BURNLEY fan Ian Harrison has personally thanked the player who made his pools win dream come true.

Ian, 34, was one of 14 Nat West bank workers who shared a £1,000,594 Littlewoods pools jackpot - clinched by a last-minute Burnley equaliser against Notts County.

And today the man who collected a £71,471 share of the win went along to Burnley's Gawthorpe training ground to say a personal thankyou to midfielder Damien Matthew, who made it all happen when he scored direct from a corner kick in injury time.

Ian, who has been a life-long Burnley fan, had no idea he was in line for a big win as he listened to Saturday's match on radio.

He said: "I was miserable when the Clarets were trailing against a relegated team.

"I cheered up when they equalised - but that had nothing to do with the pools!" Ian and his bank colleagues, who work at the business branch in Bolton, have each staked 50p a week for years without success. They hadn't even checked their coupon and when the man from Littlewoods called.

"We are always playing practical jokes on each other and I thought it was just another prank," he said.

"It was incredible when we found we really had won."

Now Ian, partner Amanda and 14-month-old son Jonah, who live in the Harle Syke area, are enjoying another game - planning just what to do with the cash.

Burnley great-grandad Peter Lee netted a £50,000 goal in a national spot the ball competition run by Littlewoods and Vernons.

He shared the national £100,000 top prize with a man from Glasgow.

Publicity-shy Mr Lee, of Keswick Road, said: "I have been entering the competition for a long time but never won anything to speak of before.''

A retired steam fitter, Mr Lee added: "I am thrilled at the win but I would rather not talk about it.

"I have a large family. Some of the money will go to them and some will go on carrying out work at my home.''

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