National Football Museum (Image: Marketing Manchester)

One of the UK’s most popular sporting attractions is the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. This is definitely one turnstile worth passing through, for both lovers of the beautiful game and those who just love sport.

Located in Manchester’s city centre, within the modernist “Urbis” building, visitors will find four floors of permanent and temporary exhibitions, dedicated to the birthplace of the modern game. Sports Tourism Media were lucky to have a tour of one of the world’s best sports museums, here’s what co-editor Ramy James Salameh had to say…

What can you see at the National Football Museum?

The museum showcases 2,500 items of memorabilia taking the visitor from the earliest origins of the game through to the present day. It also strives to reflect the social impact and importance of football. This is shown in artefacts and narratives relating to the Black Lives Matter movement, through to a pledge by the museum to redevelop its gallery spaces to increase representation of women in football by up to 50%. To coincide with the 2022 Uefa Women’s European Championships being held this summer in England, a new temporary exhibition titled Crossing The Line – the Story of Women’s Football will run from July 2022 for six months.

The Fifa World Football Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, may well be home to the current Fifa World Cup trophy, but England’s only national museum for football proudly puts on display the Jules Rimet trophy that Bobby Moore lifted at Wembley in 1966. Also on show is Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick ball from England’s 4-2 victory over West Germany. Other important items in the collection include the “Magna Carta” of football, the first published rules of the game from 1863.

Amongst the plethora of signed shirts, boots, cups, medals and thousands of emotional stories, the museum also has an interactive and family-friendly zone on level two. Here adults and children will even have the chance to take part in a penalty shoot-out game, where participants can score through the original Wembley football goalposts used during Euro 96.

Reviewer highlights

The oldest surviving FA Cup winner’s medal. It was awarded to a member of the winning Wanderers team in 1872.
The original Art of the Game painting, which famously features Eric Cantona in a reimagining of Piero della Francesca’s 15th century painting The Resurrection. Painted by Mancunian Michael Browne.
Denis Irwin’s Manchester United shirt which he wore during the 1999 Uefa Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
The warm-up shirt of Manchester City player Oleksandr Zinchenko, worn before the game in February 2022 against Everton, in support of Ukraine.
Lily Parr statue: the first statue of a female footballer in the UK. Parr was a star player for the Dick, Kerr’s Ladies team.

Reviewer’s top tip

Get online before your visit and make a list of items you want to view from the ‘Collections’ tab on the website. There are some 2,500 items on display at any one time, so doing a bit of planning will help you see exactly what you want.

Did you know?

Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” Argentina shirt was displayed in the museum from 2003 until it was sold at auction by its owner, ex-England player Steve Hodge, in May 2022. The shirt went on to sell for £7.14m, making a new auction record for a sports memorabilia item.

The key details

Address: National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, M4 3BG; nationalfootballmuseum.com
How to book: Book tickets and time slots via the museum’s official ticketing partner Quaytickets.com. Otherwise, just turn up and purchase your ticket at the door.
How much do tickets cost? Adult walk-up cost is £12 per ticket, booked online is £11. Children walk-up cost is £7 per ticket, booked online is £6. If you are a City of Manchester resident, entry is free.
Standard opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm (last admission 4pm).