Retired grandfather wins N8.7million 4 years after making a sports bet

Lewis Cook’s England debut may have ended in disappointment in the 1-1 draw — but his grandfather will be celebrating. Trevor Burlingham had placed a £500 sports bet (N8.7 million) on Cook to feature for the Three Lions before his 26th birthday.

Burlingham had in 2014 placed a £500 bet that his grandson Lewis Cook will earn a senior Three Lions cap before turning 26. Many had forgotten the bet but it came to pass as 21 year old Cook made earned his debut as England took on Italy in an international friendly that ended in a 1-1 draw.


Cooks made it happen just few months after leading the young Lions to Under-20s World Cup glory, the Bournemouth midfielder was drafted into the senior squad for the first time last November.

The Bournemouth midfielder was drafted into the senior squad for the first time last November

Cook did not make an appearance then, but won his first senior cap for England against Italy in the final friendly before Gareth Southgate names his provisional World Cup squad.

That bet at 33-1 with William Hill earned Cook’s grandfather £17,000 – a good figure but small fry compared with the £125,000 won by Peter Edwards after grandson Harry Wilson made his Wales debut in 2013.

Cook signed for Premier League club Bournemouth on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee in July 2016,

He made his debut when starting in a 3–1 defeat at home to Manchester United in their first match of the 2016–17 Premier League.

He made two further appearances in the League Cup before being sidelined until 2017 by a persistent ankle problem but bounced back to the first team on 15 April 2017, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute in a 4–0 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

William Hill have revealed the pay-out to Burlingham was dwarfed by the sum won by Peter Edwards when grandson Harry Wilson made his Wales debut in 2013.


Edwards got odds of 2,500/1 when Wilson was just 18-months old to play for Wales.