Gascoigne: When my ex-wife and I divorced, the compensation was 700,000 pounds, plus a monthly maintenance payment of 10,000 pounds.

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A few days later, the front page headline of the Daily Mirror was "Gazza beats Cheryl black and blue", with a photo of Cheryl outside a hotel with her arm in a sling.

To be fair, I must mention that Cheryl’s recollection of events is very different from mine. Regardless, I will always be sorry for the pain I caused Cheryl that night, and I'm sure many will think I fully deserved it. I deserved what happened next. "Domestic abuser, domestic abuser", that's what rival fans would chant to me wherever I went, whether it was on the football field or in the street.

There was pressure on Rangers to let me go and I am very grateful to manager Walter Smith for supporting me and keeping me in the team.

Thankfully, that season was excellent for the club. I made 34 appearances, scored 17 goals and we won the Scottish Premiership and League Cup.

But the Gleneagles incident cast a pall over my life, and the relationship between Cheryl and I was never the same again, despite a brief reconciliation.

The divorce was finally finalized in 1998, and despite everything that had happened, I was still devastated. This also brought huge financial pressure to me. The divorce settlement was 700,000 pounds, plus 10,000 pounds a month in alimony.

As my career began to go downhill, the money became increasingly difficult to pay, largely due to the vicious cycle of alcoholism and drug addiction that I subsequently fell into...