Gazza recovering after emergency operation on his 40th birthday

Gascoigne had the operation in his home town of Newcastle, northern England. According to his agent, Jane Morgan, Gascoigne is "Recovering well from the surgery."

The former England midfielder was out with friends at the Marriott Hotel in Gateshead on Sunday when he became ill.

He was taken to Newcastle General Hospital at around 7pm with a suspected perforated ulcer. He was transferred to the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary where he had emergency surgery.

A perforated ulcer causes sudden, sharp, severe pain and usually requires immediate hospitalisation.

Since the end of his career on the pitch Gascoigne has fought a long-running battle with alcoholism and depression while trying his hand at managing, advertising, writing, comedy and TV presenting.

Gascoigne made 57 appearances for England and was widely regarded as the most gifted player of his generation.

Gascoigne left behind him a kebab-strewn trail as testimony to his excesses, which finally led to his exclusion from the England World Cup squad in 1998.

In his autobiography, 'Gazza: My Story', he admitted headbutting his wife Sheryl and throwing her to the floor during an argument in October 1996, breaking her finger.

After a series of spectacular binges in 1998, he was admitted to a private clinic to tackle the alcohol addiction he claimed came to dominate his life.

Emerging two weeks later, Gascoigne vowed he would not touch another drop. He slimmed down, toned down his famed clowning around, changed his appearance and spent much of his spare time in the gym. His aim, he said, was to work his way up the football coaching ladder.

But in December 2005, trouble struck again. Gascoigne was arrested for an alleged assault after photographers scrambled to take his picture outside a Liverpool city centre hotel, just hours after he left as manager of Nationwide Conference North club Kettering.

In February it emerged he had agreed to appear in action-horror movie Final Run, with filming set to start in the summer.

However, it was his physical health that again dominated headlines after it emerged Gascoigne had undergone emergency surgery for a perforated stomach ulcer after apparently being taken ill as he was celebrating his 40th birthday with family and friends in his home town of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.