England fans who went to the 1986 World Cup and never came back were reunited 40 years on at the Croatia game last week

England fans who went to the 1986 World Cup and never returned home were reunited after 40 years.

Gary Allen, Stuart Bates, David Arnold and Garry Hardwicke were young men in their twenties and, unluckily unemployed, they decided to go to Mexico to watch their favorite movie, Three Lions.

But they never returned home after England were eliminated from the tournament and they stayed in Mexico before settling in the USA.

Last week, Mr. Allen, 63, who now lives in Atlanta, and Mr. Bates, 63, who also lives in Texas, met for the first time in decades to watch England’s 4-2 thriller against Croatia.

Mr Allen and his son even managed to get into the Croatian VIP box, where they were treated to free beer and food, before settling in to watch the game in $3,000 (£2,200) seats at Dallas Stadium.

They were also joined by Texan Steve Dawson, who took them in four decades ago and they later became best friends.

Mr Allen said: ‘It was wonderful to see the children because it had certainly been a long time.

‘The stadium was completely packed, all the bars were clogged, but once you got inside it was incredible.

‘It’s the best stadium I’ve ever seen England play at and they’ve certainly come a long way since Mexico ’86.

‘It was all raw and ready then; Now they’ve become futuristic, cutting-edge things like air conditioning.’

Mr Allen said they ‘noticed a Croatian VIP box with some spare seats’ and took the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality.

‘We walked in and no one stopped us and we were able to get free food and drinks,’ he said.

‘We paid £700, so around £500 per ticket, but we were on the tip of Croatia; suddenly we had $3,000 seats.

‘So we watched the match in luxury and it was an experience.

‘Me, Stuart and Texas Steve have never been to an England game together.

‘Then we went back to the hotel we were staying at and drank a few beers, chatted and reminisced until 2am.

‘The game was absolutely magnificent; I think we’re in really good shape now and we’ll go deep into the tournament.

‘The fans were great and the atmosphere around the stadium was different.

In ’86 you were herded around and treated like a nuisance, but it’s really a carnival atmosphere.

‘Then we will go to New York for the Panama match and watch the match in midtown Manhattan.

‘Hopefully England can continue their performance and we can go all the way.’

Gary Allen (fourth from right), Stuart Bates (fifth from right) and Steve Dawson – AKA Texas Steve (far right) celebrate after England beat Croatia on Wednesday.

Gary Allen, arms folded, and Garry Hardwicke, wearing a Rambo t-shirt, were part of a group of Wolves fans who traveled to the 1986 World Cup and did not return.

England fans at the World Cup in Mexico, where the Three Lions were eliminated in the quarter-finals

The friends, aged between 20 and 23 at the time, set out for Mexico in 1986 with little more than the bags on their backs and a few hundred pounds after losing their jobs.

Before they set off, they didn’t know that the spoken language was Spanish or where Mexico was located on the map.

Mr Hardwicke even told his partner he only went out to buy a pint of milk and never returned home for the next 12 years.

They called themselves the Disco Firm and were all Wolves fans from Stourbridge and Lye, Worcs, except Mr Arnold, who was from Solihull and was a Birmingham City fan.

The group traveled to Monterrey and Acapulco and watched all of England’s matches throughout the tournament before they were eliminated by Argentina and Maradona’s infamous Hand of God goal.

During their drinking and partying adventures, the two even managed to convince local women they were Peter Shilton and Gary Lineker by pretending to be a team while staying in a £3-a-night hotel.

Rather than returning to the UK, they then decided not to return home and began building new lives in the US; They settled here, married and had 14 children between them; one of them married the former Miss Mexico beauty queen.

Following his exploits in 1986, Mr. Allen went on to build a company from scratch that generated more than $20 million in annual revenue in the sewer and sewer equipment industry before retiring last year. He has two children and now divides his time between Atlanta and Italy with his wife.

Mr. Bates was and remains successful in the auto industry in Houston, where he lives with his wife and four children; Mr. Arnold remained in Mexico and became principal of a school in Monterrey; He still lives here after marrying a former Miss Mexico beauty queen and raising four daughters.

Mr. Hardwicke, a painter in Atlanta who moved to Florida, died two years ago.

The boys’ Mexican adventures are now the focus of a new documentary called Lost Down Mexico Way.