England was the birthplace of the modern professional game of football, the world's most popular sport. The National Football Museum collects, preserves and interprets this unique heritage for the public benefit. The Museum has a long-term mission, a responsibility to both the present and future generations. Football is the people's game. The Museum has a key role to play in social inclusion, widening the audiences for museums and their services.

The National Football Museum holds the world's finest collections of historic football artefacts and archives, including the FIFA Museum Collection.

The National Football Museum opened to the public in February 2001. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) provided £9.3 million of the total initial funding of £15 million required to create the Museum.

Charitable Status
The National Football Museum is a registered charity, governed by a board of independent trustees. The Board comprises a chair and trustees drawn from the museums and heritage sector, football bodies, the business community and key stakeholders.

Football's Coming Home
There could be no more appropriate location for the Museum than Deepdale Stadium, the home of Preston North End FC, which is the oldest football league ground in the world. Preston has been playing at the same ground since 1878, longer than any other football league club. (The Museum is run entirely independently from the fotoball club.)

October 2006 

Football memorabilia has been recovered by police investigating burglaries at the homes of several Liverpool Football Club players.

The homes of Peter Crouch, new Danish defender Daniel Agger, goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and on-loan striker Sinama Pongolle were targeted.

Four men in their early 20s were arrested when police search a house in the Tuebrook area on Tuesday night.

They are to be questioned on three separate burglary related charges.

Crouch's mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was burgled last Wednesday while he was playing in a European Champions' League match against Galatasary at Anfield.

The immaculate collection.

Mick's story begins in North London, where he lived before swapping the UK for Sweden several years ago.

An avid Hammer since an early age, Mick has collected Hammers shirts for over 25 years - and now boasts undoubtedly the biggest collection you're ever likely to see.

The collection now weighs in at over 250 strong, and Mick has very kindly photographed each and every shirt in order that KUMB may keep a copy of the whole collection online for your viewing pleasure.

"The collection includes one of each replica, home, away or third shirts the club has ever sold," says Mick.

"It started with a shirt made for the West Ham shop back in the late 60's by Umbro - although the team has never worn Umbro shirts!

"At the time the Hammers wore Bukta shirts, but Bukta were reluctant to make a replica shirt as they thought the idea would never take off!

The sale of Gordon Banks's 1966 World Cup winners medal for £124,750 illustrates once more that sports memorabilia is big business.

Indeed, the six items of the Banks's collection sold at Christie's auction house in London on Thursday realised more than £171,690. Christie's football memorabilia specialist David Convery was particularly pleased with the sale of the World Cup medal.

"It's a world record for any football medal sold at any football auction throughout the world."

David Convery explained the history of Christie's football sales.

An area to bear in mind is "MATCH WORN shirts for sale". Be careful as some shirts being sold over the internet are far east copies made up to relevant match specifications so as to pass off as match worn. Match worn is when a shirt has been worn by player in a professional football game. To identify a matchworn shirt the shirt may have bobbles, small tears, dirty or colour run due to washing.

Shirt may have been worn in several football matches and not just one - a good indication is often football shirts are machine washed together so sometimes particulary clubs such as Aston Villa, West Ham United, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City, Chelsea, Manchester United because the players name and players squad number are in white felt (Depending on season and whether home/away)the darker colour from shirt will dye the white felt on number/name so gives the felt a discolour. This would be same if your missus washed your white socks with a red t-shirt. Shirts are usually mass laundry by majority of football clubs. Certain clubs have shirts dry laundry these are the big money clubs where players like to have soft perfumed smelling shirts!!

Hungarian and Real Madrid legend Ferenc Puskas, who is desperately ill in a Budapest hospital with a form of Alzheimer's disease, was forced to sell off his medals, including the golden boot he was awarded to commemorate his amazing international scoring record, at Bonhams, in London, to help pay for his treatment.


One of the world's greatest footballers sold his memorabilia for £85,000 at auction to help in his battle with terminal illness. The collection of Puskas memorabilia was bought privately, before it was due for sale at Bonhams Auction House in Chester

Monday, 05 December 2005.

Yesterday saw a milestone moment in the construction of the new Wembley Stadium as a space-age time capsule - packed full of poignant items - was buried underneath the centre spot.

Prominent Wembley figures who took part in the ceremony included Tottenham Hotspur and England player Jermain Defoe, FA head of football development Sir Trevor Brooking, stadium architect Lord Norman Foster, four-time Olympian and IOC member Dame Mary Glen Haig plus WNSL chief executive Michael Cunnah.

Sunday July 23, 2006

Thieves have stolen England caps and a World Cup shirt in a haul from Wayne Rooney's parents' house in Liverpool.

The Manchester United star's family home in Sandfield Park was targeted between 5pm and 11.20pm Saturday night.

Merseyside police are now hunting the culprits after the upstairs window was forced and jewellery and memorabilia - also including a cup final football shirt and the Young Sports Personality of the Year trophy 2002 - was stolen.