Gary Allen, 63, and his son gate-crashed a Croatian VIP box at the Dallas Stadium last week, helping themselves to free beer and food before settling down to watch England’s 4-2 thriller against Croatia from $3,000 seats. It was the first time Gary had seen his old friend Stuart Bates, 63, in decades – the last reunion was around the time of the US 94 cup.
The two were part of a group of four England fans who jetted off to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and never came back. Gary, now living in Atlanta, and Stuart, in Houston, Texas, were reunited alongside Steve Dawson – known as Texas Steve – who took them in under his roof 40 years ago and became a best friend. The trio attended their first England game together before celebratory drinks long into the night after what Gary called a ‘carnival’ atmosphere.
“England fans who emigrated after 1986 World Cup reunited 40 years on at England's 4-2 win over Croatia.”
The pals – aged between 20 and 23 at the time – had set off for Mexico with little more than the bags on their backs and a few hundred quid after losing their jobs in 1986. They called themselves The Disco Firm and were all Wolves fans from Stourbridge and Lye, Worcester, apart from David Arnold, who was from Solihull and a Birmingham City fan. The group travelled 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.
Garry Hardwicke, another of the four, told his partner he was only nipping out to get a pint of milk – and then didn’t return home at all for the next 12 years. All four went on to forge new lives across the United States and Mexico, settling down in new careers, getting married and having 14 children between them.
Gary said: ‘It was amazing to see the lads because it had certainly been a while. The place was absolutely packed around the stadium, all the bars were rammed, but once you got inside, it was just incredible. It is the best stadium I have ever watched England in, and they’ve certainly come a long way since Mexico 86. Back then, they were all raw and ready – now they are absolutely state-of-the-art, futuristic things with the likes of air-conditioning.’
He joked: ‘We paid £700, so around £500 each for our tickets, but we were in the Croatia end – all of a sudden we had these $3,000 seats. So we watched the game in luxury, and it was some experience.’
Stuart Bates, a dad-of-four, now lives in Houston, Texas. The foursome, who never came home, finally had a reunion that was four decades in the making.