Paul Gascoigne

[Zambo]

If he was a fucking dog he'd have been put down years ago. Would have certainly saved a whole load of wasted expense anyroad.

[JimmyDee]

He's no different from a hundred other ex-footballers except that he's famous and, to some extent, the nation's sweetheart. That's why he's in all the papers.
Alcoholism or at least heavy drinking is the way lots of them end up; it's the boredom, you see. They're relatively young, not particularly bright, and have nothing else to while away the endless empty days.
If you look at rock stars, with access to every drug in unlimited quantities, the one that did for them was alcohol, the legal one.

As for George Best, he wasn't so much a footballer who ended up an alcoholic, but an alcoholic who was good at football. The miracle was how he kept it together as long as he did.

[m4rkb]

All those I knew from years ago who liked a fucking good drink and generally got more drunk than the rest of us are now alcoholics. All of them.

The signs are there very early.

That said, isnl't jimmy five bellies teetotal now?

[AlcoholBrazil]

If only the players in the 70s had Twitter , they might have played longer, but have eroded any hint of personality .