An England fan has spent his £40,000 house deposit on taking his father to watch the Three Lions at the World Cup, with plans to attend every match up to the final in New Jersey on July 19.
Fan's commitment to the journey
Jack Goodwin, 34, originally from Chichester in West Sussex, told the Press Association he has pre-booked hotels, flights and tickets for every possible England game. "We've been to New York, we've seen the World Cup and we're going to see us bring it home. It's a simple equation," he said.
Speaking ahead of England's first knockout match against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Atlanta, Mr Goodwin expressed confidence: "We're going to smash them 4-0 and we're going to play Mexico in the Azteca this Sunday, which will be the dream game of all games, the creme of the creme."
Financial sacrifice for a once-in-a-lifetime experience
Mr Goodwin, a Stoke City fan, admitted the trip cost a "good £40,000" despite securing tickets at face value through the FIFA ballot. "I saved up for a house and I blew my whole house deposit taking me and my dad out," he said. He described the cost of World Cup final tickets as a "joke", noting that a category two ticket for the final cost 8,000 Australian dollars (about £4,000).
He added: "We've got everything face value but that's not to say it was cheap – it was mega expensive still." Reflecting on his decision, he said: "Well, I've got no kids, I've got no wife, so why not? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Risks and rewards of pre-booking
The fan revealed he was "sweating" when Panama held England to a 0-0 draw at half-time in their final group game. "We've pre-booked everything now to the final – hotels, tickets, everything sorted. We were sweating because we got all our tickets through the FIFA ballot – if we didn't top the group, all of our tickets would have become invalid," he explained.
Despite the risks, his father's confidence drove their planning. "We booked them a few weeks ago, so we were pretty confident. I mean, my dad was pretty confident, so I went with his confidence," Mr Goodwin said.
Gratitude for the opportunity
Mr Goodwin acknowledged his fortune in securing tickets through the ballot, noting that many fans missed out. "We've met a lot of people that did ballots and didn't get tickets so we're extremely lucky to be here to be honest," he said. The pair have already traveled to Dallas, Boston, New York and Atlanta, with plans to continue to the final.
