Pool halls, senators and reflections: Tales of a Sheffield Wednesday superfan in World Cup USA
Sheffield Wednesday die hard Paul Gregory is among the thousands of England fans in the US for the World Cup.
There’ll be a moment during England’s opening World Cup clash this evening in which Paul Gregory pauses for thought. More likely, there’ll be a few.
To spend a little time with the man they call ‘Tango’ is to realise it doesn’t take long for the larger than life personality to make an acquaintance. As one of the more instantly recognisable supporters that travel the globe following his country, chinwags with perfect strangers are regular and so too it has proven Stateside in recent weeks as he has gone about spreading the Three Lions gospel across the US.
England kick off their attempt to persuade football home against old foes Croatia tonight from Arlington, Texas. Their status in the last of 16 groups means they have had to wait their turn and while social media has been flooded with images of Scotland supporters befriending Boston and Holland’s Oranje Army doing their thing in Dallas, England fans haven’t hit the headlines as yet.
But the experiences have been there. Speaking to The Star via video call from a Dallas bar and surrounded by like-minded England fans of all different club persuasions, Paul explains the sense of hospitality supporters have been afforded throughout their trip and regales some of the chance meetings he has had since travelling out to watch the warm-up matches at the turn of the month.
“It’s been amazing, it really has,” he said. “Last night we walked into this bar and it was crazy, all these pool tables all lined up, absolutely full of people. We were told it was some massive pool competition and whoever won would go to some national final in Las Vegas.
“When they found out we were English and why we were here, all the locals came across and just kept buying us drinks, pouring us shots and everything, they wouldn’t let us pay for nothing. It was people of all walks of life and we got talking to the President of some bank. He’s since got in touch with me on Twitter and he’s taking the day off work to show us around.
“When we were in Orlando, I got a message from a Senator welcoming us. And the every day people have been so friendly, asking us about the football and where we’re going. It’s been great, it really has.”
It is when his next story mentions the passing of his daughter Lauren that his face loosens with emotion. Together with his partner Rachel and the motley crew of supporters who have hopped from Tampa to Orlando to Dallas, she should have been there with them. A committed Wednesday and England fan who shared her old man’s love for people, she tragically died in December 2023 after a long battle with liver failure. She was just 29.
Paul has spent time since her passing raising money for defibrillators to be installed in the four ‘corners’ of every football league ground as part of his ‘Lauren’s Legacy’ initiative. He has been helped along the way by friends in the home and away England cohort and flies a flag bearing her image and the ‘One in every corner’ message across his travels.
“We've got Lauren's flag here,” he said. “We put that up and somebody wanted to buy it. It’s her birthday this week and it's been a bit of an hard week for me. They were like ‘Can we buy the flag off you?’ I couldn’t do that, but I explained and sent him the donation page. He donated £500.
“You know what I mean? The Americans are interested in it. Everywhere we go in there, they're asking about the flag, they all want a picture with the flag. Which gives me a bit of a buzz. It’s like Lauren's here with us. She would have been 32 on Thursday.
“We're going to try and have a bit of a get-together. It’s hard, honestly, it is hard. We've got the flag out, her face is there, it’s got the Wednesday badge on and the England badge. She had so many friends that are out here with us. That's what she wanted to do. As beautiful and as sweet as she was, she was like a football lad, you know what I mean? She just loved everything about it.”
The seat beside Paul in Texas will be filled by someone else, but Lauren will be in his thoughts. It’s a few days full of emotion for the Wolverhampton transport manager, who is attending his seventh World Cup having initially having felt he could have been priced out. The trip so far has taken in trips to the Nasa Space Station, to the aptly-named Hillsborough County and beyond, with Lauren’s flag a constant. New Orleans beckons, before Boston for the Ghana match and New York for Panama. From there, the route is decided by how England perform.
Paul said: “Everybody was saying you've got to be a millionaire to do this trip, but we’ve found accommodation at good prices and the tickets didn’t end up being that much for us. So it's quite the opposite. Honestly, it's quite the opposite. The food is exceptional, we’re being treated as friends. Everywhere we've been, everybody's so friendly and everything. The stadiums are good. It's just the temperature! If England can cope with that, I think they’ll do alright.
“It wouldn't have been the squad selection I’d have made, but he's the manager, so if it pays off, he’s all well and good, isn't he? It's always a draw against Croatia, isn't it? Apart from the obvious. So the banter is a draw, I think, especially the way the football is going here and there. Who would have thought Cape Verde? So it's early stages and everything, I think it's going to be an interesting one. You just keep your fingers crossed for everybody. You want to see your country win the World Cup.
“Then you've done the ultimate, haven't you?”