That’s a right balls-up, Reidy!

ENGLAND STAR’S ‘HAND 0F GOD’ £3M MISS

BY

PETER REID wishes he had displayed the same cool vision as the Tunisian referee and England team-mate Steve Hodge as tempers flared in the aftermath of Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ World Cup game.

As scuffles between some of the England and Argentina players erupted in the 1986 quarter-final in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, Hodge calmly swapped shirts with Maradona, while referee Ali Bin Nasser went off with the match ball.

Earlier this year, former Nottingham Forest midfielder Hodge auctioned off the shirt for £7.1million and next month Bin Nasser is predicted to pocket more than £3m after inviting bids for the ball.

Reid was one of the five players Maradona dribbled past for Argentina’s second strike – dubbed ‘Goal of the Century’ – in their 2-1 victory.

Of the ref, Reid said: “He grabbed the ball and he’s going to make a few quid from it. That’s life.”

It goes under the hammer in London on November 16 and prospective buyers can register their bids online from Friday.

Reid admits the way England were eliminated still hurts – even 36 years later.

“It was a massive blow and, in many ways, the ‘Hand of God’ goal – when Maradona lifted the ball over Peter Shilton with his hand – is more iconic than his second goal,” he added.

“Of course, I still feel aggrieved because you still wonder, if that first goal had been disallowed, would we have gone on to win the game?”

Reid was among the posse of irate players who tore after Bin

Nasser imploring him to change his mind over the goal.

“He dropped a massive clanger and refused to listen to our complaints,” said Reid. “Where I was concerned, he obviously didn’t understand Scouse! It was obvious he wasn’t going to reverse his decision.”

The Everton legend finds it hard to believe that the match ball could now be sold for £3m. He has only just got over the shock of Hodge’s Maradona shirt fetching in excess of £7m.

“I just went skulking down the tunnel after the final whistle, snarling at what had happened to us. Terry Butcher was looking to batter everyone because some of the Argentina players were chanting about the Falklands War. It was going off big style,” Reid recalled.

“But cool as you like, Steve Hodge went off to the changing room with Maradona’s shirt. Hodgy was my room-mate. Later that evening, I’m lying in bed when he lifted up Maradona’s shirt and shouted out, ‘What do you think of that?’.”

Reid was in London in May when Hodge decided to cash in.

He said: “Sotheby’s, the auctioneers, was just down the road from where I was staying, so I took a look at the shirt before going off for a drink. I later found what it had been sold for. Unbelievable! And I’m thinking I could have had that shirt, but fair play to Hodgy.”

Ironically, defender Butcher, when he heard Hodge had swapped shirts, claimed that he was so upset with Maradona that “I wouldn’t have even cleaned my car with it”.

Safe to say, he will not be happy with the man who did not spot the Maradona blatant handb all, making millions from the match ball.

Graham Budd, chairman of Graham Budd auctioneers, who are staging the sale, said: “With the history surrounding the ball, we are expecting this lot to be hugely popular when it comes up for auction.”

Renowned Labour supporter Reid smiled: “And you can count me out as far as the bidding goes. I’m not going to be dubbed a champagne socialist!”