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World Cup show and tell: National Football Museum offers fans chance to relive glory days of historic matches

Manchester footy fans are not only getting the chance to enjoy every thrilling goal live from Brazil, but also relive the glory days of World Cups from days gone by at the National Football Museum.

The museum is giving fans the chance to become curators and bring along their own World Cup memorabilia to form ‘personal museums’. 

They have been set up as part of the exhibition Game Changers: 125 Years of The Football League in conjunction with the International Centre for Sports History at De Montfort University and artists Soup Collective.

Soup Collective will scan the memorabilia, conduct interviews, make short videos and provide owners with 3D print version of their artefacts.

Soup Collective’s Mark Thomas said he was looking forward to seeing what unusual artefacts the people of Manchester can unearth for the exhibition.


GOLDEN BALL(S): Beckham scored winning penalty in 2002 

He said: “It would be interesting to see things from people that have travelled to the more obscure locations the World Cup has been hosted in.

“Anyone is welcome to come alone and we will help them with the scanning and animation process.”

The National Football Museum already holds the largest collection of World Cup memorabilia on earth which includes the Jules Rimet Trophy, the 1966 World Cup Final ball and the collar of Pickles the dog who famously recovered the stolen World Cup trophy in early 1966. 

Iconic Brazilian shirts worn by Pelé and Rivelino are also on display as well as Diego Maradona’s infamous blue ‘Hand of God’ shirt.


ICONIC: Vibrant Pelé football shirt

World Cup memorabilia is big business in 2014.  Any items linked to Pele or Diego Maradona will inevitably hold a strong value while smaller items such as a Mexico 1970 key ring or a 12cm wooden World Cup Willie mascot will sell for approximately £70 on eBay.

Do you have any interesting World Cup memorabilia you’d like to tell us about?  A World Cup Final Programme perhaps? A famous shirt or completed Panini Sticker book? If you do, get in touch here and tell us all about it.

The exhibition will run until June 19.

Pictures courtesy of National Football Museum, with thanks

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