RESULT! £1m
The moment footballer forced to retire early through injury realises he’s just won on the lottery
A FORMER footballer who was forced to retire because of injury told yesterday how he scooped £1million on the lottery.
Terry Kennedy – who was dubbed the “ginger John Terry” during his playing career – revealed he left his ticket on the counter after buying it but a shopkeeper called him back and said: “This could make you a millionaire.”
The moment Terry, 28, was told of his big win was captured on video by a building site pal and has now been seen by more than three million people.
The ex-Barnsley and Sheffield United defender, now a builder, said he initially intended to keep quiet about his luck – but was outed by the footage.
At a press conference in his home town, Barnsley, Terry and his girlfriend Kay Yoxall, a 25-year-old team leader at a financial services company, toasted their win.
Terry told how he and Kay had gone to a shop to buy a EuroMillions Lucky Dip, thinking it was a Friday. But the shopkeeper told them it was Saturday, so they got a Lotto ticket instead. But their luck was in as they matched two numbers and won a Lucky Dip for the next draw. Terry got his winning Lucky Dip at a shop near where he was working in Doncaster and accidentally left it on the counter. The shopkeeper called him back and predicted the £1million win. He got five of the six numbers – 10, 18, 20, 37, 49 – and the bonus ball 5. Terry said: “I checked the ticket the next day on my lunch break and couldn’t believe the numbers matched. “I got different mates on the site to check on the app and it kept saying I’d won. I thought it was a wind-up. “It wasn’t until I’d spoken to the woman at The National Lottery – which was filmed by a mate – that I believed it was happening. Making that call in front of my mates and colleagues was brilliant.” Terry rang Kay at work and told her to pack up her stuff and join them. The pair went for a weekend away in Dublin and are now jetting off to Tenerife. They now plan to have a low-key Christmas with family before flying to New York next month. They plan to “never work a British winter again”.