Grandfather of debutant England international, Lewis Cook, Trevor Burlingham smiled to the bank Tuesday after a bet he placed four years ago yielded a whopping N8.7million about £17,000.
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.