Police ordered England fans to move on from a Dallas pub following a ÂŁ30,000 drinking session.
Hundreds of supporters defied officersâ pleas by remaining on the balcony outside the Londoner Pub, with some dropping plants over the edge.
Others spent about an hour kicking a football up and down the road and around the balcony, with the ball occasionally landing on the bonnets of nearby vehicles.
It came before Englandâs opening World Cup game against Croatia on Wednesday at the Dallas Cowboysâ AT&T Stadium, which is expected to be attended by thousands of fans from the UK.
Many of those supporters stayed out until late on Tuesday night at the bar, with some in fancy dress and draped in St Georgeâs flags.
Despite the pub advertising a later closing time, fans were ordered to move on by bar staff and two police officers just before 10pm local time. The pub was eventually cleared by police, but many remained on the venueâs balcony for another couple of hours as dozens of Dallas police department vehicles lined the road outside. Officers stood on the road for about 20 minutes before all police vehicles moved out of sight. Police later returned to remove fans from the balcony.
Police confirmed the early closure because the venue reached maximum capacity, with only two security guards on duty. Before closing its doors, the Londoner managed to sell more than 5,000 beers and made more than ÂŁ30,000 from the evening. At the end of the night, many England fans stayed to help bar staff clean up the mess.
The event started with supporters in a sea of St Georgeâs flags, wearing fancy dress and singing popular chants as they braved the Dallas heat.
John Gallivan, 39, the organiser from Bristol, said the scale of Texas had made it far harder for fans to find each other than at previous tournaments in Europe.
He said: âAmericaâs massive, itâs so big, so vast. When we go to Europe, itâs really easy â you know where youâre going to be. You donât have to ask, you donât have to look, you just know where weâre going to be.
âIn America, thatâs impossible â so the whole idea of today was to just find somewhere, get them to put a deal on the beer and then advertise it.â
There was no police presence earlier at the event as supporters filled the pub, and chants of âItâs Coming Homeâ and âDonât take me homeâ broke out as more fans arrived.
Gallivan, a Bristol Rovers fan, said the event had grown far beyond his expectations after sharing it on social media.
âWeâve been here since 4pm and itâs been grand. I feel sorry for the bar staff,â he said.
Gallivan said many regular England supporters had been unable to make the trip because of the cost of attending the tournament.
He said: âI think the way Fifa have managed it, itâs been disgraceful. Weâve been dealt a bad hand. We could have brought so many more out here, but sadly theyâve been outpriced.
âPeople that I spent time with in Albania and Latvia and had a really good night with, who go home and away, theyâve been priced out of it and thatâs not right. They shouldnât have been.â
Despite the eye-watering cost of attending World Cup matches, there were no âlast-minute salesâ tickets available for the England-Croatia game on Fifaâs official ticketing platform at lunchtime on Wednesday.
There were also fewer than 200 via its resale marketplace, which were being offered for between ÂŁ856 and ÂŁ8,577.
This included a ÂŁ45 face-value ticket but priced at ÂŁ1,373 on the resale platform.
A number of tickets were listed for resale on unauthorised online marketplaces such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats.
The Football Association sold out its entire allocation of 4,022 tickets originally priced between ÂŁ45 and ÂŁ522, with the UK Football Policing Unit expecting more than 10,000 additional England fans to have bought tickets from elsewhere.
Gallivan said he was already looking ahead to Englandâs next group game in Boston, where he hoped to organise another gathering for travelling supporters.
âIâve reached out to several outlets in Boston and Iâm waiting to see who can do the best deal,â he said.
âWhoever can do the best deal, Iâll get everyone to go there.â
Gallivan also said England supporters had received a warm welcome from Texans since arriving in the US.
He said: âAnywhere I go, whether itâs buying a drink in a shop or ordering food, as soon as I order, they go, âOh wait, where are you from? Britain? England?â Theyâre excited to have you here.
âSo that whole narrative that England are disliked is not true at all.â
Hundreds of supporters defied officersâ pleas by remaining on the balcony outside the Londoner Pub, with some dropping plants over the edge.
Others spent about an hour kicking a football up and down the road and around the balcony, with the ball occasionally landing on the bonnets of nearby vehicles.
It came before Englandâs opening World Cup game against Croatia on Wednesday at the Dallas Cowboysâ AT&T Stadium, which is expected to be attended by thousands of fans from the UK.
Many of those supporters stayed out until late on Tuesday night at the bar, with some in fancy dress and draped in St Georgeâs flags.
Despite the pub advertising a later closing time, fans were ordered to move on by bar staff and two police officers just before 10pm local time. The pub was eventually cleared by police, but many remained on the venueâs balcony for another couple of hours as dozens of Dallas police department vehicles lined the road outside. Officers stood on the road for about 20 minutes before all police vehicles moved out of sight. Police later returned to remove fans from the balcony.
Police confirmed the early closure because the venue reached maximum capacity, with only two security guards on duty. Before closing its doors, the Londoner managed to sell more than 5,000 beers and made more than ÂŁ30,000 from the evening. At the end of the night, many England fans stayed to help bar staff clean up the mess.
The event started with supporters in a sea of St Georgeâs flags, wearing fancy dress and singing popular chants as they braved the Dallas heat.
John Gallivan, 39, the organiser from Bristol, said the scale of Texas had made it far harder for fans to find each other than at previous tournaments in Europe.
He said: âAmericaâs massive, itâs so big, so vast. When we go to Europe, itâs really easy â you know where youâre going to be. You donât have to ask, you donât have to look, you just know where weâre going to be.
âIn America, thatâs impossible â so the whole idea of today was to just find somewhere, get them to put a deal on the beer and then advertise it.â
There was no police presence earlier at the event as supporters filled the pub, and chants of âItâs Coming Homeâ and âDonât take me homeâ broke out as more fans arrived.
Gallivan, a Bristol Rovers fan, said the event had grown far beyond his expectations after sharing it on social media.
âWeâve been here since 4pm and itâs been grand. I feel sorry for the bar staff,â he said.
Gallivan said many regular England supporters had been unable to make the trip because of the cost of attending the tournament.
He said: âI think the way Fifa have managed it, itâs been disgraceful. Weâve been dealt a bad hand. We could have brought so many more out here, but sadly theyâve been outpriced.
âPeople that I spent time with in Albania and Latvia and had a really good night with, who go home and away, theyâve been priced out of it and thatâs not right. They shouldnât have been.â
Despite the eye-watering cost of attending World Cup matches, there were no âlast-minute salesâ tickets available for the England-Croatia game on Fifaâs official ticketing platform at lunchtime on Wednesday.
There were also fewer than 200 via its resale marketplace, which were being offered for between ÂŁ856 and ÂŁ8,577.
This included a ÂŁ45 face-value ticket but priced at ÂŁ1,373 on the resale platform.
A number of tickets were listed for resale on unauthorised online marketplaces such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats.
The Football Association sold out its entire allocation of 4,022 tickets originally priced between ÂŁ45 and ÂŁ522, with the UK Football Policing Unit expecting more than 10,000 additional England fans to have bought tickets from elsewhere.
Gallivan said he was already looking ahead to Englandâs next group game in Boston, where he hoped to organise another gathering for travelling supporters.
âIâve reached out to several outlets in Boston and Iâm waiting to see who can do the best deal,â he said.
âWhoever can do the best deal, Iâll get everyone to go there.â
Gallivan also said England supporters had received a warm welcome from Texans since arriving in the US.
He said: âAnywhere I go, whether itâs buying a drink in a shop or ordering food, as soon as I order, they go, âOh wait, where are you from? Britain? England?â Theyâre excited to have you here.
âSo that whole narrative that England are disliked is not true at all.â
