Middlesbrough legend Bill Gates' life told in new book that highlights football's biggest problem

Next week will mark 50 years since a sold-out Ayresome Park hosted the Game of the Champions - a match that pitted Second Division winners Middlesbrough against First Division winners Leeds United. It was the testimonial match of Boro defender Bill Gates who spent 13 years at the club, making 333 appearances.

The exact anniversary is Tuesday, May 7 and will also be the day that a new book - No-Brainer - is launched at an event in Ferryhill, where Bill was born. The book tells the remarkable rags-to-riches story of Bill's life, whilst also highlighting one of football's biggest problems - the links between heading footballs and neurodegenerative diseases.

There's a full-circle feeling to the book launch event at Ferryhill Workingmen's Club and the anniversary of Bill's testimonial. The streets of Ferryhill were where a young Bill would have fine-tuned his craft as a dominant defender and made his first header. That testimonial game 50 years ago, meanwhile, would be when he made his final header.

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Despite Boro's promotion under Jack Charlton, Bill was suffering debilitating migraines that forced him to retire from football aged just 30 after the game. He would live a very successful life in business in the years after, running sports shops across the North East until in 2017, showing concerning signs of dementia, he was told he was likely suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), brought on by heading the ball as often as he did.

It was on that life-changing day in 2017 that Bill asked his wife Judith to make him two promises. The first was to ensure the rest of his life was as optimised as could possibly be, and the second was to protect the future of the game he loved so much, by safeguarding young players of today and tomorrow.

Sadly, Bill died last year, but Judith's determination to honour her husband's wish goes on. The new book is aimed at raising further awareness about the links between football and neurodegenerative diseases. Not wanting it to be a scientific study that ultimately didn't attract or reach enough people, Mike Amos' book - which will raise funds for the Head Safe Football charity that Judith has set up in Bill's honour, instead tells the story of Bill's life to highlight football's industrial disease.

And it should be seen as exactly that. Bill is one of too many cases, with six of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team suffering from or dying from dementia, including Bill's Boro boss Jack Charlton. Over 55% of the deceased players from Bill's testimonial game have also died from brain-related diseases.

The frightening aspect for Judith is that for Bill, who found success after football by using his intelligence to run successful businesses, it was over 30 years later that the effects of his football career would take hold and ultimately destroy his health and eventually take his life. What, Judith worries, does the future hold for so many more footballers of the last 30 years or so hold?

Publicity from so many high-profile cases has brought more conversation around the dangers and changes are being implemented throughout the game, including guidance in the limitation of headers that professional players should make weekly in training. For Judith, however, this needs to go further if we are, as Bill hoped, to protect the future generations and ultimately the sport we all love too.

There's an important mission statement that Judith is always clear about. She is not here to completely ruin the game that her husband loved. He loved it so much that, even in later life when confined to a wheelchair, he would still want to, and get joy from, kicking a ball.

Having sat regularly on the terraces at Ayresome Park watching her 'invincible' husband in awe, Judith appreciates as much as any how much the beautiful game means to so many. And it's for this reason she is so keen to protect it by protecting its participants. After, is there anything beautiful about a game that you love so dearly if it is ultimately the game that kills you?

Judith's ambitions and charity work are based on years of research into the matter. For Judith, who has a PhD in professional development and Master's degrees in both education and business, this isn't about shouting loudly for change, it's about trying to offer solutions to make a genuine impact.

Mike's No-Brainer book will tell the story of Bill's story of rising from the coal-mining village of Ferryhill to becoming Britain's first £50-a-week footballer when signing for Boro at the age of 17. Despite all of his successes in life, the book will also tell the tragic story of how he wasn't able to defeat what he describes as football's 'best-protected secret', CTE.

The book is available now from Amazon but can also be purchased from the publisher Haythorp Books, priced at £14.99. They will also be on sale at the launch at Ferryhill Workingman's Club, which is a non-ticketed event where all are welcome. Dr Judith Gates will be in attendance along with Mike, while Boro legend Gary Pallister, who has himself worryingly admitted to suffering from migraines as a player, is also planning to be in attendance.

All royalties from the book will go to Head Safe Football - the charity founded by the Gates family dedicated to player care, education and raising awareness of CTE and its prevalence among sports people subjected to repeated head impacts. You can find out more about the charity on its website.