Triumph in austerity? The National Football Museum for England, 2008 to 2017

Abstract

There are an increasing number of football museums around the world, particularly club museums, and also some national football museums, which the author has explored in a previous paper. The most significant football museum in the world is the National Football Museum for England, the birthplace of the modern game of football, Association football. This is a major new museum, a major new cultural institution, and the leading sports museum in England. It is also the leading national football museum in the world, with the largest and most significant collections of football’s heritage, including the FIFA Collection. A previous paper by the author considered the foundation of the National Football Museum and its development to 2008. This paper explores the development of the Museum and its growing cultural significance, from 2008 to 2017. It evaluates the increasing success of the Museum, despite the policy of austerity in public funding in the UK for most of this period.