The National Football Museum is delighted to be launching a brand new exhibition on Friday 22 March at Lancashire Archives in Preston, dubbed ‘Pride of the Pitch’.
Pride of the Pitch chronicles Preston’s footballing Icons from the ‘Invincibles’ team of the 1880s all the way to the mid twentieth century, Dick, Kerr Ladies, and the legendary Sir Tom Finney.
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.”
“As part of our Football Creates programme, we’ve made it our mission to encourage creativity and community engagement through our work, and with the local area so imperative in the creation and ongoing content of this exhibition, we can’t wait for the doors to open.”
As Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), the Pride of the Pitch draws on the Museum’s Football Heritage Collection housed at their Resource Centre in Preston, enabling local communities to engage with objects and their stories at Lancashire Archives and through outreach events and artist workshops.
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.
The exhibition is full of photographs and ephemera, alongside digital content to tell 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.