Sobriety helps send fan to England World Cup games

A recovering alcoholic has made his childhood dream come true by getting tickets to watch every England match in this year's World Cup after going sober.

Darren Thompson, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, has funded the tournament travelling around America, Canada and Mexico this summer by using money he would have spent on alcohol.

The 53-year-old said he was "out of control" and ended up in hospital before turning his life around after rehab three years ago.

The England fan, who continues to get support to stay sober, hopes to inspire others suffering from alcohol addiction.

Thompson, who has also been a Leicester City supporter since the age of eight and is a season ticket holder, said he had always enjoyed drinking alcohol as an adult.

The sales manager said "alcohol took a grip of me" over the decades.

"I've always had a busy social life - drinking before games, travelling for work," he said.

"It just crept up on me and I was drinking all the time in the evenings.

"My mates would be ready for the weekend and I'd been out already every night of the week."

Thompson, who said his drinking accelerated after his divorce in 2016, explained that he could spend about £150 a week on alcohol.

"I realised I'd got a bit of an alcohol problem but I was a functioning alcoholic," he said.

New Year's Day 2023 in a pub in the Lake District was a turning point for Thompson.

It was the day he broke down in tears and admitted to his new partner he had an alcohol addiction.

"I was at my lowest," he said. "The next two months got worse.

"One day I was unconscious and ended up in hospital. My liver was completely shot.

"I was told quite blatantly that if you carry on, you're not going to be here much longer.

"It scared me. It panicked me. I cried every kind of emotion.

"It was a wake-up call."

Thompson went into rehab and attended alcohol support meetings four times a week.

He said since the age of 10, after watching England play Spain on TV in the World Cup in 1982, he had dreamt of going to a World Cup tournament.

"I thought, that's what I'm going to do in 2026," he said.

"I was spending a fortune on drink. So, I've been putting money away, about £500 a month."

Thompson said he was successful in obtaining an England ticket for every possible match from the qualifiers to the final on 19 July.

"I've paid up front for all the tickets in advance but if they get eliminated, then I get a refund," he said.

"It's a win-win really because I want to see England win the World Cup, that would be amazing, but if they go out, I could go on a worldwide cruise," added Thompson, who married his partner last June.

"If I was still drinking, there's no way I would be going. I wouldn't be able to afford it."

Thompson's wife will join him for the first two weeks of the World Cup tour from 16 June, and the couple plan to celebrate their first wedding anniversary in New York.

"My journey to stopping drinking is not over," he said.

"Every day I wake up in the morning and think I've got through another day, but I've got to get through today."

He added he recently inspired a friend to stop drinking and hoped to help others by sharing his story.

• Details of information and support with addiction are available on BBC Action Line

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