THIS year is the centenary of the birth of the pools. The football competition that could make poor people rich overnight began in Liverpool in February 1923.
That was when John Moores and two of his pals set up the Littlewood Football Pool – although their new venture had a difficult start.
The trio felt football fans would be the ideal players of their gambling game. And so they had 4,000 pools coupons distributed before a Manchester United match.
But only 35 of the supporters at Old Trafford returned them and when 10,000 more were doled out before a game at Hull, only one coupon was filled in.
But the pools eventually became established and it became a Saturday teatime ritual for many St Helens' folk to check their draw predictions against the results.
Over the years the town has had many winners of the Treble Chance. Some proved highly generous with their winnings, such as the remarkable John or "Jack" Coffey from Grimshaw Street in Sutton.
In 1952 the grandfather of the Star's former columnist, Chris Coffey, won £75,000 on Littlewoods pools – the equivalent of around £2½ million in today's money. That was a remarkable turnaround in fortune for Jack as during the First World War, while serving on the Somme, he'd been severely injured.
His jaw was shot away; he lost an eye and Jack also endured serious internal injuries. The former miner became a guinea pig for the new technique of skin grafting and his shattered jaw had to be rebuilt from his ribs.
By 1952 Jack's health had worsened and he'd given up his job as a night watchman. Then in November of that year – as one newspaper put it – "Dame Luck gave a great big smile and Jack Coffey won £75,000".
The 64-year-old was due to receive his pools cheque from Gracie Fields in London – but his doctor would not allow him to travel. But when his health allowed, Jack would still enjoy a pint in the Wheatsheaf in Mill Lane and he also liked going to Eccleston to watch his new home being built. But just before he was due to move into his new abode – 18 months after his jackpot win – Jack died in his sleep.
When his will was read in September 1954 it was revealed that £50,000 of Jack's £75,000 fortune had been spent. But it had not been blown on the high life but given away, as the Daily Mirror explained: "Fifty thousand pounds' worth of dreams came true for the people around John Coffey. People he didn't even know, some of them. People who ran hospitals, churches, institutions. He never let anyone buy a drink and he made sure to look after all his old friends. The money John Coffey spent was not frittered away. He bought with it happiness, which is a pretty precious commodity. His story may have no moral. It may not lead other people to give away their money. But here WAS a happy man."
Gordon Foster was another pools winner that used his winnings to spread some joy. In November 1962 the engine driver from Bushey Lane in Rainford – who earned £9 a week shunting freight around Merseyside – won £150,000 on the pools. The 36-year-old had been in a mini-family syndicate with his wife Nancy and sister-in-law.
Classmates of his daughter Lynn still recall the day when her father dashed into a classroom at Bushey Lane School and threw his 10-year-old daughter high up into the air, exclaiming, "We've won the pools!"
At Christmas Gordon and Nancy went on a spending spree round the shops of St Helens and Rainford buying toys, games and books for every child in St Joseph's home in Rainhill. Gordon said at the time: "This is something that we have wanted to do ever since we got the money. We are wonderfully happy and we hope we have been able to make the children a little bit happier too."
Stephen Wainwright's latest book 'The Hidden History Of St Helens Vol 2' is available from the St Helens Book Stop and the World of Glass and online from eBay and Amazon (free delivery). Volume 1 of 'Hidden History' is also still available
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