Gambler nets fortune after late Liverpool goal

A lucky punter landed £585,143.24 (AU$930,544.35) from an 85p (AU$1.30) bet thanks to Glen Johnson's 87th-minute winner for Liverpool at Chelsea on Sunday.

The 41-year-old gambler - who has chosen to remained anonymous - bet just one euro on his 19-match accumulator, and watched Saturday's football results come in with an increasing state of excitement as the first 18 matches all went his way.

That left the Sunday afternoon match between the Reds and the Blues to decide whether his 683,738-1 gamble would come in.

Liverpool were 7/2 underdogs for the match at Stamford Bridge, but former Chelsea player Glen Johnson did the Maltese gambler proud with his beautiful late goal to secure all three points for Kenny Dalglish's men.

And unsurprisingly, Liverpool have gained a lifelong fan thanks to the win: "He wasn't a Liverpool fan before, he tells us he is now!" said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe, adding that the amazing punt was a new record at the end of a great weekend for gamblers.

"We cannot recall any punter winning either this much on an accumulator, or landing such stratospheric odds," Sharpe added.

"Football punters were already celebrating the biggest winning weekend in living memory as all the best fancied teams in the Premier League, Championship, Leagues One & Two, Blue Square, SPL and William Hill Scottish Cup turned out be winners," said Sharpe.

"This late winner in the final game of the weekend left us feeling about as cheerful as under-pressure Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas. The weekend as a whole was football betting's equivalent of racing's Dettori day in 1996, when Frankie rode all seven winners at Ascot, costing the industry almost £50 million."

The winning selections:

Norwich v Arsenal - 7/10 away win

Everton v Wolves - 6/10 home win

Man City v Newcastle - 1/3 home win

Swansea v Man Utd - 4/9 away win

Chelsea v Liverpool - 7/2 away win

West Brom v Bolton - 11/10 home win

Inverness v Celtic - 4/9 away win

Southampton v Brighton - 8/15 home win

Coventry v West Ham - 4/5 away win

Reading v Cardiff - 11/5 away win

Brentford v Charlton - 7/5 away win

Huddersfield v Notts County - 4/5 home win

Sheff Utd v Carlisle - 19/20 home win

Colchester v MK Dons - 6/4 away win

Tranmere v Sheff Wed - 9/5 away win

Crawley v Oxford - 5/6 home win

Dagenham v Southend - 5/6 away win

Cheltenham v Port Vale - 13/10 home win

Northampton v Shrewsbury - 11/8 away win

Thanks to Eurosport