JUBILANT Bluenose Alex Knight had 705 reasons to celebrate Birmingham City’s 2-1 Wembley triumph over Arsenal.

The heating engineer from Olton placed a £5 bet at 140-1 on the correct score with ace striker Nikola Zigic netting the first goal. The correct forecast netted Alex, 20, more than £705 and he celebrated by paying for his pals to stay in a luxury London hotel to mark Blues’ historic victory.

The celebrating supporters checked into a hotel opposite the venue used by their cup final heroes as a base for their celebrations and managed to meet boss Alex McLeish who revealed to the boys that his sister had placed a similar winning wager.

“We had our photographs taken with the manager and he even let us pose with his cup-winning medal around our necks. It was tremendous,” said the 20-year-old Blues fan. “Unfortunately the players had gone out on the town to enjoy their own celebrations so we did not have a chance to meet them.”

The total bill for the lads’ night of luxury and jubilation topped £350, but Alex was happy to fund the festivities.

“It was the least I could do after such a great win. It’s not that often you get the chance to enjoy an occasion like this,” he added.