Gascoigne sends love to Keegan and recalls losing his boots as a Newcastle apprentice

Paul Gascoigne has sent a public message of love and support to Kevin Keegan after the 75-year-old revealed his Stage Four cancer diagnosis, recalling a formative — and mortifying — moment from his days as a teenage apprentice at Newcastle United.

Speaking near his home in Dorset, Gascoigne, 59, described how one of his duties at the training ground was cleaning Keegan’s boots. On one occasion, so thrilled by the task, he took a pair home to show his father — and lost one somewhere along the route to the family home in Dunston, Gateshead.

“It was back in the 80s, before I made my debut for Newcastle so I was just a teenager,” Gascoigne said. “You were given jobs to do at the training ground and I had to clean Kevin’s boots. One day I took them home to show my dad because I was so excited to be doing it and I lost one of them along the way.”

Gascoigne’s late father John accompanied him to St James’ Park to apologise to Keegan in person, but the missing boot was never recovered. Despite the embarrassment, Keegan handled the situation with characteristic warmth.

“My dad came with me to the ground to apologise but Keegan was great with me to be fair,” Gascoigne recalled. “He pretended to be angry at first for a laugh but then said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve plenty of boots.’ You can imagine how embarrassing it was losing one of his boots. What a player he was, he gave everything, and what a man. Please send him my love.”

Keegan disclosed his diagnosis during an appearance at Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre last month, telling the audience: “They said we have a top doctor with this new way of fighting what you have got. Which is stage four cancer.” He had first revealed the illness in January, and by April felt well enough to commit to the Tyneside event after what he described as a “really tough time.”

At the theatre, Keegan spoke with characteristic self-deprecation, joking that he could not form a dream strike partnership with Peter Beardsley and Chris Waddle because he was not very fit at the moment. He also declined the idea of a statue at St James’ Park alongside those of Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer. “You will have to wait until I die,” he said. “My statue is the way people receive me.”

Keegan confirmed he will return to St James’ Park next season for the first time since his second managerial stint ended in 2008, saying he wants to say a proper farewell to the club and its supporters — a goodbye he felt he never had the chance to make when he departed that year.

Former England captain Terry Butcher, who played alongside Gascoigne at the 1990 World Cup, also sent messages of support to Keegan and to Liverpool and Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish, who has also confirmed he is dealing with cancer.