Chichester man spends £40k house deposit on dad's World Cup dream

An England supporter has spent his £40,000 house deposit to take his father to watch the Three Lions "win the World Cup".

Jack Goodwin, from Chichester, West Sussex, said he had booked hotels, flights and tickets to every match England could play until the final in New Jersey, USA, on 19 July.

He has spent about £4,000 on a ticket to the final, describing the trip as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

"We're going to see us bring the World Cup title home," the 34-year-old added.

Speaking ahead of England's first knockout game against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Goodwin said: "We're going to beat them 4-0."

He described the potential of playing Mexico in the Azteca on Sunday as the "dream game of all games" and the "creme de la creme".

The Stoke City supporter said that he was "sweating" when Panama held the Three Lions to a 0-0 draw at half-time in their final group game.

"We were nervous because we got all our tickets through the FIFA ballot," he said.

"If we didn't top the group, all of our tickets would have become invalid."

Explaining how he had funded the trip, Goodwin said that his tickets were all at face value but were still "mega expensive".

"I saved up for a house, and I blew my whole house deposit taking me and my dad out," he said.

"I've got no kids, I've got no wife, so why not? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said.

Despite his excitement, Goodwin said that the cost of World Cup final tickets was a "joke".

"The ticket for the final, which is a joke, was about £4,000 face value for category two.

"We've met a lot of people who did ballots and didn't get tickets, so we're extremely lucky to be here to be honest."

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, external, X, external, and Instagram, external and listen to BBC Radio Sussex on Sounds. Send your story ideas to [email protected] , external or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.