Sports news

Art of the shirt swap: Why do football players do it and whose is most valuable?


It’s not all about building collections either.

Former England midfielder Steve Hodge made £7.14m from selling Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt from the 1986 World Cup quarter-final at auction in 2022.

Meanwhile, a shirt said to be Phil Foden’s from England’s Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine, given to goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan, was recently listed on eBay for £2,999.

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said of his collection: “My kids have got some of them, but I’ve got my favourite shirt framed, which is Henrik Larsson’s shirt when he came back to Celtic with Barcelona.

“I never used to like swapping shirts if we had lost. I was never one of those players who would ask someone for a shirt at half-time, either.

“So I wasn’t that bothered about doing it, although I have changed my view now I’ve stopped playing.

“I wished I’d been more forthcoming about doing it after seeing how Steve Hodge got on with Diego Maradona’s shirt but, being serious, they are nice things to have when you look back on your career.”

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