Brook, Gascoigne, Rooney and the importance of fun
Sport should make you smile. Paul Gascoigne often did when he had the ball dancing to his merry tune. So did Wayne Rooney. Sport should also make you laugh. Gascoigne and Rooney certainly did that with famous goal celebrations. It is worth celebrating the lighter side of sport following the distinctive way Harry Brook marked his remarkable 57-ball century for England in Colombo. It was pure Gazza for starters.
Thirty years have passed since Gascoigne fell back on the Wembley turf after a memorable goal against Scotland and was surrounded by beaming England team-mates. Teddy Sheringham, soon accompanied by others, sprayed a water bottle in Gascoigne’s mouth, a wonderful pop back at those of us in the press box who had castigated Gazza’s drinking antics. I laughed. Like most in the media, I’d been fairly sanctimonious in my comments in the Telegraph about the pictures of Gascoigne, his shirt ripped, and looking well-refreshed after a session having sambucas poured into him as he lay in the Dentist’s Chair at the Jump Club in Hong Kong. It was unprofessional and the players had no credit in the bank following a laboured build-up to Euro 96.
The press pack on that brief pre-tournament tour had agreed with the players that we’d be in a different bar, Joe Banana’s, and knew nothing of it. No cameraphones back then. But there were cameras, and by the time we landed back in England the pictures were everywhere, and especially splashed across the front page of The Sun. Gascoigne got given the “drunken oaf” treatment, Terry Venables and the players bridled at the coverage, and retreated into “collective responsibility”. For a fortnight or so after the Dentist’s Chair, interviewing the England players was really like pulling teeth.
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There was a serious discussion to be had about Gascoigne’s drinking but at the time it was all about the fun of his celebration, changing the negative narrative. In truth, and on reflection, far more serious was the damage done to the players’ area of the Cathay Pacific plane on the flight back from Hong Kong than any excessive refuelling in the Dentist’s Chair. It was Gazza’s birthday. What could possibly go right? But the joy of sport is that opportunity knocks often. Gascoigne had his chance.
The old Wembley saw some special goals. Where to start? Geoff Hurst’s third in 66, Dennis Tueart’s overhead kick in 76, Ricky Villa’s dribble in 81, John Gayle’s overhead kick in 1991 (for Tranmere in the Leyland DAF final and Gazza’s free-kick the same year. Add your own. There are so many.