Moore and the NFM's chairman of trustees, Paul Dermody, approached executives at Manchester City Council and had two meetings earlier this year to discuss the development of an attraction in Manchester.
Moore said that he had outlined a 'vague vision' and had planned a further meeting, but that since then the plans had been shelved indefinitely. Funding for the plans had not been discussed, he said.
A spokesman for Manchester City Council said: 'There are no plans at present to have a world football museum in Manchester. It was a "blue skies" discussion and it has been filed. Nothing more has come out of it.'
Reports of the plan were greeted with alarm by staff at the NFM and members of Preston City Council. A source close to the museum said: 'The idea of a world football museum, a mere 40 minutes away from the NFM in Preston, would seriously affect visitor numbers to the museum.
'Planning to place such a competitor so near to the NFM shows a frightening lack of respect not only for the staff at the NFM, who have contributed so much to the museum and have remained loyal through particularly difficult times, but also for Preston City Council, which has backed the museum with financial and political support.'
Veronica Afrin, the executive member for regeneration, community and leisure at Preston City Council, said: 'Clearly, the National Football Museum is an important attraction to Preston and we would not want the museum to do anything that would undermine this.'
Moore defended the plan, saying: 'If the NFM succeeded in opening another branch, this would bring more visitors to Preston and would complement what we do here. We would never do something that would take visitors away from the museum. The collections and the headquarters would always remain in Preston.'
Moore added that other cities had approached the museum with a view to hosting a second site, but that nothing had come of these talks. He declined to say which cities, although it is thought that Liverpool and London have both been involved in discussions about hosting a sister site. Moore said the NFM was not in talks with any other cities at the moment.
Disquiet at the museum has led staff to approach Prospect, the trade union, which lodged a request for recognition with the board of trustees at the museum last month. Jez Stewart, a negotiations officer at Prospect, said that membership of the union was 'around 50 per cent and rising'.
He added that he hoped that the museum would voluntarily recognise the union, but that a membership of more than 50 per cent of staff meant that, if necessary, the Central Arbitration Committee, an independent body that adjudicates on trade union recognition, could force the museum to comply.
Moore said that he had received the request, and that a decision would be made 'in the next couple of weeks'.
Patrick Steel
Moore said that he had outlined a 'vague vision' and had planned a further meeting, but that since then the plans had been shelved indefinitely. Funding for the plans had not been discussed, he said.
A spokesman for Manchester City Council said: 'There are no plans at present to have a world football museum in Manchester. It was a "blue skies" discussion and it has been filed. Nothing more has come out of it.'
Reports of the plan were greeted with alarm by staff at the NFM and members of Preston City Council. A source close to the museum said: 'The idea of a world football museum, a mere 40 minutes away from the NFM in Preston, would seriously affect visitor numbers to the museum.
'Planning to place such a competitor so near to the NFM shows a frightening lack of respect not only for the staff at the NFM, who have contributed so much to the museum and have remained loyal through particularly difficult times, but also for Preston City Council, which has backed the museum with financial and political support.'
Veronica Afrin, the executive member for regeneration, community and leisure at Preston City Council, said: 'Clearly, the National Football Museum is an important attraction to Preston and we would not want the museum to do anything that would undermine this.'
Moore defended the plan, saying: 'If the NFM succeeded in opening another branch, this would bring more visitors to Preston and would complement what we do here. We would never do something that would take visitors away from the museum. The collections and the headquarters would always remain in Preston.'
Moore added that other cities had approached the museum with a view to hosting a second site, but that nothing had come of these talks. He declined to say which cities, although it is thought that Liverpool and London have both been involved in discussions about hosting a sister site. Moore said the NFM was not in talks with any other cities at the moment.
Disquiet at the museum has led staff to approach Prospect, the trade union, which lodged a request for recognition with the board of trustees at the museum last month. Jez Stewart, a negotiations officer at Prospect, said that membership of the union was 'around 50 per cent and rising'.
He added that he hoped that the museum would voluntarily recognise the union, but that a membership of more than 50 per cent of staff meant that, if necessary, the Central Arbitration Committee, an independent body that adjudicates on trade union recognition, could force the museum to comply.
Moore said that he had received the request, and that a decision would be made 'in the next couple of weeks'.
Patrick Steel
