Fred Done and the World Cup win that led to a betting empire

Fred Done, who is now in his 80s, built his betting empire up from scratch

When England run out to face Switzerland, they will do so carrying the hopes of a fair few fans who will have had a flutter on the outcome.

But if a Harry Kane hat-trick or a Declan Rice double wins anyone a small fortune, the likelihood of them founding their own bookies on the back of their win is a long shot, unless they have the sort of drive that Fred Done had when he had a similar slice of good fortune.

Now at the head of bookmaking empire, the Salford billionaire’s first shop was bought with the proceeds of “a bet from the heart rather than the head” on England to win the 1966 World Cup.

"I fancied England, so I put £25 on them at 8-1 and I won £200,” he said.

“Back then, a man's wage was £20 a week so I used my winnings to help buy my first shop in Broughton,” he said.

Done bought his first shop using the money he won on England's 1966 World Cup success

He said that while it was luck – and England’s talent – that got him started, it was his own hard work and ability to see an opportunity that made him successful.

“Within nine months, I'd doubled the turnover of the shop,” he said.

“A short time later, foot and mouth disease kicked-in, so horse racing stopped - but I decided to stay open for afternoon dog racing.

“My shop was full - it was absolutely rammed.

“That was a lesson for me.”

The son of an “illegal bookmaker”, who ran books before betting shops were legalised in 1961, he grew up in Ordsall, a stone’s throw from the docks which later be reinvented as MediaCityUK, and said he had “a great, happy childhood”.

“Everybody was poor, but nobody felt poor because it was a working class community,” he said.

"During the war, my dad worked at Trafford Park and would go around the factories, picking up bets.

“One week, we'd be flushed and we'd be going to Blackpool, the next week, he'd be pawning his suit because he'd have no dough.

“But he was a smashing man. He knew his figures. He was a very generous man and he was very popular with punters.”

Done, who grew up in Ordsall, was the son of an illegal bookmaker

Done’s own business, now known as BetFred, has proved a little more popular to say the least.

The company operates about 1,350 betting shops and had a reported turnover of £723m in 2021/22.

He admitted that while that was great to see, he almost missed out on gambling’s biggest money-spinner in recent years – the internet.

“I wasn't very good at the online business,” he said.

“I didn't believe it would work.

“My excuse was my age - but we eventually got into it.

“You've got to adapt and I quickly learnt on it".

He said the other big moment was when he changed the name of the firm.

“If you put Done Brothers on a football shirt, what does that mean?

“But the word Betfred tells you what we do.

“The difficult thing was telling my brother [and co-founder] Peter - but he said to me ‘get on with it, it’s a great idea’.

“He was really behind it and it put us on the map.”

BetFred now sponsors many sporting events, such as the men's and women's Challenge Cups

The success of his business has also given Done opportunities that he never would have dreamed of when growing up, not least of which was getting the chance to buy into his beloved football team.

“Forty years ago, a solicitor phoned me up and asked me if I'd like to buy a quarter of Manchester United for £250,000,” he said.

“He said ‘I've got a client who needs cash’, but he never told me who the client was.

“At the time, I had to turn it down because in those days, football clubs weren't good investments, they were a rich man's toy and I wanted to invest in Betfred.

“I regret the decision to not by a stake in the club but it was the correct decision, that's all you can say.”

One regret he has never had is staying in Salford, as despite his success, he’s never considered leaving the city for the sort of destination many with his wealth head for, such as Monaco, or as he dryly described it with reference to the Manchester area which includes one of the largest housing estates in Europe, “Wythenshawe with sea”.

“I went there once [and] I lasted two hours in the place,” he said.

“It was boring.

“People just want to tell you where they're going have their dinner and where they're going to buy their clothes.

“I can’t think of a more miserable life.”

Done has been involved in horse racing since he opened his first betting shop

Now in his 80s, Done still gets up at 05:00 to make the best of the day ahead.

He remains Betfred’s chairman but now spends much of his time with his property firm Salboy or working with one of the charities he supports.

"At some stage in your life, you've got to give something back,” he said.

“About seven or eight years ago, [fellow businessman] Dave Whelan asked me to go and see his youth club in Wigan.

“My idea of a youth club was a snooker table and a table tennis table [but] there were 9,000 kids in Wigan.”

He said he was so impressed by it, that he “eventually” put £6m into the Hideout Youth Zone in Gorton.

“The kids there are so respectful and I love talking to them,” he said.

“I'm now working on one in Salford and its bigger than the one in Gorton.”

BetFred now has about 1,350 shops across the UK and a highly-successful online platform

However, he said bookmaking was his first love and added that while there had been criticism of gambling and the weight it can place on individuals, he believed it was better to have firms like his own involved in it, as the alternative could do even more damage.

“We are licensed bookmakers and we're regulated by the Gambling Commission,” he said.

“If you make it illegal, those gamblers will go off-shore and with the internet now, you can’t stop it.

“The last thing I want to see is people with gambling problems.

“They are bad for business.

“I want to win a little bit off everybody.”