Got a spare five-odd million burning a hole in your pocket and fancy owning an absolute piece of sporting memorabilia? Well you’re in luck, because Sotheby’s currently has the shirt that Diego Maradona wore in the 1986 match against England – yep, the one in which he scored two goals, one iconic, one controversial – up for auction.
Few sporting items in the world can boast as rich a story as that of the Argentina shirt that Diego Maradona wore when he scored arguably one of the best World Cup goals of all time, along with one of the most controversial – all in the same match. On the 22nd of June 1986, a 25 year old Maradona cemented his place in folklore by fisting the ball past a despairing Peter Shilton for a goal known throughout the world as “The Hand of God”, and then followed that up with a slaloming run past a host of England players, dancing around them with a ballerina’s grace, carrying the ball half the length of the pitch before slotting home – a goal known as "Goal of the Century".
In 2002 FIFA held a vote as part of a promotion for the 2002 World Cup. Over a six week span, more than 340,000 votes were cast from over 150 countries, with Maradona’s second goal in the match receiving the title of “Goal of the Century.”
After the game Maradona was quoted saying he made the first goal with, “a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God.” He would later explicitly state that he felt it was “symbolic revenge” for the United Kingdom’s victory in the Falklands Island War.
After the game, England midfielder Steve Hodge, who had flicked the ball unintentionally to Maradona in the build up to “The Hand of God” goal decided he would ask Maradona to swap shirts. In an interview with FIFA, Hodge recalled, “I thought, I won’t be here again. I’ll try and get a shirt… I shook Maradona’s hand. He was being mobbed by his team-mates. So I thought, ’There’s no point, just leave it.’” Hodge then did a TV interview, and then had a second chance encounter with Maradona. “After the interview, I went down, behind the goal, to the changing rooms… As I went down, Maradona was walking with two of his team-mates. I looked him in the eye, tugged on my shirt as if to say ’any chance of swapping?’, and he came straight across, motioned a prayer, and we exchanged shirts. And that was it. It was just as simple as that.”
Maradona lays out the exchange as well in his book, Touched by God, “On the way to the locker room, one of the English guys—it turned out to be Hodge, but I wasn’t sure at the time—asked me to swap jerseys with him. I said yes and we did.” The shirt has been on loan to the National Football Museum in Manchester since 2002.
Altogether it adds to a shirt that is steeped in history – one that is all the more poignant following the passing of Maradona – and now it will be sold for the first time ever, with bidding opening at Sotheby’s on 20 April, while also being on display at Sotheby’s New Bond Street gallery in London.
“I have been the proud owner of this item for over 35 years, since Diego and I swapped shirts in the tunnel after the famed match,” explained former England International, Steve Hodge, who is the man selling the shirt. “It was an absolute privilege to have played against one of the greatest and most magnificent football players of all time. It has also been a pleasure to share it with the public over the last 20 years at the National Football Museum, where it has been on display.
“The Hand of God shirt has deep cultural meaning to the football world, the people of Argentina, and the people of England and I’m certain that the new owner will have immense pride in owning the world’s most iconic football shirt.”
Once you've finished looking behind the couch cushions for those extra pennies, you can head to sothebys.com from 20 April, 1800 BST to put in your bid.
