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Mike was born March 13, 1971 and while sources can’t confirm it, with a soccer ball at his side. Young Mike learned to read, write, eat whole foods by himself - all of that and more - and it wasn’t long before he began playing organized soccer.

“Mike was just a silly little brother growing up who idolized his older brother,” said sibling Don Gill-More. “Not too surprising there, as I still deal with it regularly, but it really is no bother as a lot of guys admire me as a warm big brother figure, probably due to my being a strong, smart, good looking, funny, caring guy. Sort of a one-in-a-million thing.”

Don continues.

“Anyway, he liked playing Atari, D&D, Star Wars, Capture The Flag, ogling an issue of National Geographic on occasion (wink, wink) and running around outside like most young kids do.”

Brother Don relates that as a youngster, nothing really stood out about his athletic ability on rec teams or any other sports -- until high school. There, though not exactly a “Poindexter” (“they are normally thought of as smart,” Don says), but certainly a dweeb and not real hip with the ladies, his soccer skills did blossom into something special. He grew physically bigger and mentally astute at the game as a sweeper with a big leg.

“Having him in the backfield certainly helped to anchor the defense,” Don said.

Gilly Begins His Career On Defense

Absolutely it did. After high school, Gill-More’s soccer career began a whole new series of chapters. In 1990, Gill-More played defense as a member of the Nets, a team still around today in the Everett league. In 1991, he played “on and off,” he says, with the Transients, which morphed into the Saints. Gill-More’s defensive skills shown through in 1992-93 on FC Owl.

Gill-More starred with the UW club team and Don’s Postmen team during 1994-1995 seasons. In ’95, Gilly crossed the Pacific to live and play a little bit in Japan through 1996.

The Golden State lured Gilly in 1997, and he spent a summer in Berkeley playing on a teams consisting of University of California varsity, grad student and club team players.

Sadly, Gilly did not play much soccer in 1998.

But in 1999, Gilly was a member of the San Francisco Vikings through the millennium. He spent 2001-2003 as a solid performer on defense with Bay Cities International in Oakland.

Gilly Finally Joins FC Spare Tire

Meanwhile, a year into its existence in March 2003, FC Spare Tire was still a pretty fat and fledgling team that barely won a single game out of every four it played. No former high school varsity players appeared on its roster, the keeper had already laid out a welcome mat to 100 goals of his own and the team leaned on Steve Lassiter as the team's leading scorer with a grand total of 10. FCST was the Northwest’s doormat, and luckily for the team, a certain California kid made a brief return home to God’s Country.

Enter Mike Gill-More on April 1, 2003 - the day the GSSL welcomed him in as a card-carrying player in the league.

Gill-More got in his first and only game until fall five days later against rival Monkey United on the lovely dirt at Shorepark B. Gill-More, standing out as the tallest player on the field in his dark blue T-shirt that advertised actuarial and consulting firm Milliman & Robertson in yellow, sped up and down the pitch that day and scored what would go down as goal No. 1 -- a deftly popped header from Lassiter on the left side with eight minutes to play.

Gill-More, affectionately known as “Gilly”, and not to be confused with “Tightpants,” his brother’s moniker, appeared in just that lone game that season. The team would score only nine more goals and go on to a 3-4 record to finish in the middle of the pack in the eight-team division.

After a subsequent .500 summer season, Gilly returned to the Pacific Northwest for good in August. He rejoined FC Spare Tire that fall and scored in his return in a 4-2 win over Fergies Red & White Army in the fall opener. He would score five more that season to keep Tire from being blanked in at least three games.

“I think Mike is going to help this team out and help this team get in shape a lot quicker if we're not going to practice regularly,” mentioned fellow forward Dean Lencioni at the time.

“Mike Gill-More, well, he just added that extra bit of confidence that the team was lacking, ” said keeper Mitch King. “Yeah, he took a few shots and set up some good plays, but what he really brought was composure, and we needed that. That kind of thing is infectious.”

Infectious, for sure. The next winter, Gilly led Tire to its first-ever division 4 trophy during a very successful 9-1-1 season.

Gilly Introduces Tire To 'Goals'

FC Spare Tire had a rather forgettable spring of 2004 - maybe that's because Gilly took that season off. Then Tire took the next summer off. His triumphant return came that fall when he lit up scoreboards the way Bob Marley lit up the ganja - Gilly recorded 10 goals in the first five games. He would add five more that session before the team would eventually fall in the semi-final to FC Unreal on penalty kicks.

Gilly accounted for one-third of Tire's 30 goals that next playoff-making winter session. That spring of 2005, Tire went 6-1, its best spring ever, behind nine of Gilly's goals. Nineteen goals in two sessions entitled Gilly to take a break, and that he did for summer 2005.

It took five games to get his first of the session, but Gilly netted only five goals that next fall en route to a 7-2-1 playoffs appearance. He poured in eight more that winter 2006 as Tire made a championship game appearance. Then it was time for another springtime break -- this time back to school to earn an MBA at the UW. Tire then went 4-3.

“He generally is in a good mood anytime after playing soccer,” says wife Mariam. “I actually don’t know if it varies in relationship to goal achievements, however, I suspect it doesn’t. If ask about goal achievements, and he has made a goal, he sometimes makes a little ‘woo-hoo’ sound.”

“Woo-hoo” indeed.

FCST morphed into Spare Parts AFC that summer to reflect a new team -- a few new players onboard, others taking a break. Gilly actually put in three goals in two games for the team ... that was not named FC Spare Tire. Had the team been named FC Spare Tire, Gilly achieved the century mark when he rammed home the first goal of the game on Oct. 6, 2008 vs. Work Doers FC.

That fall, Gilly recorded eight goals, including three multi-goal games, to lead the team once again in scoring and on a path to the playoffs.

Gilly knocked in eight goals in Tire's first seven games of 2007 to -- stop me if I sound like a broken record -- lead the team to a playoff spot. That spring, he added two -- surprisingly low, as you know, for him in a season, including one in the championship win over Grizzly Man. After tallying three in the summer, Gilly raked in 11 more that fall as Tire made yet another championship run - but his two weren’t quite enough in the final vs. the three from FC Thien An.

2008: A Bit Forgettable

Tire’s 2008 involved playing four seasons in four different divisions, and scores demonstrated this with either one a game or up to six as an average. For whatever reason, Gilly recorded seasonal lows during the year, grabbing two in winter, zero during his springtime break, and three each in summer and fall. Memorable, or more likely quickly forgotten, was that Gilly actually missed two penalty kicks. On the same field. At the same goal.

“A penalty kick is like a pass,” lamented GSSL president Anita Parker upon hearing of the atrocities. “You have to kick it low and toward the post. That’s the best way to get it by the keeper. You have to make a low, hard pass.”

Gilly notched a mere three of his team’s 53 total goals in the fall; he was unavailable for a bunch of games due to out-of-town business, to nurse a calf injury and to tend to a season-ending ankle-deltoid muscle injury sustained by a beaten keeper while scoring during an O-30 FC Flat Tire game at Everett’s Kasch Park on November 5.

His fashion accessory that winter was a big, bulky, walking boot that prevented him from playing in the annual Turkey Cup soccer game at Shoreline that Thanksgiving. He continued to rest it, maybe a little rehab too, and come opening day 2009, Gilly was fit to play.

Gilly’s first of the year (no. 98) came after a fake and dribble to space in the box on January 11 in a 3-1 win over Haiduc Moldova. He added a second (no. 99) with a lefty in the box in a 5-1 victory over Seattle Central Soccer Club.

The Day Finally Comes

Finally, on February 1, 2009, Gilly put in a header across the goal from Kelly Antoncich. It was a floater that made time stand still for a moment, but when it fell inside the far left post, cheers erupted and Gilly’s jersey was pulled over his head to reveal a shirt created just for the occasion to commemorate his entry into the Century Club.