Grandpa wins $202k on bet infant would grow up to play soccer

CARDIFF, Wales, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The grandfather of a Welsh soccer star said he won $202,000 on a nearly 15-year-old bet when his grandson joined the country's team.

Peter Edwards said his grandson, Harry Wilson, 16, was only 18-months-old in 2000 when he put $80 on a 2,500-to-1 bet that the boy would grow up to play professional soccer for the Welsh team, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

Edwards said he won the bet Wednesday when Wilson made his debut with the team during the qualifying match between Wales and Belgium. Wilson officially became the youngest player in the Welsh team's history.

"He was about 18 months old at the time. There is no way I could have known," Edwards said of his bet. "It was a spur of the moment thing."

"He's progressed over the years. He's absolutely brilliant now," Edwards said of his grandson.

Edwards said the proceeds of his bet will allow him to retire a year early and throw "a little bit of a party." He said he will also show his gratitude to his grandson by covering some of Wilson's travel expenses when he goes back and forth between his home in Wales and the Liverpool, England, soccer academy he attends.