A couple of months ago, we were all busy congratulating those Leicester City fans who were cashing in as the Foxes won the Premier League.
Claudio Ranieri’s team were 5,000/1 shots to lift the title, earning some folks a very tidy sum, but they only had a few months to wait for their bet to come in.
That’s nothing compared to the three years that Wales fan @BenSnowball will have had to wait on a very gutsy Euro 2016 bet.
He backed Chris Coleman’s team to win the tournament all the way back in October 2013. That’s right, 2013.
Oct 2013: Stuck a fiver (£2.50 EW) on #Wal to win Euro 2016 at 1000-1
Jul 2016: 🙏🙏🙏
Potential winnings: £3755… pic.twitter.com/t2dxKZ0uoY
— Ben Snowball (@BenSnowball) July 3, 2016
You’re probably wondering what Wales were up to that month?
Well, a home win over Macedonia and a draw in Belgium saw them end their qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup with a flourish.
‘But wait,’ you’re saying, ‘Wales didn’t qualify for that World Cup, did they?’
Right you are. In fact they lost six of their other eight qualifiers, with a home-and-away double over Scotland providing the only cause for joy. Those four points in October 2013 saw them rise eight places to 44th in the world, still behind the likes of Armenia and Panama.
But three years is a long time in football, and Wales came second in their qualifying group for Euro 2016 before winning four out of five games en route to a semi-final clash with Portugal.
Ben stands to win nearly four grand if his bet comes in, and he’ll be quids in even if Chris Coleman’s side lose in the final.
But will he be tempted to hedge his bet and lock up some money before the Portugal match? With Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies both suspended, he could be forgiven for getting cold feet.
