A former Manchester United, who played during the ‘Busby Babe’ era has become £400,000 richer having won the lottery.
Cliff Bull, who was a winger, was left staggered when he won the jackpot playing the People’s Postcode Lottery.
Bull was handed a massive cheque worth almost half a million from a total share of £3.2million after his Nottinghamshire postcode won big.
The 82-year-old is one of the Busby Babes having signed for Manchester United in October 1957 at the age of 15.
Signing his first-ever deal in the office of Busby, Bull left school and relocated to Manchester in January 1958.
Just ten days after completing the move his Man United teammates were involved in the Munich air disaster, killing eight players and leaving Busby himself in a life-threatening state.
Thankfully for Bull, he was not on board the flight.
The winger spent just two years with Manchester United before leaving to join Nottingham Forest.
However, a string of serious knee injuries limited his playing time and spelled the beginning of the end of his career.
After 26 operations – including two knee replacements – Bull retired from football.
Bull retrained as a plumber and has enjoyed a modest life in comparison to many Manchester United legends.
But 65 years after being signed by Busby, Bull has been handed a sizable payday of his own.
Reflecting on his lottery win, Bull said: “I’m absolutely staggered, I’m still lost for words. It opens up so many possibilities.
“I’m overwhelmed to be quite honest. It’s beyond what I could ever have dreamt.
“I can pay for a holiday for all of the family. That would be my dream for all of us to go away, which at the last count was 22.
“This would make me very happy.”
Speaking about his late wife Jeanette, Bull said: “The overwhelming disappointment is she’s not here to see it, but she’s a big part of this.”