National Football Museum — Attraction in Manchester

The National Football Museum – A great place that tells the story of Football via art, stories, and objects

What is the National Football Museum about?

The National Football Museum is located in the heart of Manchester. It is a great place for die hard Football fans. They hold a series of exhibitions and displays that take place throughout the year with a changing programme of events.

It is inside the beautiful and modern Urbis building.

It consists of 3 floors.

Ground Floor – Pitch Gallery

First Floor – Match Gallery

Second Floor – Play Gallery, Interactive Games and Discovery Zone

Third Floor – Score Gallery

Exhibitions and Displays Visited

The Pitch Gallery

It certainly looked like a pitch as the carpet is green and looked like it was grass. A great touch. This floor is a great way to start your trip at the museum. It was great to see that both the Premier League and Women’s Super League trophies were on display. It was lovely having a photo with both of them. It was incredible that they still have George Best’s iconic Mini Cooper.

There was also an interesting art exhibition on Women in the game. It was empowering to see women from different backgrounds for whom football has shaped their lives in a positive way. It was great to see.

The Match Gallery

This was an interesting floor that looked at different aspects of football through art, photographs, videos, and more. It emphasised the importance of the Women’s game, Lily Parr, the FA Cup, racism, the building of stadiums, the England Men’s Football managers through the years and more. It was varied, informative and engaging.

Other highlights featured:

The oldest surviving FA Cup Trophy

The 1966 Jules Rimet trophy replica and match ball

The 180 Cinema Experience

The Play Gallery

This is the interactive floor of the museum. It highlighted how the game has influenced on our culture. There were a number of games in which you can test your skills with the ball..

This floor was entertaining especially when doing the quiz that was done via a screen. I really enjoyed that. In addition I had a short period kicking the ball. That was fun too.

The games that are on offer include:

Penalty Shootout (payment required)

Pass Master

Shot Stopper

The Discovery Zone for little footie fans

Entry and Admission

You are required to book a time slotted ticket and pay for it online. Once purchased it is then free for 12 months and you can visit as many times during that period.

If you reside in the City of Manchester then it is free for you.

If you have a disability then a free carer can come with you on your visit.

For ticket prices then check out the Football Museum website for further details.

Facilities

There is a café that serves a selection of sandwiches and cakes alongside hot and cold drinks. Alternatively there are cafes nearby too.

Toilets are on site.

Access

There is a circular rotating door in order to enter the museum building and all floors are accessible via stairs or lifts.

Parking

Parking is available at Q-Park which is a multi-storey car park where payment is required even with a Blue Badge. Alternatively there is pay and display parking where payment is needed too. It is reasonably priced.

If you want to learn about the history of the game in an engaging, entertaining and informative way then the National Football Museum is the...

This place has lost much of its purpose, highlighting diversity issues etc. You walk in and the first hall is all about black footballers, along with free standing panels of people I have never heard of, and gushing about women wearing the hijab. I can't say I have ever seen that apart from womens world cup! Way way way too much prominence given to that. My 11 year old was straight past it too. So effectively the ground floor was a walk through for us.

The first floor was better with some good interactive stuff, but after the initial PNE/Bolton beginnings it did morph into the big clubs dominating most things. The women's football and Lily Park was interesting though, for me, but not for the kid.

World cup 66 was done to death as per usual, but was to be expected. However it was the start of the Lineker trail. He was all over the place, in interviews, interactive stuff. If you dont like him it gets monotonous. However that said the football autocue commentator section was very very good, everyone loved that. Only improvement would be to separate the recording and playback areas, everyone is screaming over each other. its also right next to the comedy football clips (excellent btw) so it's a noisy environment that area.

The interactive stuff was generally pretty good, exempt the penalty kicks area which was out of action - disappointing! The photo booth with the different trophy cups was enjoyable, if somewhat difficult for little ones to get it right. KIds got an activity book which they handed in to get a sticker collection book (women only) which was ok.

Finally if you are a male and are in need of a free tampon or two, there is a choice for you in the gents toilets?! (see picture) I nearly walked out thinking I had entered the wrong toilet or was in a unisex one I asked one of the helpful staff why, and they agreed and said it was crazy. That sort of shows me the ideology of those running the attraction and hence the prominence of all the diversity stands, Shame really as it ruins it, reducing it to one main and secondary floor. Ticket was £12 for a senior adult and £8 for a child that lasts a year for repeat visits. You can do the online ticket at the door and save yourself a couple of quid, just make sure you have autofill with personal details enabled on your phone as it does ask for a LOT of information. I wouldn't go back unless with another child, but the little one...

I took my son at the start of the summer holidays and we returned today. We went on the guided tour at 11am and it was absolutely worth going for on it's own. Our tour guide, James, was incredibly knowledgeable, engaging and passionate about football. This was, by no means, a scripted museum tour. James shared his memories of certain matches he remembered watching, his feelings at the time and his experiences of being a football fan.

My son and I both learnt a lot of things about the beautiful game. It was brilliant.

After the tour, we went for dinner in the Dugout cafe. Really good food and incredibly good value for money (especially when you consider you're in the centre of Manchester).

Back into the museum to test out our tekkers in the Play Gallery. We didn't pay to do the Penalty Shootout this time (although it is definitely worth doing if you haven't been before) but there were plenty of other ways to test our skills. The goalkeeper reaction game and the "tip it over the bar" game were good fun. The "PassMaster Plus" and the "One Two" box are worth visiting over and over, if only to beat your PB. There is a new box too, the "Skill Zone", where you can work on your kick ups and other skills. My son learnt how to do the Elastico and he was very pleased with himself.

If you have any interest in football at all, the National Football Museum is a good place to visit. If you're a football fan, it's a must! And the fact that you get a year's "season pass" when you pay for your first visit just makes it even better. We are certain to go back, time and time again. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

(PS. I haven't added photos because you really need to see it for...