sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Harry Wilson’s Grandfather Once Won £125,000 On Outrageous Bet Before Wales Debut

Harry Wilson’s Grandfather Once Won £125,000 On Outrageous Bet Before Wales Debut

"Not bad for a daft bet."

Alex Reid

Alex Reid

Wales star Harry Wilson's grandfather once won £125,000 on the most incredible bet we've ever heard about.

When Harry, the Liverpool winger currently on loan at Cardiff City, was just a three-year-old toddler, his grandparent made the unlikely wager.

Peter Edwards walked into a William Hill betting shop in Wrexham and asked what odds he'd get on his infant grandson being capped for the Wales football team before his 20th birthday. He was given odds of 2,500-1 and laid down £50.

That was in 2000 - and 13 years later, the bet paid off big time as Wilson made a record-breaking entrance onto the international stage.

At the age of only 16, the Liverpool academy product came off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Belgium, replacing Hal Robson-Kanu late in the game.

In doing so, Wilson broke Gareth Bale's record for the youngest player to represent Wales - and of course earned Grandpa Edwards a cool £125,000.

Understandably, Wilson's grandfather decided to take early retirement with his winnings at the age of 62. As reported by the Guardian, the electrical contractor wanted to stop travelling for work and to spend time with his wife, Dorothy.

"She is over the moon. I retired immediately," he said in 2013. "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."

But this was no lucky gamble: Edwards put the bet on when he saw how much his grandson Harry loved playing with a football, even before he could walk.

"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," he said.

The proud grandfather even tried to add to the bet when Wilson joined Liverpool's academy, but of course William Hill were having none of it by that stage.

"Harry was about 12 then. 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," he added.

That meant even if Wilson - whose grandmother was born in Chester - had decided to represent England, the payout would still be safe.

As it is, Wilson is now the proud owner of 23 Welsh caps and has scored five goals - including a lovely strike against Belgium this month; the team he first faced as a full international.

But no appearance will be as valuable to his granddad as that first one that netted an astonishing payoff.

All imagery: PA Images

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Liverpool, Cardiff City, Wales