A former football hooligan who scooped a £1 million EuroMillions prize has revealed he almost missed out on the life-changing windfall due to a little-known technicality.

Daniel Wright, whose semi-autobiographical book Northern Monkeys chronicles his years in Bradford City’s notorious firm “The Ointment,” recalled the moment he discovered the win while on holiday. Speaking to podcaster James English, Wright said he had been idly checking his emails while his girlfriend was in the shower when he noticed a message from EuroMillions.

“I thought it would be £2.50 or something,” he said. But when he opened the official National Lottery app, a bold banner told him he had won big. “I wasn’t really paying attention. I thought I’d won £1,000, then I realised it wasn’t £1,000. I counted it 10 times. Then I shouted ‘Woo!’—like Ric Flair.”

But the celebration was short-lived as Wright learned of a rule that could have cost him the entire payout.

“I won the UK Millionaire Maker,” he explained. “But I was in Cape Verde at the time. If I’d bought that ticket in Cape Verde, I wouldn’t have got paid.”

Fortunately for him, the entry had been purchased automatically through his usual weekly standing order in the UK. However, the location issue still triggered a tense conversation with lottery officials when he called to claim the prize.

“They asked, ‘Where did you put the ticket on?’” Wright recalled. “I told them, ‘It’s a standing order—comes out of my bank every month.’”

Only entries purchased through UK-based transactions are eligible for the UK Millionaire Maker prize, meaning a holiday purchase abroad could have rendered his winning ticket invalid.

Wright is now urging fellow players to be aware of the rule—especially those who buy tickets while travelling. Photo by Magnus D from London, United Kingdom, Wikimedia commons.