Gascoigne leaves Boston to begin coaching course

Paul Gascoigne tonight voluntarily made a decision which will probably mean the end of his playing career when he cut short his stay with Coca-Cola League Two outfit Boston United.

The 37-year-old 1990 World Cup hero left the Lincolnshire outfit after two months as player-coach with the club and is now set to begin a coaching course with the view to becoming a manager.

Although Gascoigne has not officially hung up his boots, there would seem to be no prospect of him playing league football again.

Gascoigne won 57 England caps and starred for Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough and Everton during a career which was blighted by injury.

“I’ve left Boston United Football Club,” he told Sky Sports News.

“I’ve left on professional terms. I just think I needed to extend my career on the coaching side.

“I’ve shaken hands with the gaffer [Steve Evans] and I’ve shaken hands with the chairman [Jon Sotnick], and said bye-bye to the lads.

“I think it’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my professional career so far.

“I’ve done it for professional reasons.”

Gascoigne is to work under former Liverpool coach Sammy Lee, who recently took up a full-time role with the Football Association.

“Sammy Lee has a coaching course coming up and I want to go and prove myself as a coach, as I wanted to at the start of the season, and hopefully in the future as a manager,” Gascoigne added.

He claims Boston did not allow him to become as involved on the training side as had been initially promised.

“I’ll be speaking to Sammy tomorrow to see what’s the way forward for Paul Gascoigne,” added the midfielder.

“The reason why I want to leave isn’t about bad feelings with the club or any bad feelings with me, it’s for professional reasons and I hope they understand that.”

Gascoigne recalled he had left his boots at Boston, and added: “On the playing side, I can still play a bit, there’s no problem with that.

“But I want to be a top coach and I’ll be speaking to the top coaches around the country and learning a lot more about my badge and management.

“This is something I took up on my own shoulders. I think it’s right for me, what I’m doing.

“I know it’ll be getting help from top coaches. That’s what I need. It’s not easy to go straight from being a footballer to being a top coach. You’ve got to learn.

“I’m willing to go anywhere in the country to learn.”

Gascoigne is confident about his future, particularly since he appears to be winning his battle against an alcohol habit which had threatened to ruin his career.

He added: “I think Paul Gascoigne two years ago would have run away to a bottle of whisky. Now I don’t do that.

“It’s unfortunate that I’ve left Boston but I want to go and further my career and learn more about the game.”