National Football Museum Manchester

Based in the heart of Manchester, the National Football Museum is a match-winning school trip for your squad.

With 4 galleries to explore, 6 interactive games, an exciting programme of exhibitions and events plus a gift shop and cafe, there’s something for everybody to enjoy.

We provide a variety of self-guided and workshops on site, with four floors to explore, as well as a dedicated classroom space for our workshops. 

A trip to the National Football Museum appeals to both footie fanatics, and those who have never seen a game in their lives – we have hundreds of interesting objects and stories that will capture the imagination, and help your class discover why football matters.

We offer free self-guided visits for Manchester City Council schools and groups, and a discount on all workshops.

We welcome all groups, and want to make SEND group visits as accessible as possible. We offer free staff tickets at any ratio for SEND groups, and have some limited sensory bags that can be booked out at reception.

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We have both self-guided and facilitated sessions to book, depending on what type of trip you’re looking for. 

Our self-guided option gives you the freedom to plan your own conversations and talks around the museum and our fascinating objects and exhibitions and our facilitated sessions give you more structure and a chance to pick from a range of different topics to engage your class. Workshops focus on a range of topics, from local history to team building, all which link with national curriculum outcomes. 

Early Years 

PE/PSHE Get active at NFM! This session gets your class up and moving, using their bodies to jump, hop, kick, and try out other football skills! After these drills, the group heads around the gallery to find different objects using their I-spy trail, and each one has a different instruction. 

Pickles Storytelling 

Hear how Pickles the dog saved the world cup in 1966 through this interactive storytelling session, hosted in our Discovery Zone.

Key Stage 1 

KS1 active – Available from January 2025 

PE/PSHE Get active at NFM! This session gets your class up and moving, using their bodies to jump, hop, kick, and try out other football skills! After these drills, the group heads around the gallery to find different objects using their I-spy trail, and each one has a different instruction. 

Lily Parr – Football Then & Now History

 In this session, find out about Lily Parr and the Dick Kerr Ladies team, and discover what life was like for women during WW1. We use objects to help children identify and explain how objects have changed from to past to the present day. This session is perfect for classes looking to explore a local case study of North West history, as well as looking to find out more about the origins and story of women’s football. 

Key Stage 2 

Football & Your City

History/local history case study. This session explores what it was like to be a football fan in the past, and asks children to find out more about how teams such as Manchester City and Manchester United formed. Find out how Manchester’s football and industrial histories are intertwined. 

Designer Balls 

Design & Technology / Science / Teambuilding 

Your class will need to be resourceful, using recycled materials and craft items from the museum to create their own footballs. The best football wins the tournament, with tests such as how well they bounce, as well as how good they look. Teamwork is essential to be crowned the Designer Balls winner! 

Football & the Human Body TEST

Available to book from January 2025 Science This brand new session, developed in collaboration with KIT Theatre, explores what makes a footballer, and how everyone can look after their bodies, whether they are an athlete or not! We are testing this new session to launch formally in September 2025 – this is an early version which we would appreciate feedback on. Links with KS2 Science curriculum, as well as a wider focus on wellbeing.

Key Stage 3

Football in the Modern World

GCSE PE Football isn’t just the 90 minutes on the pitch – the reach of football is global, social and relevant every day. This session explores the social and cultural impact of football, and what affects participation in football in our current world. 

Early History of Football 

GCSE PE Learn about football’s origins, from mob football to the original FA laws and the beginning of club competitions in this fascinating talk, perfect for GCSE level PE groups

Designer Balls

Design & Technology / Science / Teambuilding 

Your class will need to be resourceful, using recycled materials and craft items from the museum to create their own footballs. The best football wins the tournament, with tests such as how well they bounce, as well as how good they look. Teamwork is essential to be crowned the Designer Balls winner

We also offer the above sessions KS3 sessions tailored for Key Stage 4, FE & HE.

We are flexible on your group sizes but we do request a minimum ratio of 1:5 adults to children for KS1 visits, and 1:10 for KS2-4. We do provide free adult tickets at these ratios

We don’t currently offer resources, but we are looking into this for the future. Team members are happy to discuss specific curriculum links and ideas before the session. 

The sessions were created with input from different teacher forums and groups, as well as with KIT Theatre (Human Body session only).

None, we allow this but with prior approval. There are no copywrite restrictions in place at the museum.

We have a standard educational risk assessment, which we can provide to teachers.

Lydia Bistucz, groups@nationalfootballmuseum.com 

Pricing structure can be found here

We always have first aid dedicated staff around the building so if you do require assistance, there will be someone to help you. It is also helpful for one of your staff member to be a qualified first aider also.

We have a shop, a café (currently only open on weekends and Man Utd or Man City home games), toilets on each floor, accessible toilet on each floor. 

Our café has ample space for children to have their lunch. If the weather permits, we also have Cathedral Gardens in front of the museum if you wish to spend your lunchtime outside. 

There are lots of coach parking spaces nearby. As we are in the center of town, we don’t have our own dedicated parking spaces, but an up to date list can be found by clicking here.

Football is for all, and so is the National Football Museum. We want to make sure that everyone enjoys their visit.

Accessibility

• Automatic door access at main entrance
• Lift to all floors
• Ramps to all raised areas
• Accessible toilets on ground floor and levels 1, 2 and 4
• Induction loops at reception and information desks
• Assistance animals permitted
• Water bowls available for assistance animals
• Wheelchairs hire – free of charge, please book in advance
• Guided tours on request
• Large print guide available on your visit
• 130+ disabled parking spaces in the nearby NCPs (Arena, Exchange, Shudehill, High Street)
• Friendly WiFi Certification which ensure the museum’s WiFi provides a safe, secure, and family-friendly online experience for all our visitors.

We also offer an Explorer Bag for SEND visitors, containing the following items:

• Ear defenders
• A football spinner
• A texture bag and colour paddles
• A football squishy and football pop it
• A magnifying glass and a large magnifier
• Binoculars
• A Pickles the Dog teddy

Our Explorer Bags are available to loan for free: simply request one at our Welcome Wing entrance!

We are open 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm). There are various days in which the museum is closed throughout the year, please check the website for more information.

Our students really enjoyed their visit to the museum, the technology/games exhibition was good for them to see. There was a lot for them to see and keep their interest which was excellent.

[The visit] was superb! The students were very engaged and the fact they got to see/touch/feel some of the historic equipment helped to put things into perspective for them!

The children loved having a tour of the museum…learning about the history of their local football clubs. They really enjoyed looking at the history of the football kits too.