Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt sells for millions
When Peter Shilton watched a tuft of black curly hair and a shot of blue dart into his peripheral vision – his rage was reflective of a frustrated nation. Diego Maradona had jumped high in the Azteca, yet by using his hand to score, and by getting away with it – he had made England’s veteran ‘keeper look like a begrudged old codger.
Well, not that he’d particularly care nowadays – but his posthumous antagonist’s shirt from that unsportsmanlike event of 1986 has recently sold for a ridiculous amount. According to multiple news outlets like the Mirror and the Guardian, El Pibe de Oro’s sleek navy and subtly striped Argentina le Coq Sportif jersey sold for a whopping £7.1 million in a Sotherby’s auction back in May of 2022.
To put that into perspective, while Shilton’s career was laden with honours – his transfer value from his own golden era was a mere average of £291,000 – which translates to just over £1.5 million in today’s money. So, with a shirt worth nearly 6-7x more than the unfortunate goalkeeper, who was the buyer?
Well unfortunately, they weren’t identified. However, we know the shirt was sold by former England midfielder Steve Hodge after swapping with the dynamo at the full time whistle of the controversial 2-1 Argentina semi-final win.
It fetched exactly £7,142,500, a new auction record for an item of sports memorabilia. Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said: “This historic shirt is a tangible reminder of an important moment not only in the history of sports but in the history of the 20th century.”
