Eric Gates

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Personal information
Eric Gates
Full name	Eric Lazenby Gates
Date of birth	June 28, 1955 (1955-06-28) (age 52)
Place of birth	Ferryhill, County Durham, England
Playing position	Forward
Youth clubs
1973-1978	Ipswich Town
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1984–1990 1990–1991	Sunderland Carlisle United	181 (43) 038 0(8)
National team
1980	England	002 0(0)
Teams managed
2008–present	East Timor
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Eric Lazenby Gates is an English former football player born on 28 June 1955 in Ferryhill, County Durham. He was a striker.

He appeared 345 times for Ipswich Town (plus 39 as substitute) under Bobby Robson, scoring 96 goals and winning the UEFA cup in 1981 and FA Cup in 1978, and received two caps for the English national side in 1981. In 1985 he moved to Sunderland for the sum of £150,000, making 167 league appearances (19 as substitute) and scoring 45 goals. He also made 7 appearances in the FA Cup for the Black Cats, with 2 goals, and 18 in the Football League Cup with 6 further goals.

During his time at Sunderland, they were relegated to the third division. The worst ever position the club has ever suffered. Eric was remembered for his strike partnership with Marco Gabbiadini, the pair scoring 42 between them as Sunderland bounced back from their nadir the following season. He scored 4 in a 7-0 rout of Southend United in November 1987. Eric's final goal for Sunderland came in the 1990 Play-off semi-final win at Newcastle United, where he then set up his strike partner to seal a 2-0 win.

In 1990 he left Sunderland for Carlisle United for his final season in league football.

In all, Gates played 515 games and scored 124 goals at league level.

He worked, until recently, for Century FM on The Three Legends show. It was reported by the Evening Chronicle in May that Century FM and Gates were in dispute after Gates signed to local radio station BBC Radio Newcastle.^[1] Eric has since been replaced by ex Sunderland player Micky Horswill. On 24 March 2007 the East Timor FA announced that, from April 2008, Gates will have the position as East Timorese coach. His aim would be to improve the formation of the team, technique, and the strategy that they use. He wanted the East Timor team to be qualify for the 2008 ASEAN Football Championship.