Leicester stings William Hill with biggest ever payout

Own goal.

Bookmaker William Hill has made its biggest payout on record after English football’s Leicester City completed one of the most unlikely triumphs in sporting history.

Leicester’s clinching of the English Premier League title last night will see William Hill pay out £3m on the Midlands team known as The Foxes.

Odds on Leicester winning the title were 5,000-1 at the start of the season in August – a bet snapped up by 25 lucky William Hill punters. Some context: you could have got better odds on Elvis being found alive or David Cameron becoming the next manager of Aston Villa.

The largest Leicester bet was a £20 wager made in Manchester, with the smallest, just 5p from a customer in Edinburgh.

William Hill’s total payout on England’s top flight division will hit £2.2m this season – 10 times larger than its previous worst ever loss.

In a football season high on surprises but low on quality, the bookmaker will make its largest individual pay out to a Surrey-based fan who landed a £112,500 windfall after a placing a £75 bet at odds of 1500-1. William Hill did not disclose what the wager was on.

But despite a chastening season, William Hill said it was “happy to celebrate along with the 25 customers who took William Hills odds of 5,000-1 on Leicester”.

Not through gritted teeth at all, spokesman Ciaran O’Brien added:

There is nothing like an upset to encourage loyal fans everywhere to back their team next season. We have also benefited from the shock results week after week in what has been an enthralling Premier League season.

William Hill are now offering odds of 25-1 for Leicester to retain the title and 100-1 to win the European Champions League. But, the newly promoted side – which completed its first title win in its 134-year history – is still 16-1 to be relegated next season.

Here’s handy map of where William Hill were out foxed: