He Spent His House Deposit to Take His Grandad to the World Cup
Jacob Allmendinger is 21, and for five years he did the sensible thing. He put money aside for a house, the way you are supposed to, until he had £10,000 sitting in an account with his name on it and a future attached to it.
Then the World Cup came to North America, and he spent the lot on two plane tickets and a trip around the continent with his 80-year-old grandad. The story was reported by the Yorkshire Post.
He does not think this was a mistake.
“I can always make money back,” he told the Yorkshire Post before they flew out. “I’m at the age where I can afford to miss out on a house for two or three years. But I won’t ever get to go to the World Cup with my grandfather again.”
The maths that only looks like bad maths
On paper it is a young man torching his savings. Up close it is a grandson who has run the numbers on the one thing you cannot save up for later, which is time with the people you love while they are still here to spend it with.
Jacob is from North Ferriby, in East Yorkshire. His grandad, Geoff Golliker, is a retired insurance man who has been taking Jacob to Hull City matches since Jacob was small. When Jacob’s grandmother died in 2020, football became the thing the two of them held onto. “Since my grandma passed, football has been very important for our relationship,” Jacob said. “It has definitely strengthened our relationship.” He puts the bond plainly: “We’re more best mates than grandad and grandson.”
So when the tickets went on sale, the invitation was not a hard decision. “Inviting my grandfather was a no-brainer,” Jacob said. “He agreed straight away.” Geoff, for his part, called it an instant yes, and said the excitement kept building as the departure date closed in. “Adrenaline is starting to build and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Jacob started planning a year out, because chasing England across a continent is not a thing you throw together in a weekend. The route runs from New York down through Philadelphia, Atlanta, Mexico City, and Miami, then back to New York, following the Three Lions as far as they go. And Jacob is quick to say the football is almost beside the point. “Football is only five per cent of the overall trip,” he said. “I’m looking forward to travelling round North America together.”
The part where the money came back
Jacob’s decision went viral. Somewhere in the noise, an online company decided it liked the shape of what he had done, and after England beat DR Congo in Atlanta, £10,000 landed back in his account, a gift inspired by his story. He did not believe it until he saw the number.
“I didn’t quite believe it, to be honest, until I looked at my bank and it was there,” he told the BBC. “I was just in shock.”
The recognition has followed the pair around the tournament. “We’re getting recognised quite a bit,” Geoff said. “When we were in New York, a guy came up to us and said, ‘are you the guys travelling round?’ It was brilliant.” And the messages have kept coming, many from strangers carrying their own version of the story. “I’ve had people reach out who have lost their grandparents and how they wish they’d done something similar,” Jacob said. “It just makes us cherish this time more, really.”
He plans to hold the money until he is home before deciding what it becomes. Maybe the house. Maybe the next tournament. “It’s just great to have options,” he said.
Jacob gave up his options on purpose, decided a fortnight with his grandad was worth more than a deposit, and the world handed the options back to him for having his priorities in the right order. The house was always going to be there. The chance to watch a World Cup beside the man who first took him to the football was not.
He was right about the maths: you really can make the money back.
