Football fan nets £585,000 from 86p bet

Shrewsbury Town's win over Northampton helped a lucky punter scoop an amazing £585,000 from a mere 86p stake after he successfully predicted 19 football results – at odds of 683,738-1.

The 41-year-old punter was assured of his £585,000 jackpot only three minutes from the end of Sunday's clash between Liverpool and Chelsea, when Glen Johnson scored to hand Liverpool the win and complete the last result in the magic bet.

The fan, who has not been named, lives in Malta and staked just one euro.

He owes part of his fortune to Shrewsbury's 7-2 win at Northampton.

It was one of 18 results he correctly predicted in England and Scotland on Saturday before then waiting on the outcome of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Liverpool the following day.

He had raked up £152,000 on his single euro bet on Saturday but faced losing the lot if Liverpool did not beat Chelsea.

However, his winnings more than tripled when Johnson scored a dramatic late winner.

Today Graham Sharpe, from bookmaker William Hill, described the win as 'extraordinary' and said he had never known anyone enjoy such good fortune at such long odds.

He said: "We cannot recall any punter winning this much on an accumulator with such stratospheric odds.

"He wasn't a Liverpool fan before, but he tells us he is now."

The gambler, who is not thought to be a British ex-pat, has not yet decided how to spend the money.

His bets were spread across different divisions in England and Scotland and he correctly forecast the outcome of Premiership games between Norwich and Arsenal, Everton and Wolves, Man City and Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool and West Brom versus Bolton.

His accumulator cost a paltry 86p, giving him a staggering return.

It was a bad weekend for the bookies as fancied teams lost in all divisions.

In January, a Berkshire punter won £272,000 from a £2.50 bet after correctly predicting the results of nine football matches.