Sheffield United fan who made top four bet reveals what she’ll do with £10,000 winnings

Julie Pratt placed £20 on the Blades to make the Champions League spots on their Premier League return, at odds of 500-1, before the season began.

Those odds have since been slashed to 14-1, with United now just two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea after beating Bournemouth at a blustery Bramall Lane on Sunday.

The 57-year-old travel consultant could pocket nearly £500 by cashing out now but insists she has no intention of doing so as she has full faith in Chris Wilder’s men.

Should the bet come off, she says she will donate some of her winnings to the Alzheimer’s Society in memory of her brother Philip Partridge, a big Blades fan who died from the condition in 2009.

She has also vowed to put some money behind the bar so fellow fans can toast the club’s amazing achievement, and says she will treat herself to a holiday with whatever’s left over.

Julie, who won £300 last season by betting on United to finish in the Championship top two, said: “When I placed the bet last May everyone was saying don’t be silly and now people keep saying cash out, cash out – but I’m going with my heart, and I’m very confident.”

United’s success this season has exceeded the expectations of even the most ardent supporters – but not Julie.

“It’s not taken me by surprise because during their second season in the Championship I saw something special in them – that connection between them all which we’re seeing now,” she said.

“They call us the underdogs every time we play but we only lost against Liverpool due to a simple mistake, and the team’s work rate and the number of times they’ve come from behind to win are amazing.”

Julie, who grew up in Grimesthorpe and Chapeltown but now lives in Beverley, set up the popular Blade2Blade Facebook group with Carol Donaldson in memory of Julie’s brother and Carol’s daughter Tanya, who died the same year, aged 24.