Billy Wingrove
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Wingrove | ||
| Date of birth | 15 November 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder / Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2007 | Enfield | ? | (?) |
| 2009– | Ware[1][2] | ? | (?) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Billy Wingrove (born 15 November 1982 in London, England) is a British football freestyler and semi-professional footballer.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Profile
Wingrove comes from a footballing family. His father played for Tottenham Hotspur and his cousin played for Arsenal.[citation needed]
As he grew older he learned more tricks and became part of a network of young football freestylers in the London area.[citation needed] In 2003, Wingrove entered the Nike freestyle competition in London Earl's Court, and out of 6,000 contestants, he reached the semi-finals, losing out to Hee Young Woo.[citation needed] Coca Cola, O2, Barclaycard, Disney and Sky Sports have all since used Wingrove for promotions or advertising.[citation needed]
[edit] Portfolio
Wingrove has been working as a "professional" football freestyler since the 2003 Nike Freestyle event in London.[citation needed]
Billy has performed his freestyle tricks and skills live on TV for Nickelodeon, Blue Peter and Central News as well as performing on BBC1's A Question of Sport and Match of the Day.[citation needed]
In 2005, Wingrove appeared in a KDDI TV commercial with Japanese footballer Shinji Ono.[citation needed] Shortly after this Wingrove appeared with Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for a Coca-Cola promotion and was also featured with J-League stars in Japanese football magazine Footival.[citation needed] Wingrove's work has also been featured in the UK magazines FourFourTwo and Match.[citation needed]
Wingrove became the first football freestyler to be signed up as a professional "Football Freestyler" by a professional club when Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur signed him.[4] Wingrove displays and teaches his freestyle tricks and skills for Tottenham's coaching in the community schemes, corporate sponsors and on the pitch for half time and pre-match entertainment for Premier League games.[citation needed] He has also appeared as half time entertainment for England international matches.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ "Living for kicks". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/living-for-kicks-551967.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
- ^ "Cup progress putting Ware on the map". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/nov/09/facup. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
- ^ "Support & Advice". Sport England. http://www.sportengland.org/support__advice/children_and_young_people/community_and_club_activities/sporting_champions/billy_wingrove.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
- ^ "Spurs juggler happy to be a control freak". Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-16513162-details/Spurs+juggler+happy+to+be+a+control+freak/article.do. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
