My Best Bet: How I Got Lucky Last Season

Football betting is something that has grown enormously over the last decade or so. For many people it has been engrained into their pre-match ritual. A trip down the bookies provides us with the opportunity to pit our wits against the house and use our self-proclaimed football expertise to pocket a huge amount of profit.

Very rarely does this happen, though. More often than not our bet slips act as a reminder that we are not as knowledgeable as we think we are.

However, sometimes taking a gamble really does pay off.

Take my season-long bet from last season as an example. After flicking through the leagues and doing the necessary research - the manager, the strength of the said club's backline, whether or not they had goals in the side etc - I decided to stick a quick on three clubs getting promoted from their respected leagues.

I'm by no means an expert on the lower leagues, but League Two is where I started. I opted for Bradford to make the climb up into League One, and although they did it the hard way - they were promoted via the play-offs after finishing seventh, they got me my money.

League One I had Bournemouth, as they impressed me in the campaign before. After a slow start and the return of Eddie Howe, the Cherries turned in some quality displays and eventually went up as runners up, continuing my chances of winning the bet.

The Championship is a remarkably tough division to call, and I got quite lucky. After originally choosing Leeds United, I made a quick decision to swap to their Yorkshire rivals Hull. The Tigers finished second, while Leeds were slumped down in 13th come May.

Not only did I have the satisfaction of calling all three sides to be promoted, but I also pocketed over £3,000 in profit.

Not bad, eh?

This summer allows me to have a dabble during the World Cup, and I can't wait. Who will you be backing?