{"id":267032,"date":"2025-11-17T02:07:32","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/267032\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T02:07:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:07:32","slug":"football-hooligan-41-who-boasted-about-his-brutal-antics-is-living-off-a-euromillions-fortune-as-he-agrees-he-doesnt-deserve-it-but-life-isnt-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/267032\/","title":{"rendered":"Football hooligan, 41, who boasted about his brutal antics is living off a Euromillions fortune as he agrees he doesn’t deserve it but ‘life isn’t fair’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A football thug who was jailed for six years and once described hooliganism as ‘the best buzz in the world’ is now living off a EuroMillions fortune.<\/p>\n

Notorious Bradford City hooligan Daniel Wright was at the centre of a mob known as The Ointment who arranged violent clashes with rival firms and revelled in the chaos that followed.<\/p>\n

He received three football banning orders and even boasted about his brutal antics on television, telling Danny Dyer<\/a>‘s Real Football Factory: ‘When it kicks off, it’s the best buzz in the world. No drugs can touch it.’<\/p>\n

Now it has emerged that Wright, 41 – once branded a ‘committed football hooligan’ by an outraged judge – is a lottery millionaire after landing a tax-free windfall on EuroMillions.<\/p>\n

He splurged his \u00a31 million prize on a new-build home in the leafy North Yorkshire market town of Yarm – 80 miles from his former Bradford hunting ground – and a \u00a340,000 Rolex he had always wanted.<\/p>\n

However, Wright has yet to splash out on a motor befitting of a millionaire – because he is banned from driving.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Wright described himself bluntly as a ‘lucky b*****d’ and admitted many would say he does not deserve a shred of good fortune.<\/p>\n

He shrugged: ‘I would probably agree with them. But life isn’t fair. If life was fair, everyone would get what they deserve.<\/p>\n

\"Bradford <\/p>\n

Bradford City fan Daniel Wright, 41,\u00a0once branded a ‘committed football hooligan’ by an outraged judge, is now living off a EuroMillions fortune<\/p>\n

\"Pride <\/p>\n

Pride of place in his home is a 100-inch television, brought with his lottery winnings, on which he watches his beloved team<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright was at the centre of a mob known as The Ointment, who arranged violent clashes with rival firms and revelled in the chaos that ensued\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I’m a bit of a gambler and I’d always fancied myself to win the lottery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I’d looked into it and they don’t have any rules like that. I knew they couldn’t refuse to pay convicted criminals. There’s no point playing it if they wouldn’t pay out.’<\/p>\n

Prior to landing the UK Millionaire Maker win in April 2022, Wright was a self-proclaimed football hooligan who boasted in Danny Dyer’s docuseries in 2006: ‘How many lads don’t like fighting?’<\/p>\n

As a leading member of The Ointment – named, said Wright, because ‘you’d need ointment to sort it out after we’d battered you’ – his weekends were spent taking on rival firms across the country.<\/p>\n

In 2008, he was jailed for 27 months after being caught on CCTV hurling punches at Rotherham United fans outside a Bradford pub.<\/p>\n

The judge who jailed him condemned him as ‘a committed football hooligan who revelled in his notoriety’, handing him an eight-year nationwide stadium ban.<\/p>\n

Judge Durham Hall told Wright: ‘You clearly couldn’t care less. You revel in your notoriety even finding some satisfaction in being part of a group childishly named The Ointment – a choice which indicates the intellectual level of this activity.’<\/p>\n

It was Wright’s third banning order, following earlier bans in 2004 and 2005.<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright (right) even appeared on the documentary\u00a0Danny Dyer’s Real Football Factories: Yorkshire talking about his hooliganism\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright moved to Redcar, in North Yorkshire, before purchasing a new-build three-bed house outright for \u00a3250,000 and several additional rental properties<\/p>\n

In 2016 he was jailed again, this time for three-and-a-half years after a mass brawl in a bar in Halifax, West Yorkshire.<\/p>\n

Wright claimed: ‘I tried splitting it up but I’ve got a bad reputation in Bradford with the police.<\/p>\n

‘They said I was the ringleader and was punching this guy. I got found guilty and got three-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n

‘So I’ve paid the price. Probably more than any hooligan I know. I don’t know many more who have had sentences like that.’<\/p>\n

Wright’s gang was one of the most feared hooligan outfits in the country.<\/p>\n

Members would meet rival firms miles from stadiums to avoid police and dodge banning orders.<\/p>\n

Wright was first arrested in 2003 when trouble flared after a pre-season clash with Aberdeen.<\/p>\n

Police raided homes after hooligans brawled in the streets, with eight thugs eventually jailed – though Wright escaped prosecution.<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright (left) pictured with former Bradford City manager Phil Parkinson, who led the club from 2011-2016\u00a0<\/p>\n

He told how he found out he was a millionaire while holidaying in Cape Verde in April 2022 with a former partner.<\/p>\n

Euromillions operator Camelot only queried the win because he was abroad – not because of his criminal record.<\/p>\n

Wright said: ‘I had an email saying “you’ve won”. I thought I’d won \u00a32.50 or something like that. I logged into the app and I thought I’d won \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n

‘Then I started counting the zeros. I couldn’t believe it. I spoke to Camelot and because I was abroad, they asked me where I’d bought the ticket.<\/p>\n

‘Thankfully I was on a standing order because if I’d put it on while abroad, they wouldn’t have paid out.’<\/p>\n

One of the first things Wright did after the jackpot landed in his account was to move from Bradford in an attempt to go straight.<\/p>\n

Wright said: ‘I love my mates to pieces but we’re bad influences on each other. I didn’t want to do what I used to.<\/p>\n

‘But in the first 18 months I felt lost. It’s hard when you’ve never had money and then suddenly you’ve got loads. You don’t know what to do with it.’<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright (centre in blue t-shirt) previously travelled the country following his beloved Bradford City, but was handed\u00a0an eight-year nationwide stadium ban in 2008 and jailed for 27 months after being caught on CCTV hurling punches at Rotherham United fans outside a Bradford pub<\/p>\n

Wright has invested money in a property development company and bought further properties to rent out.<\/p>\n

Pride of place in his home is a 100-inch television on which he watches his beloved Bradford City.<\/p>\n

But money hasn’t stopped him making catastrophic decisions. He is currently banned from driving after thrashing his brand-new \u00a340,000 Golf GTI.<\/p>\n

‘I had a stupid moment,’ he admitted. ‘I got speeding points and thought, well that’s me banned.<\/p>\n

‘So I wondered how fast I can go. I ended up driving down south and got another nine points in about 24 hours.’<\/p>\n

In his recent podcast, to promote a new novel based on the hooligan antics of his gang, Wright told how he still misses the ‘thrill’ of fighting at football games.<\/p>\n

He said: ‘I don’t do it anymore but if you said to me I do it tomorrow and get away with it, there’d be no repercussions, I’d be there in a shot.<\/p>\n

‘I’m 41 now. Yeah, I’d be there in a shot. But I think there’s people older than me that would be there in a shot as well.’<\/p>\n

\"Wright <\/p>\n

Wright has now written a novel, Northern Monkeys, about his time in The Ointment football firm. Although he no longer participates in hooliganism, he says he still misses the ‘thrill’ of street fighting\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike convicted Michael Carroll, the so-called ‘Lotto Lout’ who blew his \u00a39.7million fortune on drink, drugs and wild parties, Wright insists he has been careful with his winnings.<\/p>\n

He added: ‘The Rolex was the most extravagant purchase but I always wanted that watch.<\/p>\n

‘I went travelling for a year, stayed in nice places, and spent a bit. But I’m not that bothered about experiences. I like designer clothes, but nothing ridiculous.’<\/p>\n

Wright, who is single, has also spent his time writing. His debut novel, Northern Monkeys, a fictionalised account of his time in The Ointment is published later this month.<\/p>\n

He is now allowed back into football grounds and says his ultimate dream is to one day take control of the club he once fought for on the streets.<\/p>\n

He added: ‘That is the dream of mine to be Bradford City chairman one day. First of all I need my book turned into a TV series, then I’ll move back to Bradford and buy the club.’<\/p>\n

Northern Monkeys is available from troubador.co.uk in paperback or as an ebook from November 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A football thug who was jailed for six years and once described hooliganism as ‘the best buzz in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,97,59,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-267032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dailymail","tag-gb","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}