In the prime of their youth, a group of young men in their twenties, grappling with unemployment and hard times, made a spontaneous decision to journey to Mexico in support of their cherished England football team.
Their adventure took a surprising turn when, after England was ousted from the 1986 World Cup, they opted to remain in Mexico, eventually making their way to the United States, never returning to their homeland.
Fast forward 40 years, and these friends are set for a nostalgic reunion at this summer’s World Cup in North America. They will cheer on England as they face Croatia in their opening match, scheduled for June 17 in Dallas.
Their remarkable tale is being brought to life in an online documentary titled “Lost Down Mexico Way.”
Among the travelers were Gary Allen, Stuart Bates, David Arnold, and Garry Hardwicke, who undertook the 5,000-mile journey to support the Three Lions four decades ago.
Recalling their youthful ignorance, they admitted they initially had no clue about Mexico’s location, needing a map to find it, nor did they realize that Spanish was the local language.
But 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 back and a few hundred pounds each.
Mr Hardwicke even 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.
Gary Allen, in the blue shorts, and Garry Hardwicke, wearing a Rambo T-shirt were part of a group of Wolves fans who went to the 1986 World Cup and didn’t come back
England fans at the World Cup in Mexico, where the Three Lions were knocked out in the quarter final
Pictured Stuart Bates, second right, and Gary Allen, left
Pictured recently in the US are Gary Allen, left, Stuart Bates and Texas Steve, right
They called themselves The Disco Firm, and were all Wolves fans from Stourbridge and Lye, Worcestershire with the exception of Mr Arnold, who was from Solihull and a Birmingham City fan.
The group travelled to Monterrey and Acapulco and watched every England game before the team was knocked out by Argentina and Maradona’s notorious Hand of God goal in the quarter final.
During their hard-drinking and partying adventure two of them even managed to convince local women they were Peter Shilton and Gary Lineker.
And instead of coming back to the UK afterwards, they decided not to return to their homes and embarked on forging new lives in the US where they settled down, went on to marry and have 14 children between them.
Mr 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 £500 saved up before I lost my job.
‘There was a big group of us who travelled 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.’
Pictured in Dallas in 1987 after relocating the US. Gary Allen in the red cap with Stuart Towel
Back row, second from left, is Stuart Bates, aka Batesy; back row, far right in white T shirt, is Steve Dawson, aka Texas Steve, an American they met and befriended; middle row, right with striped shirt, is Gary Allen, aka Adder, who lives now in Atlanta
England fans celebrating a goal in Mexico 1986
After England were knocked out they decided to stay in South Padre where they all got jobs in the restaurant trade.
Mr Allen added: ‘The locals had never seen anything like us, we were on the pop 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 squaddies 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 lads coming over from the UK too and we’re all meeting for an England game.
‘I usually only meet Arnie for those occasions so it should be pretty special.’
After the brief jaunt to Belize, the gang flew to Dallas, Texas.
‘America was a different kettle of fish – the opportunity was the biggest thing for us,’ Mr Allen said.
‘You could get a job anywhere. I had three jobs in the first three or four weeks.
‘Your accents got you the women, you played on that. We didn’t want to leave.’
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 US pal Texas Steve (Steve Dawson).
Mr 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 lads’ adventures they could share.
‘Thousands have viewed the documentary since its release and it’s becoming very popular with football fans around the country.
‘Some of the comments tell you how ‘real’ it is and how it’s a time capsule of football.’
In the documentary, Mr Arnold said: ‘Mexico was one of those countries I had to look up on the map, it sounded so exotic.
‘We thought it would be the ultimate cool thing to go to a World Cup on the other side of the world.’
He joked that the group did not even know which language was spoken in Mexico, with none of them speaking Spanish.
The group had to adjust to the rules of the new country, getting arrested at one stage for being shirtless, having also drunk beer in the streets.
Stuart Bates, 63, a father 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 lads 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 lads 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 documentary, Mr Dawson said: ‘It was the funnest summer of my life.’
In the wake of their 1986 adventure Mr Allen went on to build a company from scratch in the sewage and drain equipment industry turning over 20 million dollars annually before retiring last year.
Mr Bates was, and remains, successful in the car industry in Houston, while Mr Arnold stayed in Mexico where he became head of a school in Monterrey, where he still lives.
Mr Hardwicke, who was a painter in Atlanta who moved to Florida, died two years ago.
