The Players Foundation partners with the National Football Museum

The National Football Museum in Manchester today announced a new collaboration with The Players Foundation, including the co-curation of a number of joint projects.  As an independent charity, the Foundation offers support to current and former professional footballers, and also owns a unique array of football memorabilia.

As part of the new agreement, the museum will house and exhibit The Players Foundation Collection. It consists of 521 items, each of which gives an insight into the history of the beautiful game. The heritage collection comprises a variety of items, ranging from artworks and medals, shirts, programmes and caps, and extremely rare photographs.

On behalf of the charity, the museum’s cataloguing team has already completed a comprehensive review of the collection to ensure every item is digitised and featured on the collections management database.

Future plans also include the two organisations working together on a new exhibition for next spring, with further details to be announced over the coming months.

Tim Desmond, Chief Executive of the National Football Museum, welcomed the Foundation’s involvement:

‘I’d like to pass on our huge thanks to The Players Foundation for making this incredible collection accessible for many more people to enjoy, and for enabling the National Football Museum to harness the power of the beautiful game through objects, stories and memories. It’s absolutely vital that this very special collection is preserved for future generations, and we’re delighted to be playing a crucial role in that.’

Stephen Claus, Chief Executive of The Players Foundation, said: ‘We are thrilled that The National Football Museum is housing the Foundation’s remarkable collection of football memorabilia. We look forward to ensuring our heritage collection is available for the educational benefit of both our beneficiaries and the wider public. We’re also excited at the prospect of collaborating with the museum on a number of future joint projects.’