National Football Museum acquires super league protest T-shirt

The National Football Museum in Manchester has acquired a T-shirt worn by a Leeds United player in protest at the plans to create a European Super League (ESL).

Leeds players wore the "Earn It/Football Is For the Fans" T-shirts during the warm-up for their match against Liverpool on 19 April. Plans for the ESL have since collapsed following the withdrawal of all six Premier League teams involved.

Tilly Johnson, a Museum Futures trainee, acquired the T-shirt by contacting the Yorkshire club and asking if one of the shirts could enter the National Football Museum's permanent collection.

“We were delighted to get a T-shirt worn by a Leeds player and the fan protest placard,” said Laura Crossley, the head of content at the National Football Museum. “We have a dynamic contemporary collecting programme and proactively acquire objects that record football history as it happens.

“News of the ESL provoked a strong reaction in fans and players across the country and we were keen to collect objects that will enable us to preserve and tell the story of this huge moment in football.”

Curators at the museum have been busy collecting other objects in response to the ESL. The National Football Museum is reopening on 27 May with new exhibitions and displays.