'A copper stopped me approaching Raoul Moat. The next morning, I had 300 missed calls and thought, ‘What the f**k have I done?’ My dad sectioned me after that' Paul Gascoigne speaks exclusively to FourFourTwo

Paul Gascoigne has opened up on the high-profile moment when he surprised police by visiting a stand-off with wanted man Raoul Moat.

Gascoigne is regarded as one of the country's finest players of all time, and is ranked as number two on FourFourTwo's list of the best English midfielders ever, only behind Bobby Charlton.

He is known as one of football's more eccentric characters, and was an icon of football in the 90s, with Gazzamania taking off after Italia 90. However, he has had his struggles since the end of his playing days.

"What the f**k have I done?" – Gascoigne explains all on incident with Raoul Moat

Gascoigne has spoken publicly about his battles with alcohol and substance abuse since his retirement, admitting he's missed the joy of playing football every day.

Now 58, one of his low points came when he was caught up in the stand-off involving Moat in the north east.

In his new book Eight, Gascoigne admitted he probably risked his own life when he travelled to Rothbury, an old Northumberland fishing haunt of his, in an attempt to talk to Moat during the police siege.

Moat had murdered his ex-girlfriend’s partner, was armed and in a stand-off that dominated rolling news when Gazza unexpectedly turned up, wanting to give him a fishing rod, some chicken and a can of lager.

“A copper stopped me,” he said, speaking during an exclusive interview for FourFourTwo magazine, about his life and his incredible career. “I was cocained up. The next morning, I looked at my phone, I had 300 f**king missed calls and thought, ‘What the f**k have I done?’

"I put Sky News on and just thought, ‘Oh f**k.’ My dad sectioned me after that, I was 11 days in a nuthouse, then I was OK. I got a f**king bollocking.”

Gascoigne told FourFourTwo that he believes that his battle with alcohol will never entirely go away, but that his relapses have recently been less frequent and shorter in length.

“I’m always going to be an alcoholic,” he admitted. “It’s not like tomorrow I can drink normally – once you have the first one, you’re f**ked. I’ve had my ups and downs in the last couple of years. I’ve had four months off it, then a two-day bender.

"It used to be weeks of benders, but it’s only about two days now and I’ll stop – I’ll think, ‘Waste of f**king time.’"