By Sammie Jones-
An unemployed football fan who scooped £9.3 million on the lottery is over the moon after scooping £9.3m.
55-year-old Paul Long initially thought the huge jackpot win was a scam as he struggled to believe he had made the big win. He put his luck down to his beloved Leyton Orient’s 3-0 win against Woking on Saturday, which he celebrated by buying the winning Lotto lucky dip ticket.
The father-of-three from Wickford, Essex, said he initially believed he had won £9,000 before his friend pointed out to him he had scooped the jackpot
Long received an email on Sunday morning from Camelot saying he had won the jackpot, but when he logged in, saw his account only had £3.90 left.
After ringing the customer helpline, the lucky winner believed he had won just £9,000. Mr Long said: “I’ve rung my mate and told him, and he said text me the ticket over.
“He then said ‘Hi mate, I’m not being funny, you’ve won £9 million’.
“I said ‘Shut up’.”
After ringing the Lotto helpline back to confirm he was the sole jackpot winner, and asking them ‘Is this a scam?”, Mr Long told his close family as his good fortune sank in.
He said: “I think I opened a bottle of Coors Light and then thought, you know what, I need a cup of tea.”
EXCITED
I was really excited but I couldn’t be because I was so scared it wasn’t. You won’t let your emotions believe it is.
“You’re looking for negatives and anything that makes it not real.”
Mr Long Googled the adviser’s name and then, still in disbelief during a sleepless night at around 3 am on Monday morning. He Googled the adviser again and watched a video which featured their distinctive voice. Mr. Long said: “I said to my daughter, ‘It’s real Bec, I’m telling you it’s real.’
“Going back a few years, I had a £9,000 limit on the card and I only had about £200 on it, I’d only used it once online because it was a new card.
“And they have done me for the whole £9,000 so that was the only scam.
“But someone else, an ex-partner about the year before had been scammed by her bank.
“So all these things stick in my head.”
After hanging up the call, Mr Long then told his close family as the result sank in.
He said: “I think I opened a bottle of Coors Light and then thought, you know what, I need a cup of tea.”
The following day Mr Long, who worked at the Ford plant in Dagenham for more than 14 years, put a deposit on a new Ford EcoSport worth at least £23,600.
He said: “I’m just a normal guy – I don’t want a Lamborghini.
“I would never buy something like a £100,000 car, because that’s just not who I am.”
Mr Long was unable to work for 11 months after injuring his Achilles tendon while pulling a suitcase up the stairs, Mr Long’s job hunt is now permanently on hold.
While he is living in a rented home at the moment, he said he has no extravagant spending sprees planned and wanted to use the money to give his 27-year-old daughter and two sons, aged 24 and 21, a secure future.
“The investors have a lot more money than me and a club like Leyton Orient don’t make money, they lose money every year.
“In reality, I don’t want to lose money every year.
“They are doing a fantastic job.”
Orient was taken over last summer by a consortium led by another boyhood fan, Nigel Travis, the chief executive of Dunkin’ Donuts, who rescued a club that had been at risk of going bust under previous ownership
