‘I caught this snake, put it in a plastic bag and put it in Roberto Di Matteo’s pocket after training. Then I asked if he could lend me some money, so he’d put his hand in his pocket…’ Paul Gascoigne on his best pranks

Paul Gascoigne shot for the December 2025 issue of FourFourTwo magazine .

If you played football in the 1980s, 1990s or early 2000s and ever found yourself sharing a dressing room with Paul Gascoigne, you knew you had to have your wits about you.

The former England star’s love for a prank was legendary - so much so that back in 2021, we compiled our 50 best Gazza stories, which is a miscellany of tales involving ostriches, commandeered public transport and diplomatic incidents.