From a £6 ticket to 11 tournaments — a Walsall supporter’s World Cup story
Forty years on from the quarter-final in Mexico City that produced Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’, a Walsall man has described how he first witnessed the moment from the upper tiers of the Estadio Azteca. The fan, now 67, told BBC Radio WM how the atmosphere in 1986 was “brilliant” and how accessible world football felt in that era.
The supporter travelled to Mexico City for his first World Cup and was inside the stadium when Argentina beat England 2-1 in the quarter-final. At the time he and many other England fans did not realise Maradona had handled the ball; they only became aware after seeing replays and hearing the news later.
- First tournament: Mexico, 1986
- Stadium: Estadio Azteca
- Ticket price then: around £6 for a match (and roughly £10 each for the final, he recalled)
- Tournaments attended: 11 World Cups
He described the impressions of being “up in the gods” in the stadium and how different the experience was without replays or large screens. That absence of instant pictures meant fans at the ground had only the on-pitch action and word of mouth to go on; the controversial nature of Maradona’s goal only became clear later when fans could watch televised replays.
“We couldn’t tell what happened… we were kind of up in the gods ourselves a little bit. We didn’t know he had handballed it in at that time.”
Why this matters locally
For Walsall readers, the account is a reminder of how supporting England has long been a personal, often affordable endeavour for many — and how supporters from right here in the West Midlands have travelled the globe to follow the national side. The fan has continued that pattern: he attended all three group matches in the United States this summer and returned to Miami for England’s quarter-final.
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Age | 67 |
| World Cups attended | 11 |
| Memorable match | Mexico 1986 quarter-final (Estadio Azteca) |
His recollections illustrate both the scale of change in international football — from ticketing and stadium screens to global media scrutiny — and the enduring local connection to the England team. For many in Walsall, these personal stories form part of a wider tapestry of support that spans generations and continents.
