Spireites’ misery is another man’s fortune - punter nets £170,000 with £1 accumulator

Chesterfield vs Leyton Orient - Dean Cox of Leyton Orient scores a late winner - Pic By James Williamson

Chesterfield were left feeling blue when Dean Cox bagged a 101st minute winner for Leyton Orient on Saturday, but one punter wasn’t after the goal meant he landed £170,000 from a £1 accumulator.

The 33-year-old man, who only opened a betting account with William Hill last week and wished to remain anonymous, placed the ten-team accumulator on Saturday morning before he headed out with his family for the day.

“It wasn’t until I got back home from the park that I checked my account and saw how much I had won,” said the Cambridgeshire man, who didn’t even know that it was Cox’s goal that had scooped the incredible win.

His account was set up on February 7, 2015 and was intended to be a bit of fun and a way of potentially earning a bit of cash for his five-month-old son’s future.

“My partner and I had a son five months ago and last week we set up a William Hill account and deposited £20,” he said. “The intention was to place two £1 bets every so often on the football and any winnings would go into a savings account for him.

“We have only placed eight bets. We will certainly be giving him a large chunk towards his future but we also plan to buy a house with some of the winnings as well.”

A spokesman for William Hill said: “A few years ago, we had a Maltese punter who turned €1 into over €500,000 and this guy, with his incredible win, has moved into second place on our list of biggest ever football winners.”

THE BET

Winnings: £169,923.01

Stake: £1.00

Selections:

23/10 Sheffield United; 5/2 Leyton Orient;

21/10 Crawley; 21/10 Crewe;

Evens Doncaster; 7/2 Gillingham;

7/2 Colchester; 7/5 Peterborough;

11/4 Scunthorpe; 16/5 Port Vale.