Details have emerged today of a gambler from Oldham who missed out on a £500,000 payout by just a second thanks to a referee's early whistle.
An unnamed punter placed £3 on a string of FA Cup results last weekend and just needed Leeds United to score in the closing stages against Tottenham Hotspur for a complete list of correct predictions.
Just as Leeds looked destined to net from distance in the dying seconds referee Kevin Friend blew up moments before Rudolph Austin's strike could trickle into an unguarded net, leaving a 2-1 final score which stopped the giant windfall in its tracks.
The customer's local bookmaker Ladbrokes said in a statement: "The referee has most definitely ruined our punter's dream.
"It would have been the greatest outside wager of all time."
A small consolation for the punter is that he still picked up winnings of £17,000 after placing the bet in a Lucky 15 combination accumulator.
