‘My associate thought I used to be shopping for milk, as an alternative I went to World Cup and stayed 40 years’

A group of footie mad blokes who followed the Three Lions to the 1986 World Cup World Cup and never came back are set to be reunited at this year’s tournament, forty years after their surprise move

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A group of die-hard England fans who travelled to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup and never returned home are set to be reunited 40 years later at this summer’s tournament in North America. Among them was one supporter who told his partner he was just popping out to buy milk from the local shop before embarking on a four-decade adventure abroad.

Gary Allen, Stuart Bates, David Arnold and Garry Hardwicke were among a group of footie mad lads who decided to jet off 5,000 miles to follow the Three Lions four decades ago – and never return home.

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

Garry even told his partner that he was only nipping out to get a pint of milk, but instead 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, in Worcestershire, with the exception of David, 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 thanks to Maradona’s infamous Hand of God goal.

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

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.

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.

Gary, 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.”

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

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

“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.”

Gary 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.

Sharing his own story, 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 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 thought 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 wake of their 1986 adventure, Gary 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.

Stuart works in the car industry in Houston, while David stayed in Mexico, where he became headteacher of a school in Monterrey, where he still lives.

Sadly painter Garry Hardwicke, who was the fan who told his wife that he was out getting milk, passed away two years ago.