Would You Spend Your Lottery Win on a Football Team?
Last Updated: Friday 12th August 2016, 09:59
With the new football season steadily getting under way and two massive jackpots offered on both EuroMillions and Lotto this weekend, could a big lottery win persuade you to invest in your favourite team? There are plenty of winners who have done just that and revelled in the experience.
It would only be natural for an ecstatic lottery winner to head straight to their favourite football team and splash the cash, but EuroMillions winner Les Scadding took a different approach. The lifelong Bristol City fan won a huge £45.5 million jackpot in November 2009, but turned his attentions to non-league club Newport County in August 2012. The Bristol-born winner, who moved to the Welsh city, decided he “wanted to give something back” to the area that had been so good to him. The millionaire owner successfully oversaw the club's promotion back to the football league for the first time in 25 years in 2013, before leaving his place on the board in June 2015 having invested £1.25 million in the project. Quoted by BBC Sport, Scadding said: "I leave... in the knowledge that I have contributed to [Newport's] promotion and development.”
Looking lower down the football pyramid, there seems to be a theme of lottery winners who want to really enjoy the beautiful game. Karen Child won more than £8 million in 2007 and had fantasies of watching her beloved Manchester United at Old Trafford, having never been able to afford tickets. However, the magic of the Theatre of Dreams soon wore off for the former checkout assistant who spent £40,000 on a corporate box for one season. She instead turned her attentions to a club a little closer to home in the form of Chesterfield, sponsoring the team’s former Saltergate home and was even given the honour of seeing her name given to the ground’s South Stand in 2010. The lure of Premier League football wasn’t enough for this victor, telling FourFourTwo: “I prefer going to Chesterfield - everyone is friendlier and it’s better value.”
Of course, there could be no better feeling than lending your support to the team closest to your heart. That’s what EuroMillions winners Colin and Chris Weir did after their colossal windfall of £161.6 million in July 2011. The Partick Thistle fans invested heavily in the club’s youth system in 2013, spending £750,000 on state-of-the-art facilities and many other charitable projects. The Jags-mad pair have since spent a further £500,000 on further projects at the club, a gesture that saw Colin named as the Glasgow side’s first ever patron. Not only that, but the generous football fan even had a stand named after him at the team’s home ground. Colin is reportedly more than happy with the “impressive progress” that has been made by the club following his financial involvement, telling the Herald Scotland: “We are delighted by what the academy has achieved to date.”
Tonight’s EuroMillions jackpot is estimated to be worth an astonishing £33 million, while Saturday’s Lotto draw could see a lucky winner land £16.1 million, totals that would allow any football fanatic to indulge in the sport they love. To be in with a chance of winning, both EuroMillions and Lotto tickets can be purchased online or from any authorised retailer. Best of luck!
