Former England captain Terry Butcher has revealed what happened to his iconic blood-stained shirt from the 1990 World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Butcher explained that his wife Rita washed both jerseys he wore during the match, and one was sold for charity while the other is on loan to the Scottish Football Museum.
Blood-Stained History
During the match on September 6, 1989, in Stockholm, Butcher suffered a head injury but insisted on continuing to play, resulting in his white shirt turning red. He recalled: "We binned the bandages but I still get people asking, even today, if I kept them. But no, they were soaked in blood, we threw those away. But I also had two jerseys in my bag to take back to Scotland and both of those were covered in blood too. They had to be washed, though. I think they possible would have been a bit of a biohazard!"
Butcher added: "Rita, my wife washed them. We sold one for charity and raised a lot of money and we loaned the second one to the Scottish Football Museum, so people can go and see that one. We got two shirts - one for each half." He assured fans that the shirts are no longer stained: "It's not stained now though, it's well washed, I can assure you. My wife did an excellent job."
Domino's Shirtiette Collaboration
Now, Butcher has teamed up with Domino's Pizza to recreate his blood-stained look using pizza sauce, alongside Scotland legend Gary McAllister. Domino's has created the 'Shirtiette' – a football shirt made from serviette material designed for fans to wear food and drink stains with pride. The pizza brand is giving the shirts away free to England and Scotland fans, so they can embrace spills during goal celebrations, penalty misses, or VAR rage.
Butcher said: "I've had my fair share of big red spills on shirts, so I know how messy football can be. The Shirtiette is exactly what any real fan needs when watching at home, with a pizza slice in one hand and a dip pot in the other."
