Who wants to be a millionaire? Villa fan Daman nets £1m prize bet

Aston Villa fan Daman Chick was on holiday with his family and was unaware he had scooped the betting windfall.

But he has become an overnight millionaire after winning a bet on predicting the scorer of the opening goal in the Euro 2016 final.

The 32-year-old guessed Portuguese striker Eder would score what turned out to be the winner in the final against host nation France.

He predicted the goal would be scored in the 84th minute - and his guess was the closest to the 109th minute strike in bookmaker BetVictor's Million Pound Goal competition.

The bookies had been searching for the kitchen fitter to award his prize - but he was out of the country on a holiday in Greece.

Officials finally managed to make contact with Mr Chick poolside who had been totally unaware of his windfall.

He arrived back from the Greek island of Zante last night to receive the life-changing cheque.

Mr Chick revealed he only placed the bet at the last minute before boarding the plane to the holiday isle.

"When I received the call, I sobered up instantly," he said. "I thought I'd just had one too many by the pool.

"I'll be honest – I forgot the game was on.

"I saw the score the next morning and thought nothing of it – I'd missed a pretty average game.

"My winning bet happened to be the one I placed last minute as I was boarding the plane to Zante."

He told how he wants to generously support his family after winning the seven-figure sum.

"I definitely want to sort my parents out first," said Mr Chick.

"They've worked hard enough to support me over the years so I want to give them something back.

"My wife and I have siblings who we want to help out, as well and other family members.

"The wife knows I like to have a bit of a gamble. She wasn't too happy previously but I think she's good now.

"We'll celebrate with a few bottles of champagne and then a nice holiday with family and friends."

However the money still might not convince him to buy a Villa season ticket.

"I'm not currently a season ticket holder at Villa Park," he said.

"Will I get one with the winnings? To be honest, I think it's going to be quite hard watching them bang around in The Championship."

The win was the culmination of the competition, with punters invited to bet on the correct minute and goal scorer of the opener in Sunday's final.

The Lille striker was far from the most popular player to score the Million Pound Goal, with Golden Boot winner Antoine Griezmann leading the way followed by Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud .

BetVictor's director of sportsbook, Matt Scarrott, said: "As it happens, Eder's extra-time goal for Portugal has indeed made one happy punter an instant millionaire – a life-changing sum of money, and we are thrilled for Daman.

"When it eventually came, The Million Pound Goal was a thing of beauty; Eder might not have looked a £5m player when at the Liberty Stadium, but you try telling that to Daman.

"We are thrilled with the campaign and how it has been received by customers old and new, and look forward to similar campaigns going forward."

Eder's 109th minute strike was the closest prediction.