I went to school with Billy (as we called him then). Newton Heath Technical High School - In
I think 1966 when we must have been 11 or 12. I had known him for getting on for 60 years.
We got on very well straight away mostly because he could get on with anyone, and we were both City fans and I can't remember any other City fans at school so we had something in common. We had just got out of the old second division and being a City fan at the time was an experience because we were easy targets for the shit red team fans trying to take the piss.
Amongst the things that I remember about him was his enormous amount of enthusiasm, fun and mischief, and that stuck with him until the very end.
He got back in touch with me in 2016 and both myself and another school friend went to see him in 2018 in a pub near his house, what a catchup that was. He also told me about this forum, cheers mate.
I messaged him after we won the Chamions league trophy and I told him that he was the first person that I thought of after the whistle went, as he was my oldest City friend i was so pleased that he got to see us win it.
One of the things that I remember from school was that there was one of them football cards going around and I wanted to put City down but when I got the card his name was already on it so I had to choose another team. I remember us always being skint and winning the money would have been great at the time. Anyway he won it and instead of disappearing with the money he skipped a lesson and bought a football from the shop so we all could play. It's funny I still can see him off to the shop with the words 'I knew that City would come good for me'.
Well Billy they have certainly done that.
Rest in peace mate, you were certainly one of life's good uns.