That’s rich! Soccer star on €500k nets a €1m Lotto win
Ticket was Christmas gift
BEING a top-level sportsman requires a lot of skill and hard work, plus a bit of luck... and it appears Irish soccer star Kevin O’Connor certainly has plenty of good fortune.
The former under-21 Republic of Ireland international has landed a €1million lottery win to add to his estimated weekly salary of £10,000 as a player with English club Preston North End.
The New Year’s Eve win topped off a memorable 2017 for O’Connor, who joined the Championship soccer club in September from Cork City. He got the lucky lotto ticket as a Christmas present from his godfather and uncle for Christmas.
Peadar Murphy posted the ticket to him on December 14 with a Christmas message saying, ‘I wish you the best of luck’, little knowing it was to become such a valuable piece of paper.
A delighted O’Connor, 22, said yesterday: ‘Unknown to me, our local store in Castlebridge was announced as the winning shop for the Millionaire Raffle, and my mam phoned in a panic and told me to look for the ticket!
‘After some searching, I sent them a picture of the ticket but I never really believed that it was the winner of the €1million prize.
‘We [Preston North End] had a game with Middlesbrough on Monday night, so I completely put it to the back of my head until after the final whistle. Preston star: Kevin O’Connor It’s been an incredible two days and I don’t think the win has sunk in yet.
‘I have no immediate plans, but will take a few days before we make any decisions.’
Yesterday O’Connor visited his local supermarket, Flanagan’s Centra in the rural town of Castlebridge, Co. Wexford, to validate the ticket, before heading to the National Lottery HQ in Dublin.
‘The important part of today was having my family with me, so they will be at the forefront of any plans. My main focus is to help Preston climb the Championship and hopefully challenge for a Premier League spot over the next couple of months.’
Supermarket owner Louis Flanagan said: ‘Once the ticket was validated, I asked Kevin for a hold of it so I could become a millionaire for a few short seconds.
‘I was delighted for Kevin and his parents, Brian and Breda. One could not meet a nicer person or family.
‘When he came into the supermarket with his girlfriend it was the very same Kevin of old. He
‘Kevin has not changed one bit’
has not changed one bit. He is as nice a person as one could meet.
‘Kevin got to where he is today the hard way. He played with Waterford before joining Cork City.
‘He worked so hard to get that opportunity with Preston North End having also played with Ireland at under-age level. If I was to pick a person to win I could not have done any better.’
Louis revealed he could not believe it when he was contacted by the National Lottery.
‘I was out collecting vegetables when I took the call... I asked if I had won the Lotto and the response was swift: “no, not yourself, but you sold the winning millionaire draw ticket…”.
‘When I spoke to Kevin he was all over the place. He did not know what to do about the ticket or where to go, but the National Lottery were really nice about it and spoke with him.
‘It’s great for Kevin, his family and his godfather, and it’s also put Castlebridge on the map.’
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