'A copper stopped me approaching Raoul Moat. The next morning, I had 300 missed calls and thought, What the f**k have I done?' My dad sectioned me after that' Paul Gascoigne speaks exclusively to FourFourTwo

"A copper stopped me, he said, speaking during an exclusive interview for FourFourTwo magazine, about his life and his incredible career. I was cocained up. The next morning, I looked at my phone, I had 300 f**king missed calls and thought, What the f**k have I done?' "I put Sky News on and just thought, Oh f**k.' My dad sectioned me after that, I was 11 days in a nuthouse, then I was OK. I got a f**king bollocking."

"In his new book Eight, Gascoigne admitted he probably risked his own life when he travelled to Rothbury, an old Northumberland fishing haunt of his, in an attempt to talk to Moat during the police siege. Moat had murdered his ex-girlfriend's partner, was armed and in a stand-off that dominated rolling news when Gazza unexpectedly turned up, wanting to give him a fishing rod, some chicken and a can of lager."

Paul Gascoigne is regarded as one of England's finest players and ranked number two on FourFourTwo's list of best English midfielders, behind Bobby Charlton. He became an iconic 1990s figure with 'Gazzamania' after Italia 90. Post-retirement life has included prolonged struggles with alcohol and substance abuse and a sense of missing daily football. At age 58, a low point involved travelling to Rothbury during the Raoul Moat siege, attempting to speak with the armed fugitive while bringing a fishing rod, chicken and a can of lager. He was cocained up, received hundreds of missed calls, and was sectioned by his father for 11 days.

Read at www.fourfourtwo.com