National Football Museum in Preston closing at end of month

Following a meeting yesterday between the Lancashire County Council consortium, Manchester City Council and the Trustees of the National Football Museum (NFM), the public galleries in Preston will close as planned on 30 April.

Despite the best efforts of all parties the NFM was unable to meet Lancashire County Council’s requirements to join them in the partnership. However, the door remains open to further discussions on the development of a new NFM in Preston once the Manchester move has been completed.

The National Football Collection and the Museum’s international research facilities will remain in the present site in Preston.

While the move will result in the unfortunate redundancy of eight valued members of staff, 12 others will be part of the NFM team that will develop the exciting new galleries at Urbis in Manchester in partnership with Manchester City Council. The new Museum is due to open in autumn 2011.

Chairman of the Trustees of the National Football Museum, Paul Dermody, said: “We are obviously disappointed that negotiations with Lancashire County Council have reached an end. We had hoped to be able to meet their requirements so they could work with us in partnership. It is sad that our public galleries in Preston will close after so many people have enjoyed the facilities there. But we now have to focus on the exciting future that the National Football Museum will develop in Manchester that will benefit even more people and safeguard the collections long-term.”

Tags: Lancashire County Council, Manchester Attractions, Manchester City Council, National Football Museum, Preston Attractions, Urbis