News that Nottingham Forest hero Steve Hodge has sold his famous Diego Maradona "Hand of God" shirt for more than £7million sparked plenty of reaction from around the footballing world.
Former Forest midfielder Hodge swapped shirts with Maradona after the 1986 World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina in Mexico, and has owned it ever since, although the item has spent the last 20 years on loan at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Maradona – one of the greatest footballers of all time, who died in November 2020 at the age of 60 – famously scored two unforgettable goals in the match, including one assisted by the "Hand of God", as England were knocked out of the tournament.
The blue shirt went under the hammer at Sotheby’s on Wednesday afternoon for £7,142,500 – marking a new auction record for any item of sports memorabilia. The auction house described the famous blue number 10 jersey on its website as in “good overall condition consistent with heavy use, perspiration and athletic activity” with “slight de-threading on hemming on the front bottom of shirt, and minor spots throughout”.
