A delegation from Brazil carrying out research in advance of the country’s hosting of the World Cup in 2014 were among those who attended the unveiling of the National Football Museum in Manchester yesterday.
The new £8.5m museum, which opened to the public today, is housed in a building that was formerly home to Urbis, a museum of urban and popular culture that was controversially forced to close in 2010 to make way for the football museum’s relocation from Preston.
The six-strong delegation from Brazil who visited the museum included Clara Azevedo, the director of content at Museu do Futebol (Brazil’s national football museum) in Sao Paolo.
“The purpose of the trip was to gain an understanding of sports museums in the UK in advance of the World Cup in 2014, and specifically to develop a partnership with the national football museums for loans and exchange of exhibitions and staff,” said Azevedo.
Museu do Futebol is planning exhibitions in all the World Cup host cities in Brazil in 2014 and is also working on an oral history project to record interviews with Brazilian players who have played in World Cup matches since 1954.
Azevedo said that many local authorities in Brazil are keen to develop football museums but only on a short-term basis for the World Cup. Her organisation is trying to encourage them to take a longer view.
The Brazilian delegation’s trip was organised by the British Council, which is planning to invite Kevin Moore, the director of Manchester’s National Football Museum, to Brazil next year to research his museum’s exhibition on Brazilian football planned for 2014.
Funding for the National Football Museum in Manchester came principally from Manchester City Council, with an additional grant of £3.85m from the European Regional Development Fund.
The museum covers three floors within the building, with the atrium space dedicated to the museum’s Hall of Fame. It features a range of artefacts from the museum’s collection of more than 140,000 objects, works of art and photographs.
The new £8.5m museum, which opened to the public today, is housed in a building that was formerly home to Urbis, a museum of urban and popular culture that was controversially forced to close in 2010 to make way for the football museum’s relocation from Preston.
The six-strong delegation from Brazil who visited the museum included Clara Azevedo, the director of content at Museu do Futebol (Brazil’s national football museum) in Sao Paolo.
“The purpose of the trip was to gain an understanding of sports museums in the UK in advance of the World Cup in 2014, and specifically to develop a partnership with the national football museums for loans and exchange of exhibitions and staff,” said Azevedo.
Museu do Futebol is planning exhibitions in all the World Cup host cities in Brazil in 2014 and is also working on an oral history project to record interviews with Brazilian players who have played in World Cup matches since 1954.
Azevedo said that many local authorities in Brazil are keen to develop football museums but only on a short-term basis for the World Cup. Her organisation is trying to encourage them to take a longer view.
The Brazilian delegation’s trip was organised by the British Council, which is planning to invite Kevin Moore, the director of Manchester’s National Football Museum, to Brazil next year to research his museum’s exhibition on Brazilian football planned for 2014.
Funding for the National Football Museum in Manchester came principally from Manchester City Council, with an additional grant of £3.85m from the European Regional Development Fund.
The museum covers three floors within the building, with the atrium space dedicated to the museum’s Hall of Fame. It features a range of artefacts from the museum’s collection of more than 140,000 objects, works of art and photographs.