National Football Museum Brings new Pride of the Pitch Exhibition to Lancashire Archives in Preston

Preston's footballing icons will soon be celebrated at a new exhibtion in the city.

The National Football Museum is bringing its Pride of the Pitch Exhibition to Lancashire Archives in Bow Lane, which chronicles the city’s footballing greats from the ‘Invincibles’ team of the 1880s all the way to the mid 20th century, Dick, Kerr Ladies, and the legendary Sir Tom Finney.

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The exhibition is a key highlight of the National Football Museum’s 2024 Football Creates programme, bringing football and creativity together through co-curation and local engagement. CEO of the National Football Museum, Tim Desmond, said: “This is an exhibition we’re very pleased to have worked on in partnership with Lancashire Archives. Preston is a place that the Museum holds extremely close to our hearts, as does the wider football community, and it’s clear to see why with such a rich history in the game.”

What will it feature?

The exhibition, which opens tomorrow (March 21) is full of photographs and ephemera, alongside digital content, twlling a vivid story of pride in Preston. The exhibition will also feature bingo exhibition trails, drop-in craft sessions for families over the school holiday periods and a community net where visitors will be given the chance to write and share their best experiences of watching or playing football in Preston.

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Pride of the Pitch is located, developed and co-delivered in partnership with Lancashire Archives, with local experts in the history of Preston such as Gail Newsham, Michael Barrett from Preston North End Community and Education Trust (PNECET) and Lancashire Museums all contributing to its development. It draws on the Museum’s Football Heritage Collection housed at their Resource Centre in Preston.

Pride of the Pitch is scheduled to run until late June 2024. For more information go to https://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/