EP. 403 | That Terry Butcher Episode: Maradona’s Hand Of God, Italia ’90 Stories & Bloodied Shirts
5/20/20261 hr 9 min
On this week’s episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, Pete, Chris, and Sids are joined by one of England’s toughest ever players… Terry Butcher.
From THAT iconic blood-soaked shirt to facing Diego Maradona at the height of his powers, Terry takes us right inside the chaos, passion, and brutality of football in the 80s and 90s.
The lads dive deep into Italia 90, the legendary England dressing room, Gazza stories, Bobby Robson’s management style, and why Terry believes modern football has “gone soft”. There’s also incredible insight into what it actually felt like playing against Maradona during the infamous Hand of God match in 1986 — including what happened when Terry confronted him afterwards.
Away from football, Terry opens up emotionally about his son Christopher, his battle with PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the powerful ITV documentary Invisible Wounds. It’s one of the most honest and moving conversations we’ve ever had on the podcast.
Plus: shirt-swapping disasters, Escape To Victory, Dwight Yorke in Australia, and why footballers should stop pulling their socks down.
Chumbawamba
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Be sure to watch Invisible Wounds, which will air on ITV and ITVX in June, ahead of England’s World Cup opener v Croatia on June 17th.
Combat2Coffee: https://www.combat2coffee.co.uk/
Combat Stress: https://combatstress.org.uk/
00:00 - Eurovision chat and Wembley FA Cup stories
02:04 - Chris and Sids wind Pete up about Wembley
03:55 - John Terry sends Pete a Ruud Gullit surprise video
05:26 - Terry Butcher joins the podcast
06:25 - Inside the legendary Italia 90 England camp
08:03 - Why England never expected to win Italia 90
09:24 - England training sessions were “harder than matches”
11:28 - Terry explains his mentality playing for England
13:23 - “The game’s gone soft” starts here
14:00 - The full story behind the bloodied shirt
15:34 - Why Terry refused to come off injured
17:28 - “Every header felt like a squelch”
18:20 - Terry reacts to fans dressing up as him
19:47 - Life at Rangers and Old Firm madness
22:46 - Terry relives the Hand of God match
24:21 - Hearing England scream “HANDBALL!” at Maradona
25:30 - Terry confronted Maradona after the game
26:40 - Was Maradona the greatest ever?
28:11 - What made Bobby Robson special
29:34 - Terry’s issues with modern footballers
30:40 - Can England finally win another World Cup?
31:33 - Finding out England call-ups on Ceefax
32:10 - Why Terry hates energy gels on the pitch
33:04 - Terry opens up about his son Christopher
35:13 - PTSD, grief, and the struggles veterans face
37:19 - How “Combat 2 Coffee” helps veterans talk
40:29 - Terry speaks honestly about grief and crying
42:38 - Listener questions begin
42:59 - Why Terry turned down Escape To Victory
44:11 - The only Argentina shirt Terry ever kept
44:41 - John Terry’s question: best centre-back partner?
46:04 - Managing Sydney FC and Dwight Yorke stories
48:07 - Highland derby chaos with Derek Adams
50:28 - Terry explains what wearing the England shirt means
51:04 - Terry’s final rant about modern football
51:47 - The lads reflect on Terry’s emotional interview
54:20 - End of Terry segment / football roundup begins
01:02:43 - Why FA Cup managers should wear suits again
01:06:10 - Listener story about referees and fancy dress
01:12:00 - Paddy Power predictions
01:28:11 - End
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPeter Crouch· Host0:00
Hello, and welcome to the Peter Crouch Podcast, uh, with me, Peter Crouch. Got, uh, Sids and, and Chris with me. Uh, Sid, you're in the big chair.
Chris Stark· Host0:06
I'm in the big chair. I mean, I'd rather be in your chair. You know, look at [laughing] look at that in front of you.
Peter Crouch· Host0:11
Yeah, apologies. I am, um, I am away just for a little bit. You know, we've, uh, we've... Ba-basically last week we d- we had Terry Butcher on the podcast. Uh, but I've had to come out here. We always re-re-record the Paddy Power stuff and the intro before afterwards, and, um, and that's what we're doing now. Uh, but- No, it's good.
Chris Stark· Host0:28
Pete, Pete, I quite like it because it's giving slight Eurovision vibes. It's like Pete's about to pile in with the results for whatever country he's in.
Peter Crouch· Host0:34
Yeah.
Chris Stark· Host0:35
[laughs] Speaking of which, just a quick, quick word on Eurovision. What was your thoughts? Are you, are you across kind of what happened there?
Peter Crouch· Host0:40
I didn't really, um... I'll give a fuck.
Chris Stark· Host0:44
[laughing] Well, look, just to fill you in, it was very low scoring. I think we scored one point at most. We're bottom of the table.
Peter Crouch· Host0:54
All right.
Chris Stark· Host0:55
I was trying to think, what is the perfect at the center Eurovision? I have it in my head, Fat Les at Eurovision next year doing a proper job of it. Thoughts?
Peter Crouch· Host1:05
My, my issue is, um, with, with Eurovision, it has been for quite some time, is we underestimate how much Europe hates us- [laughs] ... um, the rest of, of Europe. And I think our, um, points reflect, reflect the, the vision of, um, the rest of Europe towards the, the England and the UK.
Chris Stark· Host1:25
Mm-hmm. I hear what you're saying, but I do think we've got, f-for want of robbing a phrase