'Spend, spend, spend': Viv Nicholson's son shares fond memories on 65th anniversary of Pools win

Viv was 25 when she and husband Keith won more than £152,000 on September 23 1961 after their first flutter on the Littlewoods Football Pools.

Viv became a household name after she vowed to 'spend, spend, spend' and the huge win – the equivalent of £3.5m today – was gone within a few years.

She died in April 2015 at the age of 79 after a long battle with dementia.

Viv's son Howard, 65, of Horsforth, said his mum maintained her rebellious spirit to the end.

"One day this guy rang me from the care home and said 'she's drunk, everybody is on the booze – she has given everybody booze, " said Howard.

"He said 'she's gone to the Christmas hamper and she is giving everybody everything.'"

Howard added: "My mother was very outrageous all the way through her life, but she was a very caring person.

"Behind the headlines, money, marriages, parties and extraordinary stories, she had a generous heart. Even when she had very little herself, if someone needed something and she could help, she would try.”

"She was caring and a very loving person.

Howard did an eight-day fundraising walk along the Great Wall of China to raise funds and awareness for charity Dementia UK following his mum's diagnosis.

When the couple hit the jackpot, Keith was a miner and Viv worked in a liquorice factory. They lived in a council house on Kershaw Avenue, Airedale, Castleford.

They earned just £14 a week between them when they married in 1961 and were down to their last few pennies when they won the cash.

The couple shot to fame as they spent their cash on flashy cars, designer clothes, holidays, partying and a new ranch-style home in Garforth.

But tragedy struck just four years later when Keith was killed at the wheel of his Jaguar in an accident on the A1 in November 1965.

They had already spent half their fortune by the time Keith died and the rest then went to the taxman, leaving Viv bankrupt.

Howard has written a book called 'You Don't Know Viv' which he said was aimed at putting the record straight from his perspective.

He sad the taxman took 90 per cent of his mother's money in death duties after his father's death.

Howard has continued to write and has just launched an interactive children's book called The Three Bears and The Extremely Suspicious Wardrobe.

Viv remained in the limelight on the cabaret club scene but later battled with an alcohol addiction and depression.

She later tried to start a business in Malta, but her new life there was cut short when she was deported after an altercation with police.

A foray into retail was similarly short-lived when a clothes boutique she opened burned down.

A musical – Spend, Spend Spend – was made about her life in 1998, which premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds before a run at the West End.

Viv’s image was famously used on the cover of The Smiths’ 1984 single Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.

Howard said: “He (Morrissey) apparently proposed marriage to mum, which would have made husband number six.

“I've often wondered how that would have turned out. Knowing mum, Morrissey wouldn't have known whether he was coming or going.”

The Pools communications manager Jessica Thomas said: “We remember Viv with enormous fondness and affection.

"She was bold, brilliant and lived life entirely on her own terms – and The Pools are proud to be part of her story.”

Howard said: “Mum's life was extraordinary. She knew enormous wealth and heart breaking loss. She had fame, fortune, laughter, parties, love, disappointment and more adventures than most people could fit into ten lifetimes.

“I think mum would have been amazed that, all these years later, people are still interested in her story.

"But I also know she would have been pleased.

“Mum never did anything quietly. She loved people, attention, a good story – and being talked about.”