When Gazzamania came to Kettering

Thirty-nine days, eight matches, three wins, two draws and three defeats.

Exactly the same length of time as Ange Postecoglou lasted at Nottingham Forest.

And yet, that period of just over a month remains arguably the most momentous in the 153-year history of non-league Kettering Town.

It was exactly 20 years ago on 27 October 2005 that then Poppies owner Imraan Ladak confirmed Paul Gascoigne, the star of England's Italia 90 and Euro 96 campaigns, as the team's new manager.

But by 5 December, following allegation and counter-allegation, their relationship ended in acrimony and Gascoigne plus his assistant, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Davis, were just a memory in the Northamptonshire town.

The man known to the football world as 'Gazza' has not managed a team again.

"It was sad really. The club was the talk of the UK. I don't think we will ever get that sort of sustained publicity again," former Kettering ball boy, programme editor and now committee member Ross Patrick told BBC Sport.

"We had Chris Waddle sitting in the Beeswing [pub] on a Friday night, Garth Crooks in Rock n Bowl, [comedian] Stan Boardman in the dugout at Vauxhall Motors, Carlton Palmer at training. It was a crazy time."

Big names were not new at Rockingham Road. Ron Atkinson cut his managerial teeth with Kettering in the early 1970s before moving on to clubs including West Brom, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa.

He was followed as player-boss by Wolves and Northern Ireland forward Derek Dougan, whose team became the first in British football to wear a sponsor's name on their shirts.

A decade later, Kettering had a side including former England centre-back Dave Watson and midfielder Steve Daley, whose £1.4m move from Wolves to Manchester City in 1979 was a then English transfer record.

Nothing, though, could match the fevered interest after Gascoigne was spotted a few days before his appointment - replacing Kevin Wilson - was announced.

"There had been rumours about a consortium taking over the club for a few weeks and then at a home game Gazza and Jimmy 'Five Bellies' [Gardner] as well as Imraan Ladak were present in the main stand," recalls season-ticket holder Iain Holliday, who first watched a Kettering game in 1968.

"Not long after, a press conference was held at the ground and the takeover was confirmed. I was at work that day and I was excited at the prospect of Paul Gascoigne being the new manager, although I did have reservations as to how long he would last."

Gascoigne was not the only England player mentioned in connection with the Poppies at that time.

"We heard rumours that a guy called Imraan Ladak was coming in and about all these big players - Les Ferdinand, Steve McManaman, Darren Anderton," former player Brett Solkhon told a recent edition of BBC Radio Northampton's Non-League Scene.

"I remember, growing up, watching Gazza in the FA Cup final [Tottenham v Nottingham Forest] when he got injured - and my first World Cup was Italia 90, how brilliant Gazza was then?

"I got a call - 'Hi Brett, it's Paul Davis here, I've got the new gaffer on the phone' - and then Gazza came on. It was a surreal moment."

Gascoigne had "talked a good game" when introduced publicly as Kettering manager for the first time.

"They haven't been in the Football League in 133 years so that will be one of the main objectives, to get this team up there," he said.

The Poppies made a winning start for their new boss, beating Droylsden 1-0 with a goal from Christian Moore.

"At the time I was a volunteer at the club doing various stuff like selling programmes and cleaning," said Patrick.

"I first met Gazza on the day he was appointed. Me and Dan Willis - now the kit man - skived off school to go to the club and we ended up in all the national newspapers, on the radio and even on the front cover of La Gazzetta! We were 14 at the time.

"Imraan invited me and Dan into the boardroom as his guests for their first game against Droylsden, where we met Gazza again as well as his father John and his mate Jimmy 'Five Bellies'. Gazza signed us a couple of shirts and was great with us."

Difficulties soon arose though as Gascoigne and Davis attempted to introduce a sophisticated passing game at odds with a more direct style which was the norm in the sixth tier of the English game.

"[At] our first session with Paul Davis, we went into the directors' room to watch a video and he stuck on Germany versus Brazil. He said to us, 'This is how I want you to play' and he started pointing at the full-backs," recalled Solkhon.

"It was Cafu and [Roberto] Carlos running down the wings, overlapping and you've got Ronaldinho in the middle. He said, 'I don't want the ball any more than knee height off the floor' and we're like, 'Have you not seen the pitch out there and the players we're playing with?'

"It was never going to work after that first video analysis meeting."

The situation soon became complicated with Ladak increasingly concerned about Gascoigne because of his drinking habits and his claims of boardroom interference with signings and team selection.

"I'd call it a circus - the press attention was immense, the team performances were poor, there were all sorts of antics going on at the club. It was obvious from early on that Gazza was out of his depth as a manager," Holliday told BBC Sport.

"The only positive thing that came out of it was the publicity that put the club on the map at the time. However, when he left it gave the club some adverse publicity, with the fall-out from the sacking and his rant [about it] on Sky Sports News."

Fate decreed that Solkhon, who is still turning out in local non-league football for Moulton at the age of 43, would never have the chance of running onto the pitch while Gascoigne was boss, although he was able to observe him at close quarters.

"The unfortunate thing was the week before Gazza was announced as the manager, we played in a midweek FA Trophy game and I did my knee in and got taken to hospital," he said.

"I was in the treatment room and as Gazza never really took any training, I got to spend more time with him. It was easy to see that Gazza had his issues and illnesses etc but as a guy he would do anything for you."

Gascoigne's sacking followed a 3-1 home defeat by Barrow after which he vowed: "I will fight all the way. I am now looking to buy the football club."

It never happened.

"It quickly became apparent we were better off with a man who knew the league and players - Kevin Wilson. I think we would have been promoted that year if KW had been left in charge, but I wouldn't change anything [that happened]," says Patrick.

When Gascoigne was in charge, Kettering were two promotions away from reaching the English Football League.

That ambition remains, as current owner George Akhtar made clear when he took over in May 2024, but now they are a level further away.

Holliday said: "I am surprised they never made it to the Football League in the 1970s as they were well supported and well financed with John Nash as chairman.

"However, in those days it was a voting system and the old pals' act saw league clubs close ranks and vote for their own rather than an ambitious up-and-coming club from the outside.

"I don't believe I will see us in the Football League in my lifetime. Since I have supported them they have had a rollercoaster existence - like most clubs they have had their share of promotions and relegations, as well as administration and nearly going out of existence after the ill-fated move to Nene Park in 2012."

Recent Kettering managers have had a far lower profile than Gascoigne - but could the club ever be tempted to try something similar again? Patrick doubts it.

"I don't think you'd find Harry Kane dropping as low in the pyramid as Gazza was prepared to do," he said.

But perhaps the final word should go to the current Kettering owner.

"Euro '96 was an incredible time, it's the first time I can remember England in a major tournament as a young boy," said Akhtar.

"Gazzamania was everywhere and we all wanted to be like him. For me, he is in the top four greatest English and top 10 British players of all time.

"Everybody talks about Gazza's short stint at the club and we are proud to say he is part of our history. He was magical, mercurial and somebody I would have loved to share a pitch with."