Black Country fan relives trip of a lifetime 40 years after England's infamous 'Hand of God' defeat

On June 22, 1986, two goals by Diego Maradona, including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal scored with his hand, helped Argentina beat England 2-1 in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.

Played out in front of 114,000 supporters at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, the game has remained a part of football lore in England ever since and the memories are still fresh for those who were there.

Among those who were inside the Azteca Stadium that day was Paul Tibbetts, who travelled to Mexico with five friends from the Black Country in Gary Allen, Garry Hardwicke, Stuart Bates, David Arnold, and Steve Dawson

Paul said he still remembers every bit of it as a man in his early sixties.

He said they travelled to Mexico via Houston and San Antonio in Texas.

He said: “We went from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey where England were playing two of their group games, as well as San Nicolás de los Garza, then after we qualified, we went to Acapulco because we’d heard that it was the place to be.

“After that, we went up to Mexico City for the game against Paraguay, which was fantastic, with the bus full of us lot and everyone we met enjoying themselves, then we bought tickets to the Paraguay game for $10, nothing at all.

“That was the first time we’d experienced the Azteca and it was absolutely fantastic, with 115,000 seats, and we won 3-0. Then Gary, Steve and myself decided to go back to Acapulco, which was 12 hours in a taxi and, again, was fantastic because we wanted more Acapulco.”

Mr Tibbetts said the day of the quarter-final against Argentina saw them fly into Mexico City, somehow manage to meet up with the rest of the group in a time before mobile phones, and then buy tickets for $20 each outside the stadium.

This, he said, bought him a seat in the second tier of the Azteca Stadium behind one of the goals.

“It was great, all of us and our mates on a balcony on the second tier and a man walking down and asking if we wanted a beer, which I thought was amazing as in the 1980s in the UK, it was violence and hooliganism, so to have a beer on a sunny day was unbelievable.

“That stadium was like a cathedral, one of the finest in world football, and we were there with the Argentina fans, plus the Mexicans who were supporting Argentina.

“This was also four years after the Falklands War, and there was trouble afterwards, with Gary fracturing his skull after jumping off a wall to get away from them.

“I remember the game was more or less Argentina’s for the most part, with Maradona scoring both goals at the other end of the stadium, not that we knew he’d scored with his hand because there weren’t replays back then.

“He was one of the greatest footballers that ever lived and his second goal was probably the greatest ever scored, but John Barnes changed that game, putting in a cross for Gary Lineker to score, then almost doing it again later.

“We were all over them at the end and I wonder what would have happened if it had gone to extra time.”

After the World Cup and a brief jaunt to Belize, the gang flew to Texas and began building lives in and around the southern states of the USA, with several of the group still living in the USA now - they even reunited this summer at the England vs Croatia game in Houston.

Paul said he moved back to the Black Country, but still cherished his memories of 1986 and the adventure he and his friends went on.

He also said the game on Wednesday night was too tough to call, saying that both sides had world class players.

He said: “I don’t think you can call it more than 50-50 and I think if you went to the bookies, you’d just be making a guess or toss a coin because anything could happen, from red cards, to goalkeeping mistakes, shots from Messi and all that, but I think Jude Bellingham might get the winner.

“This is a massive game, as it was 40 years ago because of the Falklands War, which was a discussion point in 1989 when I was backpacking around Argentina and we were on a minibus trip to go and see penguins.

“The driver was telling us about not talking about it and we said that we only wanted to see the penguins, which we loved, and that’s what I think of when I think of Argentina, being a great country full of great people.”