Semi-professionals become Christmas millionaires

It may be the time for Christmas bonuses, but no-one on the Velez-Rubio team could have expected the €160m (£103m) windfall that was coming their way when they kicked off against Oriente on Sunday.

Velez-Rubio, the local side of a small town in the Almeria province of southern Spain, were about as far removed as you can be from the bright lights and glamour of La Liga, until Sunday when a winning number from the El Gordo lottery catapulted the club onto a financial playing field beyond anything the giants of the Spanish game even dream of.

The Velez-Rubio players learned they had struck gold during the match. Instantly, 11 players became millionaires. Champagne was ordered at half-time and, not surprisingly, Velez-Rubio went on to lose. Not that it mattered. The only number of significance on Sunday was 08103, the winning lottery number which netted the club a staggering €160m.

The team had bought 800 tickets with the first-prize number, each worth €200,000. They had kept some and sold the rest to fans and officials, bringing a small town and a semi-professional team a Christmas they will never forget. The club's Christmas wish list – new balls and goalkeeper's gloves – has since been rewritten. Top now? Patrick Kluivert, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, please.