"That story went wild!" Andy Milne didn't sell his house — but he is selling it. The 63-year-old British superfan, now attending his tenth consecutive World Cup in the US, had to personally clarify to People magazine that the property hasn't changed hands yet. It's listed. To fund the travel. Which, if you know anything about Andy Milne, is completely on brand.
Milne — a retired biology teacher, Manchester United supporter, and Thursday-night five-a-side regular — has become one of football's most recognisable faces without ever kicking a ball professionally. It wasn't his passion that made him famous. It was a trophy.
Sophie the Trophy made him a star
A replica FIFA gold cup nicknamed "Sophie the Trophy" is what repeatedly caught the eye of TV cameras across multiple tournaments, turning Milne into a fixture of World Cup broadcasts. Fans back in the UK started clocking him. Memes followed. "People would go, 'Here's that guy again, it's him again!'" he recalled. The moniker "That World Cup Guy" stuck, and Milne leaned into it — releasing a travel memoir of the same name through Pitch Publishing on 25 May 2026.
The book covers more than 40 years of football fandom across nine World Cups — eight men's, one women's. "There's some football in there, but it's more of a travelogue," he says. Fair enough. When you've built a real-life Survivor-style business experience in Koh Tao, Thailand, you've earned the right to frame the story however you like.
As for the house: it's been a rental for 13 years, ever since his partner moved out, and Milne describes it as his "pension pot." Selling it to fund World Cup travel isn't reckless — it's just a very particular set of priorities, clearly held for a very long time.
Ten tournaments, zero regrets
Milne took early retirement in 2022 specifically to attend the World Cup in Qatar. That was number nine. He's a member of the England Supporters Travel Club, has tickets arranged for every possible England game at this tournament, and has intercity travel booked across planes, trains, hire cars, and buses.
He still plays football every Thursday. "I'm not a great footballer," he admits, "but I'm a very, very passionate footballer."
Ten World Cups. A house on the market. A book out. A trophy called Sophie. The story really does write itself.
