Fans who went to 1986 Mexico World Cup will reunite at 2026 tourney in US

By Ed Chatterton and Toby Neal

A group of England fans who went to the 1986 Mexico World Cup and never came back are to be reunited 40 years later at this summer's tournament in America.

Gary Allen, Stuart Bates, David Arnold and Garry Hardwicke were among a group of guys who jetted off 5,000 miles to follow the Three Lions four decades ago.

The childhood friends, aged between 20 and 23, had all recently lost their jobs and wanted to experience a World Cup adventure so set off with little more than the bags on their backs and a few hundred bucks.

Hardwicke even told his partner he was only nipping out to get a carton of milk — and then didn't return home at all for the next 12 years.

They called themselves The Disco Firm, and were all Wolves fans from Stourbridge and Lye, Worcestershire, with the exception of Arnold, who was from Solihull and a Birmingham City fan.

The group traveled to Monterrey and Acapulco and watched every England game throughout the tournament before they were knocked out by Argentina and Maradona's infamous Hand of God goal.

During their hard-drinking and partying adventure, two of them even managed to convince local women they were Peter Shilton and Gary Lineker while pretending to be the squad.

And instead of coming back to the U.K. afterward, they decided not to return to their homes and embarked on forging new lives in the U.S. where they settled down, went on to marry and have 14 children between them.

The gang will now be reunited when they watch England take on Croatia in their opening game of this year's tournament in Dallas on June 17.

Allen, 63, who now lives in Atlanta, said: "In 1986, Margaret Thatcher was in power, a few of us had lost our jobs, so we planned to go to the World Cup in Mexico.

"We thought it would be the ultimate cool thing to go to a World Cup on the other side of the world.

"It was one big adventure and we had never done anything like it before — we just thought why not.

"I had about $625 saved up before I lost my job.

"There was a big group of us who traveled down to Gatwick and we flew into Houston and San Antonio where we caught buses into Mexico.

"We watched every England game and it was some experience. I feel privileged to have been in the stadium to watch one of the greatest goals of all time — but then came that handball.

"Even in the stadium it was clear, every person in the stadium could see what Maradona had done — apart from the referee."

After England were knocked out, they decided to stay in South Padre where they all got jobs in the restaurant trade.

Allen added: "The locals had never seen anything like us, we were on the liquor every night.

"We even pretended at one point we were the England squad — Batsey was Peter Shilton and ended up having a good night with a girl.

"That was until she turned up a few weeks later at the restaurant he was working at with her husband and kids.

"When it came to tipping she said something like 'he has already had his tip' and the husband went off in a huff.

"We had to get jobs and the opportunities were better there than back home, so it was a no-brainer really.

"My parents just thought fair play as I was trying to make a go of it elsewhere.

"Another time we met some soldiers who were over from Belize — we went back to their barracks with them and spent a few days there.

"It was just a crazy time.

"Everyone stayed and went on to make lives for themselves here.

"We have got together at reunions over the years but this time there's a massive group of guys coming over from the U.K. too and we're all meeting for an England game.

"I usually only meet Arnie for those occasions so it should be pretty special."

Allen believes England can bring home the World Cup trophy for the first time since 1966 and finally end 60 years of hurt.

He added: “In '86 the Germans and the Argentinians were better than us, we had a tough tournament really.

"I think we all feel this is the strongest team we've had in years, but I have said that before.

"I spent a fortune going over to Berlin for the 2024 Euro finals only to be beaten by Spain and I thought we had a strong team then.

"But I do feel Tuchel has what it takes for us to lift the trophy 60 years since the last time we lifted it.”

The men are now the focus of a new documentary called "Lost Down Mexico Way."

The stars of the documentary are referred to by their nicknames: Adder (Gary Allen), Rabbithead (Garry Hardwicke), Batesy (Stuart Bates), Arnie (David Arnold), and their U.S. pal Texas Steve (Steve Dawson).

Allen added: “I had this story in my head for way over 10 years and it needed sharing.

"When I teamed up with production company Eight Engines they loved it from the get-go and said it was one of the best guys’ adventures they could share.

"Thousands have viewed the documentary since its release and it’s becoming very popular with soccer fans around the country.

"Some of the comments tell you how 'real' it is and how it's a time capsule of soccer.”

Stuart Bates, 63, a dad-of-four, who lives in Houston, Texas, said: "Stourbridge in the '80s was tough, I had been working on a building site at the time and a lot of the guys had lost their jobs.

"We were watching Duran Duran videos filmed in Rio and Bowie filming in Australia and I knew I just wanted to travel.

"When the chance came, I just thought why not even though we knew nothing about Mexico as there wasn't the internet.

"This was just on the cusp of still being the old days.

"We had the time of our lives and my family understood why I stayed out there — there were better prospects in America at the time.

"The guys I met are like brothers to me, we're all just family and have always stayed in touch.

"I love England and I love the Black Country but this one little slice of adventure in our lives turned into new lives for us."

In the wake of their 1986 adventure, Allen went on to build a company from scratch in the sewage and drain equipment industry, turning over $20 million annually before retiring last year.

Bates was, and remains, successful in the auto industry in Houston, while Arnold stayed in Mexico where he became head of a school in Monterrey, where he still lives.

Sadly, Rabbithead, who was a painter in Atlanta who moved to Florida, died two years ago.