Bookmaker counts the cost of one Aston Villa goal
Aston Villa fans didn’t have a lot to smile about last season, but may be cheered to know that one Jack Grealish goal cost bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral around £1.5m.
The goal – an 89th-minute equaliser at home to Brighton in the final match of the season – did not change Aston Villa’s final league position of 13th, but it did mean Newcastle, and not Brighton, finished top of the Championship.
Much-fancied Newcastle had been heavily backed at the start of the season after being relegated from the Premier League but keeping Rafa Benitez as manager.
In a statement to the stock market, Ladbrokes Coral said: “Even when it looked as if results were going to do the bookies a favour, ante-post favourite backers had a dramatic late twist with pre-season bankers Newcastle winning the Championship title in the last minute of the season as Brighton conceded an 89th minute equaliser to Aston Villa.
“Newcastle, Sheffield United and Portsmouth were all heavily backed in a large number of League winner multiple bets and Jack Grealish’s goal is conservatively estimated to have cost us around £1.5m.”
The goal did not put too much of a dent in the bookmaker’s results. Ladbrokes Coral, which was formed through a merger of the two companies last year, showed a 7% increase in operating profit, to £158.3m in the first half of 2017. Revenues rose slightly, up 1% to £1.20bn.
