A Super 6 player from Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire has scooped the £250,000 jackpot after correctly predicting six scores from this weekend’s Premier League action.
Mark Harris, a 51-year-old train maintainer for the London Underground, became the latest winner of the free-to-play game, accumulating 30 points in Round 47. With just one other player out of hundreds of thousands matching the feat, the life-changing prize was decided by a ‘Golden Goal’ tiebreaker.
The win came at a surreal moment for Mark, who was in Madrid on a football trip with his three sons. While the trip was a success, the lifelong Arsenal fan admitted to a moment of conflicted loyalty; he had to rely on their title rivals Manchester City to secure his jackpot with a clinical 3-0 win over Chelsea in the final game of the round.
Mark and his family celebrated his jackpot win with a trip to the recording of Stick to Football on Wednesday, April 15, where he met Arsenal legend Ian Wright, alongside Roy Keane, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes.
Cambridgeshire man scoops £250,000 Super 6 jackpot while on family trip to Madrid
Mark Harris was on holiday with his sons in Madrid when he won the jackpot
‘I’m a big fan of Ian Wright and the rest of them, so being here today is fantastic,’ he said.
‘It’s all happened very quickly, and I haven’t really had time to soak it up. My sons are probably more excited than me – they know all the players, whereas I’m just happy to be along for the ride.’
Mark’s Golden Goal prediction of four minutes for the first goal of the round beat his rival’s seven-minute guess after Igor Thiago converted a third-minute penalty for Brentford against Everton. Mark was informed that he was in with a chance of the jackpot while exploring the Spanish capital.
‘My group chat at work messaged me saying, ‘Mark, you’re second in the country on Super 6.’ I said, ‘Don’t be daft.’ My son got it up on his phone and said, ‘Yeah, you’re number two.’ I had no idea how to even get on the website,’ he added.
‘We were trying to find a sports bar just to watch the City game, but we couldn’t find one quick enough. When I realised I’d won, I was totally gobsmacked. We found a posh restaurant nearby; we were mixing with the ‘hoity-toity’ while literally in shorts and a T-shirt. I ordered £200 worth of champagne – the first time I’ve ever done that in my life.’
The jackpot offers a timely boost for Mark and his wife, who often work long hours as ‘ships in the night’ due to Mark’s demanding shift work and due to Mark working significant overtime before retirement.
‘It’s life changing,’ he said. ‘All I ever talk about is reducing the mortgage. I love touring on my motorbike, but I’m getting older and things are starting to fall off – I’ve been diagnosed with arthritis in my hip, and I need a hip replacement. This has all come at such a good time.’
The win also carried a deep emotional connection for the family following the recent loss of Mark’s father.
‘I lost my father to cancer two years ago. My mate Clive said to me, ‘He’s looking down on you, mate. All you’ve done since he’s gone is look after your mum and your sisters, and now he’s looking after you.’ I said: ‘I think you might be right, fella.’ I phoned my mum up and she’s been crying ever since.’
Mark is the second Super 6 jackpot winner of the season, joining Martin, who landed a £1 million jackpot in October. Despite the massive win, Mark admits he is far from a football expert and relied on a stroke of luck for the tiebreaker.
‘I don’t know a lot about football compared to people who worship it. I literally won it because of my Golden Goal and nothing else. I picked the fourth minute completely at random,’ he said.
Mark’s winning predictions in full can be found below:
1. Brentford 2-2 Everton (Golden Goal: 4th Min)
2. Liverpool 2-0 Fulham
3. Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
4. Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa
5. Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle United
6. Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City
