Trustees of the National Football Museum have agreed a controversial move from its home at Preston North End's Deepdale stadium to Urbis in Manchester.
The decision comes despite opposition from staff and locals in Manchester and Preston. More than 900 people joined the Keep Our Urbis group on Facebook, while more than 3,500 signed a petition on the prime minister's website to keep the museum in Preston.
Trustees said they had been forced to make the move because of a financial shortfall. Manchester City Council has promised £2m annually in revenue funding to the museum, and to underwrite capital costs that are expected to be up to £8m.
The museum's director, Kevin Moore, said: "The plan is to create the National Football Museum, with new state-of-the-art displays, in Urbis. The collections will remain in storage in Preston when not on display." He added that the trustees wanted to keep the museum open in Preston, but there wasn't the funding to do so.
A consortium of Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council and the University of Central Lancashire had offered £400,000 to keep the main site of the museum in Preston, as well as money to refresh the displays.
Bryan Gray, the founding chairman of the museum, described it as "a deal to die for" and added that the trustees were "seriously misguided" to reject it.
Ken Hudson, leader of Preston City Council, said the decision was a "slap in the face to the people of Preston".
He said: "If they want to move the whole museum to Manchester, so Preston just becomes a country cousin, then that puts the deal in question."
Hudson added that the trustees were naive if they thought Preston council would "babysit" the museum until it moved to Urbis.
Urbis, which gets a £2m subsidy from Manchester City Council, will close as a temporary exhibition venue in March. Vaughan Allen, chief executive of Urbis, said he was glad a decision had finally been made.
"We hope to be working on content," he said. "Part of the new National Football Museum will be a temporary exhibition programme, and what we do well is popular culture. But there will be some things that we do now that don't fit, and we are in the early stages of looking for a new venue in Manchester."
Redundancies are expected at both venues. Jez Stewart, a negotiations officer for the Prospect union, which represents staff at the National Football Museum, said he was disappointed by the decision. "We are seeking a meeting with management to discuss the implications," he said. "The fight to save jobs starts now."
A report for Manchester City Council anticipated that the football museum would attract up to 400,000 visitors a year. Last year, Urbis welcomed 260,000 visitors, and the National Football Museum 100,000.
The decision comes despite opposition from staff and locals in Manchester and Preston. More than 900 people joined the Keep Our Urbis group on Facebook, while more than 3,500 signed a petition on the prime minister's website to keep the museum in Preston.
Trustees said they had been forced to make the move because of a financial shortfall. Manchester City Council has promised £2m annually in revenue funding to the museum, and to underwrite capital costs that are expected to be up to £8m.
The museum's director, Kevin Moore, said: "The plan is to create the National Football Museum, with new state-of-the-art displays, in Urbis. The collections will remain in storage in Preston when not on display." He added that the trustees wanted to keep the museum open in Preston, but there wasn't the funding to do so.
A consortium of Lancashire County Council, Preston City Council and the University of Central Lancashire had offered £400,000 to keep the main site of the museum in Preston, as well as money to refresh the displays.
Bryan Gray, the founding chairman of the museum, described it as "a deal to die for" and added that the trustees were "seriously misguided" to reject it.
Ken Hudson, leader of Preston City Council, said the decision was a "slap in the face to the people of Preston".
He said: "If they want to move the whole museum to Manchester, so Preston just becomes a country cousin, then that puts the deal in question."
Hudson added that the trustees were naive if they thought Preston council would "babysit" the museum until it moved to Urbis.
Urbis, which gets a £2m subsidy from Manchester City Council, will close as a temporary exhibition venue in March. Vaughan Allen, chief executive of Urbis, said he was glad a decision had finally been made.
"We hope to be working on content," he said. "Part of the new National Football Museum will be a temporary exhibition programme, and what we do well is popular culture. But there will be some things that we do now that don't fit, and we are in the early stages of looking for a new venue in Manchester."
Redundancies are expected at both venues. Jez Stewart, a negotiations officer for the Prospect union, which represents staff at the National Football Museum, said he was disappointed by the decision. "We are seeking a meeting with management to discuss the implications," he said. "The fight to save jobs starts now."
A report for Manchester City Council anticipated that the football museum would attract up to 400,000 visitors a year. Last year, Urbis welcomed 260,000 visitors, and the National Football Museum 100,000.
