Billy Wingrove | From freestyle pioneer to world records at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

For many Spurs fans, their first glimpse of Billy Wingrove would have been at White Hart Lane in 2006 as our former stadium hosted an international friendly between Brazil and Wales.

Recently installed as our official freestyler back then, Billy performed his freestyling tricks at half-time and was so impressive, he had the Brazil squad's attention! Where do you go from there?

A long way, as Billy has proved, in his work as part of F2 freestylers, becoming a massive hit on social media to appearing in this year's Soccer Aid, live on ITV. As of today, Billy has over 1.4m followers on Instagram alone.

Born and bred a Spurs fan, Billy spoke to Andy Greeves in our official matchday programme against Everton about his long-standing love for Tottenham Hotspur.

Firstly, can we ask how you became a Spurs supporter?

Billy: "My family are originally from Tottenham. They used to live in the block of flats above the library (Coombes Croft Library) that is smack bang opposite where the main entrance used to be to the old White Hart Lane. They moved out of Tottenham to Enfield before I was born. My dad, Alan, actually signed for Spurs when he was a young player and played for the youth team for a period. I’ve still got the cutout of Bill Nicholson’s signature that was on his forms. Dad played for England schoolboys too but when he got to the age of 15, his mum and dad said to him that he had to go and work on a fruit and veg stall. So, he stopped playing football to earn money essentially. Dad was a massive Spurs fan and that was obviously where my introduction to the club really stemmed from."

What are your earliest memories of the club?

Billy: "My earliest memory is when my dad drove past the stadium, the old White Hart Lane, when I was probably about seven years old. I was a Spurs fan but I’d never been to the ground or seen a game at that point. I was only seeing bits and pieces on television. He said ‘guess what stadium that is?’ and when he told me it was White Hart Lane, it kind of joined the dots for me. I was mesmerised by the size of the place. Obviously, White Hart Lane was much smaller than the new stadium but it was still overwhelming and incredible for me at that age. I thought, ‘I can't wait to go to a game there’. My family didn’t have loads of money, so I never got the luxury of going until I was 11 years old. It was a Spurs-Coventry match which we lost 3-1 (on 9 May, 1995). One of the next games I can remember being at was a 2-1 win over Arsenal (on 18 November 1995) when Teddy Sheringham and Chris Armstrong scored. I can remember pre-match guessing the scoreline and order of the goalscorers right. My dad was gutted he didn’t put a bet on based on my prediction!"

What have been your favourite moments supporting Spurs over the years?

Billy: "I’ve got three children and there’s no better joy for me than going to a Spurs match with them. My dad has passed away and going to matches with them brings back so many memories for me of the time I spent with him going to Spurs games. I often take my mum to games too and when certain things happen, we ask each other what we think dad would have thought. In terms of pin-pointing individual moments following Spurs, the big one for me has to be the Lucas Moura hat-trick in the Champions League semi-final against Ajax. I also loved Gareth Bale’s virtuoso performance against Inter Milan when we beat them in the Champions League. And one of the most amazing goals I have ever seen was Harry Kane’s goal against Arsenal in the 2-2 draw in 2016. I was level with the 18-yard-box in the West Stand when he struck the ball and I just remember going berserk when it hit the back of the net like everyone else in the ground. The 2008 League Cup Final victory was brilliant too. I went to the game with my dad, so another special memory I have of us together following Spurs."

Who have been your favourite Spurs players over the years and why?

Billy: "Gareth Bale is right up there. Luka Modrić, Mousa Dembélé, David Ginola… there’s so many names. Ledley King is as good a defender as I can remember in a Spurs shirt. Going right back to when I was really young, it was Gazza. And another player I loved was Robbie Keane. I can remember making a skills DVD and I mentioned on it that Robbie was my favourite player at the time. A few years later, I ended up doing some tricks with him at Spurs and then years later, I ended up on some Football Escapes camps with him, having some drinks at the bar. It was ‘pinch yourself’ stuff. The same can be said for Ledley, who our family have got to know. I have been fortunate to film with Spurs players past and present including Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and James Maddison. As well as being a top player, Sonny is so humble and down to earth. That was my experience with Harry Kane too... he was top class. And Madders has this aura about him... he has a really infectious personality. I rate him so highly as a player. I’m excited for this season to see how he will combine with Dom Solanke."

What did you make of Ange Postecoglou's first season in charge of Spurs in 2023/24?

Billy: "We started so well. Everyone was playing at their optimal level and it was so exciting watching the football we were playing and getting the results we did. As the season went on, injuries to key players started to take their toll and the second half of the season wasn’t as strong as the first."

What are your hopes for this season?

Billy: "I’m excited for this season. I definitely think we have the depth of squad now to really push for a top four finish and maybe the Europa League or a cup competition. The new signings look really good. Lucas Bergvall looks so comfortable on the ball. And Archie Gray has looked so good in pre-season, it’s hard to work out his best position. He can pretty much go anywhere and do everything. He can be a defensive player, a dribbler, a ball distributor, a box-to-box player. He really can be a top, top player."

You have been a prominent football freestyler for many years now. Can we ask how you turned freestyling into a career?

Billy: "It started as a hobby. I used to play semi-professional football and do the juggling on the side. There was a Nike Freestyle competition where I came third, even though I wasn’t taking it that seriously. Some of the guys in and around me at that competition took it really seriously and got a few jobs doing performances and that’s when I thought ‘there could be something in this for me’. So I started putting in a proper shift and before I knew it, I started getting jobs to perform. A national newspaper did a write-up on me, about this freestyler who made his living through juggling a football. No-one had really made a living out of it before. Kathryn Robinson, who was Spurs’ Director of Community Development, approached me about doing some stuff with the club. To cut a long story short, I eventually became the first freestyler in the world to sign a contract with a professional football club. It was a dream come true for me. Other than playing for Spurs, this was the second-best thing in my eyes. I had some amazing experiences. I used to do lots of stuff in the community with the club, I performed at half-time at first team matches, I went to South Korea in 2005 with the first team for the Peace Cup. It was incredible."

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And more recently, you were here at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to break a world record, controlling a football thrown from the top of the South Stand here to the pitch – a staggering 153ft...

Billy: "That’s right. Funnily enough, I’d actually achieved the same world record before, when I did some filming with Lionel Messi. That was controlling a ball thrown from a crane. That wasn’t anywhere near as high as the stadium roof but in some respects, it was harder because the wind could suddenly send it five metres one way or the other. Inside the stadium, the drop was straighter and actually a lot easier. I knew where the ball was going to land, so it was just about reacting well and getting a soft touch on it. I managed to do it after eight or 10 attempts and I was buzzing!"

What does the rest of 2024 have in store for you?

Billy: "There’s a number of projects we’re working on, including the launch of some soccer camps. There’s a couple of shoots coming up soon too. We’ve got a family YouTube channel which is something we have a lot of fun with too."