By William O'Toole

Paul Gascoigne has said that he received death threats in the aftermath of the 1998 Old Firm Derby between Rangers and Celtic after he mimicked a flute player in an Orange Order band.

The troubled former footballer got into hot water when he impersonated a flautist playing 'The Sash' in 1998 while playing for Rangers against Celtic. The Scottish FA fined him £40,000 after the incident.

However, in an interview with the BBC's Stephen Nolan, Gascoigne revealed that the IRA threatened to kill him after the incident.

"The Celtic fans were harassing us and so I did The Sash thing... and then I got the letter from the IRA threatening to kill us."

Gazza admitted that at the time he didn't realize how serious the incident was and didn't realise that it would cause offense.

Gascoigne then received a letter claiming to be from paramilitaries and only then did he realise how serious it was.

The letter read : "Hi Gazza, I've seen what you done... if you do that again I'll kill you'."

Members of the CIA later told Gascoigne that the threats made against him were genuine.

"The CIA men came back and said he is IRA, he's gonna kill you Paul," said the former footballer.

"They showed us how to look under my cars for bombs and the copper says be careful with the mail you open because it could explode."

Gascoigne was speaking to Nolan on a promotional tour for a documentary about his life called 'Gascoigne'.

The Geordie also revealed that, at the moment, he is winning his battle with alcohol.

"I'm feeling good, as long as I stay like this but, no, things have been good over the last few months, to be fair."