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Harry Wilson’s grandfather banks £125k over Wales debut bet

By on October 16, 2013

20131016-213153.jpgWelsh starlet Harry Wilson recently made his international debut against Belgium, banking his lucky grandfather Peter Edwards £150,000 from a bet that the 64-year-old made in 2000.

Edwards, after seeing his then 18-month-old grandchild show an interest in football, walked into a William Hill betting shop in Wrexham and bet £50 pounds that Wilson would someday play for Wales at odds of 2,500-1. Although many Welsh grandfathers will be cursing their 14-year-old grandchildren while they play Football Manager and FIFA 14 all day, Edwards decided to immediately retire after Craig Bellamy was substituted for Wilson in Wales’ recent World Cup qualifier against Belgium on Tuesday.

The electrical contractor from Corwen, Clwyd, North Wales, made his decision to retire in Buckingham, as he travels most of the year, spending on two weekends a month with his wife Dorothy.

“She (Dorothy) is over the moon,” Edwards said. “I retired immediately. I told my manager yesterday that if Harry plays I wouldn’t be coming back.

“I’ve retired one year early. I have come home now and will not be going back. Not bad for a daft bet.”

The Liverpool FC academy player, who because the youngest player to represent Wales at the age of 16, will also benefit from the winnings to help pay for his daily commutes to Liverpool’s training faculties. Yet Edwards said he decided to make the bet even before joining Liverpool.

“He used to chase the ball around the front room on his hands and knees even before he could walk, that’s what gave me the idea. But I hoped the bet would come up,” the Welshman said.

Edwards even decided to return to William Hill to see if he could make a second bet after the midfielder joined Liverpool aged 12, only to have the request declined, although as Wilson could have chosen to represent England the bet makers allowed Edwards to win if his grandchild ever was capped by the Three Lions.

“Harry was about 12 then,” he said. “But they turned me down and said I already had a substantial bet with them. But they threw in England as a gesture of goodwill.”

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.