Chris Kamara on Bill Gates

I went to Grammar school with his brother (Gates, that is)
I tell a lie,it was Alex Smith's brother.
 
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Bill Gates was a centre back of limited ability with Boro who had sports shops in the Hill Street in Middlesbrough.

Apparently he made a lot of money.But he is not THE Bill Gates.

His brother Eric played for Sunderland
 
My mam went to school with him. I say this every time he’s mentioned on here. It’s not especially interesting, sort of like a ritual now.

Like when Stanley Matthews is mentioned it is always followed by his quote about Wilf.
 
Never met Bill Gates the footballer, but did meet Bill Gates the Microsoft mogul many years back when they opened a MIcrosoft centre near Reading. As a strange coincidence my daughter was the meet & greet ambassador for Cambridge union for her final year and met him too - she has the framed photo's.
 
I remember Frank Spraggon working as assistant in the sports shop in Dundas Arcade. Or someone who looked like him. Can't remember if it was Bill Gates' shop. I think George Smith had a sports shop in Marske?
Gates lived in our neighbourhood when he was playing, even though it was mainly working class. That could never happen nowadays.
 
Alex Smith had a sports shop in Billingham opposite the Swan. Had space invaders in the back room.
 
Bill Gates benefitted from having a testimonial match at exactly the right time and good luck to him for that. We had just won the second division and played Leeds at Ayresome in full of an absolutely packed house. It was like an FA Cup QF. (Finished 4-4 IIRC).
 
Bill Gates shop in Hill Street was state of the art at the time.

Didn't he retire as a millionaire to a carribean island or did I dream that?
 
Willie Maddren used to have a sports shop in Billingham Town Centre as well, also at one time the newsagent on Billingham Green. In 1994 he was was working as a salesman for Croft's Toyota dealer on Low Lane. He sold me a car, went for a test drive with him and had the patter about the Jack Charlton days. Remember at the time thinking his signature looked like an old man's, very shaky. Not too long after that he got his diagnosis .... Met him some years later, not long before he died, when I went into the room he said "Ha, Mr Gnome, how's your car?" Amazed he could remember my name, was just a punter in a car dealer, I asked him how he'd remembered, he said "Your wife was pregnant and I was trying to sell you a bigger car".
 
atypical_boro said:
My mam went to school with him. I say this every time he’s mentioned on here. It’s not especially interesting, sort of like a ritual now.

Like when Stanley Matthews is mentioned it is always followed by his quote about Wilf.
Click to expand...

Yep, his wife taught me at Brotton St Peter's. I think she also taught woodvale?
 
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