Is this the best Paul Gascoigne story in existence?

Once the golden boy of a much vaunted generation of English footballers, Gazza certainly knew how to enjoy himself off the pitch as well.

This tale comes from David Armitage's book 'Gascoigne Gold' and tells the story of the time the former England star let an ostrich loose at Tottenham's training ground.

Yes, you read that correctly, an ostrich.

Even by Gazza's standards it seems incredible but it really happened, with the Newcastle legend revealing that sourcing an ostrich in those days was as simple as going to the local zoo and asking to borrow one.

“I knocked on the door and the guy said ‘Hi Gazza, what do you want?’ and I said ‘I need a favour – I need an ostrich!” Gascoine explained.

Somehow, the midfielder managed to convince the zookeeper to lend him one and Gazza was able to lure the animal into his car and head off for training, where he released the beast upon his unsuspecting team-mates.

Eye-witness Erik Thorstvedt, who was Spurs' 'keeper when Gazza performed the bizarre stunt was stunned.

“Gazza was an absolute loony who could do the craziest stuff," he said. "How do you actually manage to bring an ostrich to training?

“How do you get hold of an ostrich? Gazza did and he put a Steve Sedgley shirt over it and let it loose on the training ground. How do you do that? It’s amazing...”

Despite all the laughs and the priceless memories, it wasn't the ideal ending for Gazza, who revealed that he ended up staying behind for hours after training trying to recatch the animal.

“The lads finished training at half-past one and I finished at about half-past five because trying to catch an ostrich is quite hard!” said Gazza, almost unable to stop himself from grinning.

Crazy? Yes. Unpredictable? Yes. Hilarious? Absolutely!

This story only goes to further heighten the Gazza legend, but if there's a funnier story than this one out there I'm yet to read it!