There’s no doubt that when it comes to performances on the pitch, Peter Shilton is one of England’s football legends.
The iconic goalkeeper made 125 appearances for the Three Lions over 20 years, making his debut in 1970, four years after England claimed their only World Cup win. He would play his last game for England at Italia 90 during the World Cup third-placed playoff, which Sir Bobby Robson’s side lost 2-1 to hosts Italy, after Shilton failed to get a hand on a single penalty in the semi-final shootout defeat to West Germany.
Famously, he was also the goalkeeper who conceded Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal for Argentina at the World Cup in 1986, as the 6ft stopper was out-jumped by the 5ft 5in cheat. And off the pitch, Shilton – who turns 74 today (September 18) – had plenty going on too. Including an incident in 1980, when he was caught in a car with a married woman who wasn’t his wife, which ended up with him crashing the vehicle into a lamppost.
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In September 1970, just two months before his England debut against East Germany that November, Shilton had married his first wife Sue Flitcroft. However, a decade later he was arrested for drink driving after having been caught red handed with a mystery woman, named Tina.
The pair had gone out for a meal, before they decided to take a trip at 5am, down a country lane, where they were discovered partially clothed, in a car by Tina’s husband, Colin. Shocked, Shilton hurriedly attempted to drive away from the scene, only to end up crashing into a lamppost.
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(Image: Mirrorpix)
Shilton, who admitted “taking a lady for a meal”, was subsequently arrested for drink-driving, and handed a fine of £350, as well as being banned from driving for 15 months. He would have to then endure months of taunting from football fans across the country, who chanted: “Shilton, Shilton, where’s your wife?”
In 2011, it was announced he and Sue, now 72, had separated after 40 years of marriage. Then in March 2013, Shilton was banned for 20 months from driving again after being found to have been drunk behind the wheel. He was also ordered to pay a fine of £1,020.
(Image: Planet Photo)
(Image: Getty Images)
Shilton remarried in December 2016 to his second wife, jazz singer Stephanie Hayward, 55, whom he credits with helping him beat a 45-year gambling addiction.
Speaking back in 2021 about how he knew he needed to beat his gambling addiction, Shilton said: “I went upstairs and phoned an agent to ask for money for a job I’d already done [to fund his addiction]. He said ‘I’ll pay you early Peter’.
“And as I looked round, Steph was stood there and I could see her face. And I knew that I think I was going to lose her. I knew deep down I needed a better life. Since that moment, I go past a betting shop now, and I go a bit nausea. I know what that means. To me, it would never ever return.”