Wolves fans who never came back from Mexico 1986 are reunited in USA at World Cup 2026

Wolves fans who went to the 1986 World Cup and never came back were reunited 40 years on at the Croatia game last week - with one even blagging his way into a VIP box.

Gary Allen, Stuart Bates, David Arnold and Garry Hardwicke jetted off to Mexico four decades ago to follow the Three Lions but enjoyed it so much they never returned.

Read more: The Wolves fans who left for Mexico ’86 and never came back

They all went on to forge new lives for themselves across the United States and Mexico where they settled down in new careers, got married and had 14 children between them.

Last week (Wed) Gary, 63, who now lives in Atlanta, and Stuart, 63, who lives in Texas, were reunited at an England game for the first time in decades as they came together to watch England's 4-2 thriller against Croatia.

Gary and his son were even able to gate-crash a Croatian VIP box where they helped themselves to free beer and food before settling down to watch the match in $3,000 (£2,200) seats at the Dallas Stadium.

They were also able to meet up with Steve Dawson - AKA Texas Steve - who took them in under his roof four decades ago and went on to become best friends.

The three were able to attend their first England game as a trio before having celebratory drinks long into the night after enjoying an emphatic England win and a "carnival" atmosphere.

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.

"Once we got inside it was much easier to get a drink - there was a bar every 20ft and a restaurant every 50ft.

"As me and my son were walking along to our seats we noticed a Croatian VIP box which had some spare seats.

"We went in and nobody stopped us and we were able to help ourselves to free food and drink.

"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.

"Myself, Stuart and Texas Steve had never all been to an England game together.

"And the last time me and Stuart did was about 20 years ago around the time of USA 94.

"Afterwards we went back to the hotel where we were staying and were up until 2am having a few beers and chatting and reminiscing.

"The game was absolutely fantastic - I think we're really rolling now and we'll go deep into the tournament.

"The fans were great and the atmosphere was something else around the stadium.

"Back in 86 you were herded around and treated like troublemakers but it really is a carnival atmosphere.

"Next we're going to New York for the Panama game where we will be watching it in downtown Manhattan.

"I hope England can carry on performing and we can go all the way."

The pals, aged between 20 and 23 at the time, had set off for Mexico with little more than the bags on their back and a few hundred quid after losing their jobs in 1986.

Garry 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.

They called themselves The Disco Firm, and were all Wolves fans from Stourbridge and Lye, Worcs., apart from 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 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.

Gary said: "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.

"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.

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

"It was just a crazy time."

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 though we knew nothing about Mexico as there wasn't the internet.

"We had the time of our lives."

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

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

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