Former England star Gazza stocks up on supplies at Central England Co-op store

Posted by rob smyth | Published: 24/07/2020

Colleagues at a Central England Co-op store could not believe their eyes when England footballing legend Paul Gascoigne dropped in to pick up some food and essentials.

The former Tottenham and Newcastle United star chatted with staff at Overseal Food Store, in Burton Road, after nipping in on a couple of occasions while doing business locally to stock up on some supplies.

Store Manager Kim Grice said the surprise celebrity visit created a real buzz throughout the store and the local community.

She said: “Although I am on holiday at the moment, all the colleagues have been talking about is the fact that Gazza had visited the store a couple of times this week.

“He kept himself to himself while picking up some everyday essentials but was really friendly and chatty with everyone he interacted with. Our colleagues were delighted to meet a legend like Gazza but were respectful of his privacy.

“It is not very often you get a living legend shopping in your store so it has all been quite amazing really. His surprise shopping visits have really created quite a buzz among the entire community.

“Our team have worked so hard during these uncertain times, ensuring the local community is served and has access to food and essentials, so being able to say they have met Paul Gascoigne has been a nice little treat for everyone.

“It is great to think that a superstar like Gazza has given our little Central England Co-op a thumbs up by shopping with us and then coming back for more.”

The 53-year-old midfielder won 57 caps for the Three Lions and is widely regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation.

During his career, he pulled on the shirts of Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton, Burnley, Gansu Tianma and Boston United.

He made 468 total career appearances, scoring 110 goals and winning the FA Cup and various trophies in Scotland.

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About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.

Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish. 

Our 7,900 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. 

We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.

Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop