To this day, Paul Gascoigne remains one of the finest talents that English football has ever produced. The charismatic midfielder may have had various troubles off the pitch, but on it, there was very little he couldn’t do. The former Newcastle and Tottenham star dazzled for club and country in the 1980s and 1990s with his creativity and fearlessness with the ball at his feet.
His impact on the English game was such that he became an idol for any fan growing up in that era. Some of them even went on to follow in ‘Gazza’s’ footsteps, including a man who would go on to become England’s captain and the record scorer for one of the country’s biggest clubs.
Wayne Rooney became one of the most dominant forces in the game, even eclipsing what his hero once achieved. Unlike most, Rooney even had the opportunity to train with his idol as he was breaking through at Goodison Park and told the story of how he was given a financial helping hand from Gascoigne.
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When Paul Gascoigne Gave Wayne Rooney £40
The pair would recreate the moment years later
The pair first met during Rooney’s teenage years, as the aspiring forward was already beginning to make waves in the youth teams at Everton. At this point, Gascoigne was in the twilight of his career but could still recognise talent when he saw it, as he told Soccer AM, per the Daily Mail:
“When I was at Everton I used to go and watch the youth team play, the Under-19s, before we played. I think it was Colin Harvey (in charge) at the time and he said to watch this young kid, he’s 14 and playing for the Under-19s.
“I thought I’d stay and watch for a little bit and he came on when they were getting beat 1-0 with 20 minutes to go.
“He banged in two goals. I think you can watch them on TV – they’re incredible. What a player. I thought he’s going to be good.”
However, the Euro ’96 star was soon about to discover that not only did Rooney have the potential to match him as a footballer, but he also shared a similar character. Gascoigne recalled:
“After the game I went in and said ‘well done lads, I’ve got £40 spare, is anyone going out tonight? Wayne Rooney said ‘I am’, so I went there’s £40 quid, go and get yourself a couple of pints tonight.
“That’s when I knew he was going to be brilliant. He’s got potential, that lad.”
The 57-year-old then joked that ‘Wazza’ still owed him the money, joking that, with interest and inflation, the amount had now ballooned to £1.2 million.
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The Pair Recreated the Moment Years Later
Rooney and Gascoigne reunited when the former returned to Everton
As if the beautiful tale wasn’t enough, it seemed that neither had forgotten the original moment when, years later, Gascoigne once again lent the now world-class star more money. By this time, Rooney had firmly established himself as one of the greatest Premier League players of all time and had returned to Everton for his second stint at his boyhood club.
The pair embraced warmly as the former Lazio man pulled out another wad of cash and handed it to a beaming Rooney, recreating the moment from 18 years earlier. Rooney would recall both the original encounter and their reunion nearly two decades later, as quoted by talkSPORT during an interview with Amazon Prime:
“I remember Gazza coming to see us in the changing room and asking ‘Is anyone going out tonight? I’ll give you a bit of money.’
“Me being confident I say ‘yes’, and Gazza came up to me and gave me £40. It was only a few years ago when I saw him again, he asked for his £40 back!”
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Rooney Recalls Training With Gascoigne
Even at the latter stages of his career, Gascoigne mesmerised the youngster
Shortly after their first encounter, the duo found themselves sharing the same training pitch, with Rooney called up to the Everton first team. Despite Gascoigne’s influence on the game diminishing, the impressionable youngster revealed there were still glimpses of the brilliance that had made his idol so special. Reflecting on those moments in 2013, telling the Daily Mail:
“I trained a couple of times at Everton with him. I was only about 14 or 15 but, of course, for Everton to sign a player of that stature was incredible. I was watching him play for England for years so to then have him going to the same place as I was going to train was great and to see some of the stuff he could do with the ball.
“It was a great experience as a lad. I was going home and telling my mates, ‘I’ve just trained with Paul Gascoigne.'”
