Football history is littered with 'what ifs'.
What if the ‘Russian’ linesman hadn’t awarded Geoff Hurst’s goal in the 1966 World Cup final? What if the referee had spotted Diego Maradona’s handball in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final? What if Brian Clough had got the England job?
It’s classic pub debate fodder that could go on forever, but here’s a good one for you: What if Paul Gascoigne had actually joined Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United?
Paul Gascoigne on snubbing Manchester United and Alex Ferguson
Back in 1988, Gazzamania was still a couple of years from becoming a true national phenomenon, but it was clear that there was something special about the lively young Newcastle United midfielder Paul Gascoigne.
His performances for the Magpies across the 1987/88 campaign had seen him named as the PFA Young Player of the Year and earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year, with Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson one of his many admirers.
With Newcastle ensuing a period of unrest and instability, Gascoigne’s sale was looking inevitable and Ferguson looked to take advantage, with Gazza telling the Scot he would sign for the club. Instead, he would move to Tottenham in a £2.2million deal in the summer of 1988, reneging on his agreement with Ferguson.
And it would appear that this is something the legendary manager has never forgotten.
“He said, ‘I’m going on holiday and when I come back, are you signing for United?’” said Gascoigne, speaking in an exclusive interview for FourFourTwo magazine, to coincide with the launch of his new book Eight. “I said yes.
“But Irving Scholar [chairman] at Spurs offered my family £120,000 for a house, so I went there, then I got a letter from Ferguson saying, ‘You stupid c**t.’ Well, he called me ‘stupid bastard’. After that, I beat United and scored against them.”
And how did Fergie react to that?
“Not very nice!” Gazza laughs. “The last time I saw him was in the players lounge at Manchester United, about three years ago.
“He said to me, ‘Office!’ – he called me into his office to give me a bollocking! I was over f**king 50 years of age, by the way… He said, ‘You should have signed for me,’ and I replied, ‘I’m sorry.’
“He’s the only manager, even now, that I s**t myself when I see him!”
Paul Gascoigne: Eight (published by Reach Sport) is on sale now in print, ebook and audiobook
