In 1986, amidst high unemployment in the Black Country, a group of young childhood friends aged 20 to 23 lost their jobs. Seeking an escape, they scraped together a few hundred pounds each to follow the England national football team 5,000 miles away to Mexico for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and chose to never return home.
The most famous anecdote from the group involves Garry Hardwicke (nicknamed “Rabbithead”). He reportedly told his partner back home that he was just “nipping out to get a pint of milk,” and ended up staying away for 12 years.
The group, including friends nicknamed Adder (Gary Allen), Rabbithead, Batesy (Stuart Bates), Arnie (David Arnold), and Texas Steve (Steve Dawson), fell in love with the vibrant Mexican culture and welcoming locals. Instead of catching their flights back to the UK after England was knocked out by Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” match, they embarked on a massive journey across the Americas.
Most of the group eventually moved further north and built permanent new lives and careers in North America.