By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 11 – Nottingham is hoping that the shirt Argentina’s Diego Maradona wore when he scored his famous “Hand of God” goal will help the city’s bid to be a host city if England wins its bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
The shirt is to go on display at Nottingham Castle alongside the customs worn by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean during their Bolero routine when they won the Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo in 1984.
At the end of the match at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, which Argentina won 2-1, Maradona swapped shirts with Steve Hodge, a member of the England squad and former Forest star under legendary manager Brian Clough.
Now that shirt, which has previously been exhibited at the Preston Football Museum, is to return to Hodge’s home town.
Councillor Dave Trimble, the Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Customers, said: “It was a sickener at the time for all England fans but Maradona’s infamous Hand of God ‘goal’ is a part of World Cup history that will be talked about for years to come.
“Steve Hodge is Nottingham born and bred so it’s fantastic that he has chosen to bring Maradona’s shirt back to his home city.
“The Galleries of Justice was suggested as a possible venue for displaying the shirt seeing as the goal could be described as a crime against English football!
“But with thousands of visitors every year, Nottingham Castle is the ideal location.
“Hopefully Nottingham will be part of the World Cup’s future as one of the candidate host cities in England’s bid to stage the 2018 or 2022 tournament so it’s nice to have a little bit of the World Cup’s past here too.”
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