A LUCKY lottery punter had just £13 in his pocket when he scooped a massive £2.4million jackpot.
Neil Jones, 59, and his partner Julie Kirkham won the life-changing amount of cash just before Christmas 2010.
PAThanks to his lottery win Neil could retire and spend more time playing pool[/caption]
PANeil Jones had just £13 to his name when he won £2.4m on the National Lottery[/caption]
Neil, who was also a part-time singer in pubs and clubs as well as a tiler, said it took 18 months for the news of his National Lottery win to sink in.
He said: “Whenever we got a chance, we would pop into the local Bargain Booze and we always bought a £3 lucky dip, that’s all we ever did.
“We would win the odd tenner, I suppose. I used to joke with [the shop owner] that he was selling duds because we hardly won – but when we got the big one, I said to him, ‘You’re not selling duds anymore’.
“Before we won, we’d got enough money sorted out for Christmas but then December 8, our big numbers came up.
“We didn’t spend a penny until the new year. I stuck to my plan of everyone getting £100 for Christmas – I wanted to get our old life out of the way.
“January 1, we started a new life. I didn’t tell anyone at first, not until we went public.
“There were no words. I was checking the ticket for 45 minutes. It was all on Ceefax back then. Julie rang Camelot and they said, ‘Are you sitting down? You’re the only winner and it’s £2.4m’.
“It took about 18 months to sink in. It was absolutely amazing, fantastic. It’s a cushion – when a bill comes through the door, you know you can pay it.”
When Neil Neil, from Stoke-on-Trent, did start spending the winnings, one of his first purchases would lead to international sporting honours.
Having played snooker as a youngster, he decided to buy a pool table after getting his millions.
Neil is now set to experience his “proudest moment” as he prepares to represent his country at the European Pool Championships in Malta.
His lottery win allowed him to retire, and, with more free time, he was able to climb through the ranks to become a regular county player before his first England trial back in 2021.
After narrowly missing out back then, he continued playing and practising until he was asked to trial again in early 2023.
This time the Neil was successful and was awarded his England colours during a Home Nations tournament.
Neil has not only been chosen to represent England in the European Pool Championships but is also being asked to captain the England B1 team.
While he has had the support of partner Julie and his family, Neil, who plays at The Plaza club in Fenton, says he wishes his late father was here to see his success.
Neil said: “My dad was so supportive of me. He was so proud.
“When he was in hospital, I used to tell him the county results every month and he’d say, ‘You really want this don’t you? It will come’ and it did – it was really emotional.
“I try to motivate the other boys [on the team], so when I was asked if I wanted to be captain for England, I couldn’t say no to that.
“I was sobbing, I couldn’t talk. If my dad had been here now, he would be in Malta with me.”
Neil said “thousands of hours” of training has helped him to get to where he is today – something he says would not have been possible if he had not won the Lottery.
He said: “Winning the Lottery allowed me to put those hours in. If I didn’t win, I wouldn’t have been able to buy the table, I wouldn’t have had the time – I’d still be on my hands and knees tiling.”
PANeil is now preparing to represent England at the European Pool Championships[/caption]