FOOTBALL legend Paul Gascoigne has pledged £10,000 to his struggling home town football club.

The Everton and former England star offered the huge sum to help save Gateshead FC and urged Premiership stars Alan Shearer and Kieron Dyer to follow his lead.

Gascoigne, who was brought up in the Dunston area of the town made the pledge in an interview with a Gateshead-based radio station.

Gazza's move came after he heard how the club could be forced to close before the end of the season unless it could find £60,000.

It had been feared that tomorrow's game against Barrow could be the club's last unless they could find new sponsorship.

Gateshead were thrown into financial chaos when Newcastle United vice-chairman Douglas Hall's company Cameron Hall pulled the plug on a sponsorship deal with the club, blaming mounting debts.

It left Gateshead needing £60,000 to keep going until the end of the season when they would have three months to find a new sponsorship deal. But the players have been given a massive boost by the generous donation from Gazza.

He told Century Radio's Paul Gough: "It would be a great shame to see Gateshead go.

"I used to play there as a lad in cup finals and used to use the running track for training.

"It would be sad because I am from Gateshead anyway.

"I think I could pull out £10,000 and then maybe Shearer could give £10,000 and if Newcastle don't fine Kieron Dyer, there is another £10,000.

"Mr Hall has always been good to me. It is a shame they can't come to some agreement.

"The money they are making from Newcastle United and the new stadium must be a fortune."

Gateshead chairman John Gibson said: "We are overwhelmed by Gazza's generosity. He was brought up in Gateshead and his family still live in the town.

"While he might have got some stick throughout his career everybody in football has always respected him.

"I have always said he is the most generous man in the game and the most talented in the last ten years.

"But to go as far as this for his home town club is a staggering gesture. I have been a close friend of his since the first time I presented him with a cup as a 14-year-old at Gateshead.

"I have his framed England and Lazio shirts in pride opf place in my house, but the £10,000 cheque is even better.

"The future isn't secure by any means but this gives us a fighting chance. We still have to find another £50,000 to take us through to the end of the season.

"If one individual like Gazza can help like this then you would hope the big businesses based permanently on Tyneside could help too."

In another boost to Gateshead, Newcastle United said they would send a team to Gateshead's International Stadium to play a fundraiser.

Gateshead captain and former Sunderland star Steve Agnew played against Gazza several times in his career and said: "It just sums him up. Everyone knows about his generosity but this is just amazing. I've know him from the time he burst onto the scene as a cheeky young kid."