Similar threads do appear quite often so i'll quote a reply from one a few months ago. This was about celebrity encounters good or bad.
Tony Blair - Met him twice, once in my hometown of Ferryhill when he was meeting folk ahead of the general election and the second time a year or so later when delivering parliamentary wine to Myrobella House with armed police training their rifles on me. Signed for his own case of wine as well! Very polite both times.
David Blunkett - Again, delivering parliamentary wine. I assume it was some suburb of Sheffield but cannot remember exactly where. Thoroughly nice bloke.
Delivered to every other consituency throughout the North East & Cumbria during this time, cannot recall any other Members of Parliament or at least they didn't leave much of an impression if I did meet them!
Met loads of Newcastle players and staff during 1996-1999 or so when the club gym was still at St James Park, we used to deliver bottled water for the coolers in the gym and offices.
Kenny Dalglish - Met him outside the lift at the main reception at the ground not long after he'd taken over. A hero of mine with an infectious smile, the general consensus is don't meet your heroes but no disappointment for me.
Freddie Shepherd - Again in the reception at St James Park, he was chairman of Newcastle at the time. Held the door for him as I was leaving with an empty sack barrow and not so much as a thankyou, then talked down to the receptionist and security guard. Utter turd of a bloke.
Alan Shearer - Have briefly seen him at the ground but delivered bottled water to his house in Ponteland multiple times when he was out for most of the season through injury. Not the most interesting fella.
Various other players that were there at the time in the gym included Steve Howey, Keith Gillespie, Darren Peacock, Steve Watson and Phillippe Albert, there were probably more but I cannot recall them. No real lasting impressions good or bad but spoke to them in some shape or form whether it just be a hello.
Kevin Keegan - Never actually saw him at St James Park because i'd only started in the job a couple of months before he left the club first time around. Did deliver bottled water to his house in Wynyard on various occasions in the few months afterwards. Another hero of mine and again not disappointed.
Eric Gates - He's from Ferryhill the same as me. In primary school he came and presented a football award to me, he was playing for Sunderland at the time.
Mike Hooper - Was the reserve keeper at Liverpool for many years behind Bruce Grobbelaar before moving to Newcastle. Straight after leaving football he ended up broke and living in a council house in my street in Ferryhill, saw him daily walking two huge dogs. My boss at the time was chairman for Spennymoor United and he'd asked me to get him his phone number to try and see if he would come and play for them. The response wasn't repeatable, it was clear he'd fallen out of love with football, thoroughly miserable.
Joe Pasquale - He was in pantomime one year at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle and we used to deliver bottled water there as well via the stage door. Full of jokes when talking to anyone he encountered, cracking bloke.
Leslie Grantham - Also in pantomime at the same time and the total opposite. Miserable, snappy and very much up himself.
Toyah Wilcox - Another pantomime rendezvous, this time at the Sunderland Empire. Held the door open as I wheeled the bottled water in. No complaints, very polite.
Jethro - I've always been a huge fan of his comedy. Went to see him at the civic in Darlington and he came in the bar beforehand, talked to a few people and signed some autographs before asking which way to the dressing room. "Dressing room, where the fox hat?"
If i've taken anything from this it's made me realise I delivered one hell of a lot of bottled water!
