Stoke-on-Trent lottery winner set to represent England at pool

A lottery winner from Stoke-on-Trent, who used his winnings to buy a pool table, is now set to represent England at the European Pool Championships.

59 year old Neil jones, along with his partner Julie Kirkham, won £2.4 million in 2010.

One of Neil's first purchases as a National Lottery millionaire was a pool table, having played snooker as a junior. During the pandemic he was able to hone his skills at home, and rose up through the ranks to become a regular county player, before his first England trial back in 2021.

After narrowly missing out back then, he continued playing and practising until he was asked to trial again in early 2023.

This time he was successful - and was awarded his England colours during a Home Nations tournament.

After a solid debut performance, Mr Jones has not only been chosen to represent England in the European Pool Championships, being held in Malta in early November, but he has also been asked to captain the England B1 team.

While he has had the support of partner Julie and his family, Mr Jones, who plays at The Plaza club in Fenton, says he wishes his late father was here to see his success.

He said: "My dad was so supportive of me. He was so proud.

"When he was in hospital, I used to tell him the county results every month and he'd say 'you really want this don't you? It will come' and it did - it was really emotional.

"I try to motivate the other boys on the team, so when I was asked if I wanted to be captain for England, I couldn't say no to that.

"I was sobbing, I couldn't talk. If my dad had been here now, he would be in Malta with me."

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