. It will either ruin your life or end it. Either way it leaves you without any control. If you are already hooked get help, do anything you can but do something before it's too late."

Realising his playing career at the highest level is over he is turning his attention to coaching and management, which he sees as presenting him with an opportunity to help others.

"I'm hoping to sign for third division Boston United as player-coach," he said. "I can go as far as I want as a coach or manager, but it will take a lot of hard work. Getting paid for a living a few years ago was easy, now I have to work for it.

"I really want British kids to do well, to come through and play professionally because we've got too many foreigners in the game. I also want them to avoid the pitfalls and if I can encourage them, help them to progress and make a living from football I'll have achieved something."