Irish footballer pockets €1 million in lottery win

O'Connor shows his emotion after his last game for Cork City

Preston North End's Kevin O'Connor has scooped a €1 million National Lottery win to help to make it a very happy New Year for the former Cork City star.

His godfather Peadar Murphy bought O'Connor an entry into the Christmas Millionaire Raffle as a present and he was one of the lucky winners on New Year's Eve.

"I don’t think the win has sunk in yet," he said. "I have no immediate plans but will take a few days before we make any decisions.

"My main focus at the moment is to help Preston climb the Championship and hopefully challenge for a Premier League spot over the next couple of months."

O'Connor left double champions Cork City in June and has featured eight times for Preston in the Championship since then, with four starts.

The full-back is expected to be part of the squad for Saturday's FA Cup tie with Wycombe Wanderers.

A rising Irish football star Kevin O’Connor who plays for Preston North End collected his €1 Million on the Christmas Millionaire Raffle🎉 pic.twitter.com/V3gMJ2Ah04

— The National Lottery (@NationalLottery) January 2, 2018