Soccer star Kevin’s €1m Christmas gift!
WEXFORD-BORN soccer star Kevin O’Connor (22) received a Christmas present of €1 million from his godparents this year after a lotto ticket they posted to him in a festive card came up trumps in a National Lottery draw on New Year’s Eve.
‘Hope all your dreams come true’, his godparents Peadar and Mags Murphy of Ballymartin, Castlebridge wrote in the card to Kevin who now lives in the UK after he was signed from Cork City by championship soccer club Preston North End last July.
Kevin’s mother Breda telephoned him in England early on New Year’s Day asking him to check the numbers after it had been announced that the winning Christmas Millionaire ticket with the numbers 54239 was bought in Flanagan’s of Castlebridge on December 14
Supermarket owner Louis Flanagan had discovered that only one of the special draw tickets costing €25 as purchased in his store that day and it was bought by customers Peader and Mags Murphy. Louis telephoned the couple who are best friends of Kevin’s parents Breda and Brian of Garrylough, Screen, and was told it had been dispatched to England as a Christmas gift for the talented young sportsman.
Kevin checked the numbers and they matched. ‘I had a match that day so it didn’t sink in’, said the Garrylough, Screen man who began playing soccer with Curracloe United when he was a young boy.
He started his professional career with Waterford United in 2013 before joining Cork City in 2015. He has also represented Ireland at underage level.
Asked for his reaction to starting the New Year as a millionaire, he said: ‘I don’t know how I feel – I can’t even explain it. It has been a good year for me.’
Kevin returned to to Wexford on New Year’s Night, on a previously arranged two-day visit and called to Flanagan’s supermarket at midday on Tuesday with his parents and girlfriend Chloe O’ Leary of Cork so that Louis Flanagan could officially check the winning number before the family made arrangements to travel to National Lottery headquarters in Dublin in the afternoon to collect the winning cheque.
Inside the supermarket, customers came up to Kevin to shake his hand and offer their congratulations while outside passing local motorists hooted their car horns in noisy celebration as the O’Connors posed in front of the busy Centra premises for a photograph, glasses of champagne suppled by a beaming Louis Flanagan in hand.
Godparents Peader and Mags are ‘ thrilled for him’, according to Kevin’s mother Breda who said her son was calm about the win while she was ‘ a nervous wreck’ in case the ticket got lost.
Girlfriend Chloe had the €1 million lottery ticket in her handbag for safe keeping on the journey home from Manchester late on Monday night and never left it out of her sight.
Kevin who has an older brother Brian Junior is due to return to the UK this evening ( Wednesday) to resume training with his club on Thursday – €1 million the richer thanks to the lucky Christmas card from his thoughtful godparents.
The money won’t go to his head, according to his dad Brian. ‘It won’t change him. He has his head screwed on,’ he said.