‘The smell was so bad that the chairman made me buy him a new car - £17,000 that cost me, and it was still cheaper than the other trout I divorced…’ Paul Gascoigne on the prank that cost him a fortune

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Gazza loved a prank, but some came at a bigger cost than others…

Paul Gascoigne shot for the December 2025 issue of FourFourTwo magazine
Gazza has always loved a prank (Image credit: Future/James Cheadle)

Paul Gascoigne had more natural talent than perhaps any other footballer England has ever produced.

He also has a larger-than-life personality that few can match up to, meaning that wherever he went, there would usually be equal measures of chaos, laughter and mischief to follow.

From his days coming up through the youth system at Newcastle United to his time at major tournaments with England, Gazza’s reputation as a prankster always preceded him.

Gazza on the prank that left him out of pocket

Manager Walter Smith (l) Paul Gascoigne and Trevor Steven (r) celebrate after Rangers had won their eighth title in a row after the Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Aberdeen at Ibrox on April 28th, 1996 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ben Radford/Allsport/Getty Images)

Gazza celebrates winning the title with Rangers in 1996 (Image credit: Getty Images)

FourFourTwo even went as far as producing the top 50 Gazza stories back in 2021 and it’s therefore inevitable that not every prank that the 58-year-old pulled off during his career landed as he intended.

Gascoigne spent three seasons with Rangers between 1995 and 1998 and it was during this period that one of his practical jokes ended up costing him dearly.

Scotland's Gordon Durie (L) and Morocco's Smahi Triki during the 1998 soccer World Cup. | Location: St.-Etienne, France.

Gordon Durie was the victim of a classic Gazza prank (Image credit: Franck Seguin/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

“I had to buy a new car for Gordon Durie,” he tells FourFourTwo, wincing at how much it set him back. “I’d put two trout in his car after training, and the smell was so bad that the chairman made me buy him a new car.”

And how much did that set him back?

“Seventeen grand that cost me!,” Gazza recoils, before adding in another piece of trademark dark humour. “It was still cheaper than the other f**king trout I f**king divorced…

Paul Gascoigne scores his famous goal for England against Scotland at Euro 96

Durie was playing when Gazza inspired England to a 2-0 win over Scotland at Euro 96 (Image credit: Getty Images)

That is one of countless stories from Gazza’s storied 20-year career that saw him turn out for nine clubs across four countries, while winning 57 England caps.

Paul Gascoigne: Eight (published by Reach Sport) is on sale now in print, ebook and audiobook

Joe Mewis
Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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