Michael Earl Glenis McDonald Gilkes (born 20 July 1965 in Hackney, London) is an English former footballer. He played left wing, most notably for Reading, and was also a Barbados international.

[edit] Career

Gilkes played more than 550 times as a professional and made his name with the Reading side that nearly won promotion to the Premier League in the early 1990s. A fast, tricky winger, he made over 400 appearances in all competitions for the Berkshire club as they went from the old Fourth Division to the very edge of the top flight. Gilkes spent nearly thirteen years with the Royals, scoring 52 goals, before he was sold to Wolves in 1997. He spent two seasons at Molineux before manager Keith Stevens signed him for Millwall.

In a vote to compile the Royals' best-ever eleven, Gilkes was voted the best left-winger with 80.6% of the vote.^[1] Gilkes played at the Madejski Stadium in the Royals Legends game on 1 May 2006.

Since retiring from the game, Michael has swapped his tracksuit for a business suit in order to carve out a successful career as a Mortgage Consultant for a Reading based Estate Agent.

Gilkes joined the firm back in November 2008 and is now a fully-qualified mortgage consultant working out of the Reading branch.

He was recruited by his former boss Mick Gooding - the popular midfielder who went on to manage the club from 1994-96. Mr Gooding is now responsible for the day-to-day running of the Estate Agency.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Michael Gilkes career stats at Soccerbase
• Royals Legends video

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