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​Paul Gascoigne Says He Secretly Gave £1m Away To Charity Over 10 Years

​Paul Gascoigne Says He Secretly Gave £1m Away To Charity Over 10 Years

The former England star explained he gave £1 million of his money to charity over the course of 10 years - without telling a soul

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

We've heard about Paul Gascoigne's charitable side before - just months ago, he was offering to pay for Ant McPartlin's rehab, after the TV presenter was involved in a drink-driving incident.

At the beginning of this year, Gascoigne also offered to donate £1,000 to a 16-year-old girl whose voice machine was stolen. Miya Thirlby, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had her liberator accent 100 machine stolen from her parents' car - which was when Gazza jumped in with a tweet of support, telling the family to 'get in touch' so that he could send them some money to help pay for a new one.

But he's now revealed that his generosity has been even more considerable than we'd initially realised, having said that he's given £1 million to charity over 10 years, without telling a soul.

The former England star explained more about his mysterious spending habits while speaking to the Sun about the huge salaries footballers are on these days.

"I played for the shirt on my back," Gazza said.

"At 18 years of age I was on £25,000-a-week. Nowadays, I see 18-year-olds on £50,0000-a-week. And if you're that age on 50 grand a week, who gives a s*** if you're playing well or badly?"

PA

But he reckons that even back then, what he was getting was too much - and didn't know what to do with it. This led him to surpise families with trips to Disney World and dish out cash to charities.

He said: "There was money in my day but I gave £1million to charity over ten years and never told anybody.

"I knocked on people's doors at 4am to give them £10,000 to go to Disney World."

Gascoigne also gave today's young football stars some advice, saying that they need to get out and 'play with a smile' if they want to become better players.

"All these young players, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, James Maddison, Phil Foden, every one of them can be a world-class player," he said.

"But it's up to them. They have to go out and show people. Play with a smile.

"Why would you work every day of the week, train for five days for a match, then come the Saturday and not want the ball? You might as well just go home.

He added: "Gareth is trying to encourage the players to be the next me.

"They won't be me but they can become themselves. And once they do that, they will become better players."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, UK