JOHN TERRY raised almost £300,000 for children’s charities by auctioning iconic shirts worn by Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry when they faced him.
And Argentine legend Messi’s jersey – which fetched $183,000 (£132,292) – became the fourth most expensive football shirt ever sold.
It easily beat the £91,750 paid for hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst’s shirt from the 4-2 1966 World Cup Final win over West Germany.
American auction house Goldin sold off prized possessions put up for sale by 45-year-old Terry.
Messi’s orange Barcelona away shirt – featuring the charity UNICEF’s logo – from a 2006 Champions League group 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, was the biggest hit.
Ronaldo’s Manchester United red jersey, from the 2-1 Champion League defeat in west London, went for $115,900 (£83,785).
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It features an inscription from the Portuguese superstar to Terry, written on the No. 7 on the back of his shirt.
French ace Thierry Henry’s shirt, worn when he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at Highbury in October 2003 (The Invincibles season) was snapped up for $93,820 (£67,823).
Henry signed the jersey with the message: “To John keep up the good work.”
Terry spoke about the Messi shirt’s importance on his Instagram page before the auction.
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“This is a very special shirt, it is from the great and one and only Lionel Messi, when he played at Stamford Bridge.
“So the orange kit – that they didn’t wear too often – so again very special. But because I was a defender and he was an attacker we were very close to each other throughout the whole game.
“So when there was a minute or two minutes to go I would get a little bit closer to him just so I could so I could get his shirt after the game.”
The fourth highest earner in the auction was a replica FA Cup presented to Terry after the Blues won the trophy in 2007, beating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley. It went for $26,840 (£19,390).
One of the least successful offerings, though, was a match issued – rather than stated worn – signed Harry Kane Tottenham shirt from 2020-21 season, when the striker won the Premier League Golden Boot.
It sold for just $1,098 (£793) – the least money raised from the 42 jerseys sold at the auction. Goldin successfully auctioned off 59 lots raising a total of around £500,000.
The John Terry Foundation, which was registered in August 2024 has been supporting the children’s charities Rays of Sunshine and Make-A-Wish UK.
But it aims to do more good work stating it is: “A philanthropic grant-making foundation supporting a wide range of charities and community groups across the UK.
“The Foundation’s aim is to help children, their families and wider communities at a time of need promote inclusion, create opportunity and enhance lives.”
The foundation says its aim is to help “children /young people, the elderly/old people, people with disabilities, other charities or voluntary bodies, the general public/mankind” by making grants to individuals or organisations in England and Wales.
The New Jersey-based Goldin is currently featuring in a documentary series called ‘King of Collectibles: The Golden Touch’ on Netflix – and the auction will feature and the build-up to it is to feature in a future episode. It is in its third series.
A camera crew visited Terry’s home in Surrey and filmed Goldin picking out items for the auction.
Former England star Terry was not at the actual auction as he is currently in Thailand, where he will be playing in the Reignwood Icons of Football golf tournament.
It is a Ryder Cup-style team event that sees former footballers compete at golf for Team England vs Team World. Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs, Aaron Ramsey, Jimmy Bullard and Joe Hart also feature.
