National Football Museum

Great experience for any football fan. The collection of memorabilia is impressive, covering a huge range of football history. I especially enjoyed the interactive games on the top floor. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is quite crowded, making it a bit hard to see everything at your own pace. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Manchester!

A lot of interesting football history, about Englands leagues for both men and women, their national teams and worldcups. Mind that you'll need at most 1 to 2 hours to see eveything so to be frank the content was a bit underwhelming as the internet claimed it would be 3-4 hours. 1st floor is where you can easily spend an hour, covering English football history and world cups. 2nd floor is mostly a diverse selection of interactive games like penalty kicks with a leaderbord you can get your high score on, and skill and passing games. Mind that the penalty challenge costs 3 quid for 3 kicks. 3nd floor is entirely dedicated to black heritage. While I fully support the black cause and acknowledge the hard times and racism in football, frankly it's a bit too much for a full floor. Mind that although most likely unpopular, this is my personal opinion. It's not what I came for and while it was quite a busy saturday hardly anyone was on this floor, and anyone coming in while I was there quickly left. I know we're living in the woke decade and a venue like this would not risk reserving too few squate feet for this topic but it's simply too much. So to summarize my experience: Floor 1: Great value, full history of English football. Floor 2: Interactive games, if you have kids you can definately keep them occupied for an hour on this floor. Floor 3: You'll need 10 minutes tops.

Location good, easy to find. Website mentions disabled parking bay on Todd Street but staff didn't know if the unmarked layby (double yellow lines) was what the website referred to. Good exhibits. First floor is like a maze though so if you don't like the feeling of being trapped I would avoid it. The lift has a semi transparent glass floor and is a clever diagonal design, going vertically and horizontally at the same time. When I first used it I was a little scared, only because of a silly fear of heights, but I soon got used to it. The reason for knocking off one star is due to the out-of-date interactive football ground display. It says it's all the grounds of the EFL but, according to staff, is based on 2012 information, so my team's ground is not featured. The small cafe on the ground floor was very good, freshly cooked vegan pizza for my fussy daughter and my husband and I shared a substantial cheese and potato pasty. Flat white coffee perfectly good and a good selection of chilled drinks. All of the staff were very, very good, friendly, helpful and even funny! Definitely worth a trip and most tickets give access for a full year.

WOW, that’s all I have to say about this experience. This is for true football fans. You will find (like I did) how little you truly know about football. Fantastic interactive activities and the gift shop at the end is brilliant wide variety of memorabilia. The ticket you purchase allows you access for the entire year so if you wished to return you can.

Great for football fans, however I give it 2 stars because as soon as you step in, the brainwashing starts: black lives matter, women's football, muslim footballers and LGBT!!!! An entire floor devoted to black players only. People come to Manchester from all over the world for its football, not for a morality lesson.

Definitely worth an hour or two for the dedicated fan, especially if you have kiddos who can play all of the interactive challenges like the penalty shootout or the passing accuracy- there’s even a VR section where you can immerse yourself with the professionals! And your ticket is good for a year so you can come back again if you don’t get to everything the first time through. The gift shop has a nice selection of items to include some retro jerseys as well! I should’ve bought the Beckham England jsy for £100…

A nice museum, but not WOW. The exhibition is interesting, but not very special. The interactive part requires extra payments. You can definitely spend there an hour or two and enjoy, but I won't say it's a must for every football fan.

Great place and concept, but given it’s the National Football Museum, one could expect way more. Nowadays even club museums provide more info and memorabilia than this one. Staff super friendly and some of the games are real fun.

No Harry maguire no party With out the slabhead I can't enjoy myself and the fact I was kicked out for only bringing in 567 cans of Stella really put me of Overall a really woke experience all together

As a football ( soccer ) coach and fan, my wife and I stopped by here to check out some history. It was located in a nice area surrounded by shopping malls, restaurants, pubs, and entertainment. There weren't too many people in when we visited so we had the opportunity to use the interactive exhibits (most of which were free, you just had to grab the ticket hanging on the lanyard next to the scanners to use). My wife and I had a great time and got a good work out in using the interactive exhibits such as the passing, shooting, and penalty blocker games. Great place to take the kids as they will be napping good after.

National Football Museum is the largest football museum in the UK, and even as a big football fan who follows Manchester City all over the country I was a little disappointed in general, and found that ever since the museum now charges it just doesn't offer value for money any more at £10 entry, I really do think the donations basis was better as obviously the museum does receive great funding from Manchester City Council, and for someone who works in the city centre even though I live just outside the city region, it is quite dissapointing that the free entry isn't rolled out to all Greater Manchester residents. When it was built, Urbis was one of the most recognisable and cool buildings in the city centre, being next to the Corn Exchange, Printworks and Victoria Station, but with Manchester's impressive and growing skyline that has been dwarfed slightly. They do have replica premier league and FA Cup trophies which are a nice addition considering they are some of the main domestic trophies within England, but with the current holders of both trophies being Manchester City, my club have been excellent in bringing the real trophies on a "trophy tour" at various points within the city centre such as bringing them to Selfridges nearby, or to WHSmith in Piccadilly Station and even the women's team trophies to the Manchester Arndale. They do have some interesting changing exhibits including from 1966, where football came home and England won the world cup, defeating West Germany 4-2 in the World Cup Final, but I do think they could have more information focused on more recent history. A cool museum but I'm yet to see the improvement to warrant the enterance fee, and it just left me a little disappointed. 2*

This museum is really unique around the globe. Having an entire museum dedicated to the most popular sports is indeed a great experience. During my visit there was also a very nice special exhibition dealing with the Brazilian superstar Pele on the highest floor of the building. This exhibition was even more interesting for me not being from the UK, because the other floors are (of course) mainly about English soccer leagues and international tournaments from a British perspective. Other than that I found the architecture of the museum itself very fancy!

Even though I am not a massive football fan, I still found the museum to be very informative and interesting. The staff is extremely friendly and the exhibits are interactive. We even kicked around a ball a bit.

I feel a little unpatriotic that I hadn't reviewed this place until now as I've been several times and it's story of our national game! Wether you need to kill so time or want to spend an entire day in one place, you can do it at the National Football Museum as it has something to occupy everything! You can walk round and tour for free or you can pay a slightly higher 'donation' and hold the FA cup and premier league trophies as well as have a go at the various games. I spent a good 30 minutes in the penalty shootout room which is a really fun interactive game that people of all ages and abilities can join in with! The 3rd floor has to be my favourite though as it had football video games from conception (1990) all the way through to FIFA 16 (it's 2016). Pitch to pixel I believe it's called and it really is fascinating seeing the development we've made in such a short space of time! A brilliant exhibition and a fantastic option to have in our city Centre, after all, Manchester is the football capital of the world ;)

With Manchester being at the centre of the football universe (and I'm not just talking about my team Stockport County here...), with thousands of UK and European fans arriving each week to watch Utd and City, it makes perfect sense that the National Football Museum is here. I went for a whistle stop visit on my lunch break but I think the beauty of the NFM is that you can visit for 40 mins or stay for four hours if you're really into it. There's so much to see and do that you can make it a pilgrimage if in Manchester on a short visit or you can go and break it up into multiple visits if you live here. The layout is based upon 3 floors of a classic museum style, interactive exhibits and a top floor of changing exhibits (extra charges apply to some special exhibits and interactive exhibits) with it being free entry but donations welcomed. Expect to see all the big trophies on display like the Premier League trophy, FA Cup, 1966 World Cup replica - along with a treasure trove of collectors items such as balls from the 1800's, classic football strips and loads of medals from the stars of today and yesteryear. Make sure you check out the cavernous gift shop and there's a coffee shop serving snacks onsite too.

I admit it, I love football/soccer so this was a "must" while I was in Manchester for a few days. I always thought it would be cool to go to a football museum and this was the first time that I have ever been to one, other than stadium tours with team museums. One word to describe it... OUTSTANDING! I didn't want to leave! There was so much history, great photograph exhibition, interactive games, World Cup history, FA history, old time football based games, you name it. I would have been happy to pay 10+ pounds to enter and would have felt that I had gotten my money's worth. Entrance was FREE! Yes, meaning you do not have to pay to get in!!! If you're in Manchester and love the beautiful game - just GO! If you're not happy with your visit then I will refund the admission price to you!

Gr8 for all lovers of the beautiful game.!! And if your like me who can take it or leave it. I really enjoyed the experience and the staff were helpful and friendly!! I'll definitely be going back..

A big landmark here for Manchester which offers FREE entry, fun games and opportunity to have your photo taken with the Barclays premier league cup. This building offers 3 floors (plus a learning area as a 4th) of history of England's football team which shares there woes and successes of the world cups. A big selection of memorabilia throughout the 20th century for you to take a gaze at and with plenty of videos to watch it's quite an easy visual walk through. The third floor also hosts a VR experience of England's 1966 World Cup win over west Germany which is a bit intermediate but somewhat cool if you've never done virtual reality before. My favourite part however was probably playing the olden style games on the second floor which cost a small fee but gave a small satisfaction of happiness, I even won some sweeties! I am glad to say I have been but personally, I wouldn't rush back in a hurry as typically with a museum, history is the main aspect.

A very good museum for avid fans of football and even if you are a casual fan of football this museum is worth a visit with many interesting exhibits (including some football related art/drawings) and a few interactive displays (1 of the interactive exhibits was an additional cost as I recall). The museum describes a history of football from its origins until the present in good detail. The museum is small, it will probably take an hour or maybe less to go through the whole place but considering the reasonable admission price of 10 pounds (about 12 US$) it is worth visiting.

It's appropriate that Manchester should be the venue of the National Football Museum, a city which has provided several world class squads and has been home to the biggest trophies in England and Europe probably more than any other city in the country. Entry is free to the museum, although donations are strongly encouraged, to the extent that entry is quite difficult without paying. The exhibits are interesting, covering all areas of the history of football, and there are several interactive exhibits, such as videos and computer screens. I love video games, so I particularly enjoyed the top floor, home to many consoles from different eras, where one can actually try out the football games. Also on this floor is a cool movie about the impact of the wonderful Football Manager on people's lives. I found this pretty cool to learn about. I did have to laugh at how much time the English spend harking back to their world cup win in 1966. It's time to deliver another win, guys! Says me, the Irishman...

Been in Manchester eight years now and it's about time I did the football museum. Was it ok not much of a football fan I enjoyed walking round and looking at all the all the things from 1966 when England won the World Cup.

The Urbis always divides opinion due to its 'flat V' building shape. But aside how it looks on the outside and you may be pleasently surprised by the museum inside. Items such as Stanley Matthews football boots - quite light and comfortable looking actually, Maradona's footy shirt from the infamous 'Hand Of God' world cup game - courtesy of Steve Hodge, it was probably the only time he got near him that day. Bobby Moore's World Cup '70 vs Brazil shirt, FA Cup Winner Medals of various kinds - many of them a lot smaller in size than you'd imagine. All of these things and far far more are all brought together here. There are many interactive pieces of kit to keep you and the kids amused too. If you are in to footy then you must visit this place. My only gripe was that it would have been nice if the museum was flogging more museum merchandies than just National Football Museum baseball caps. I reckon you've missed a trick there as footy fans particularly like to wear souvenier t-shirts and shirts.

Shamefully, I haven't been to the Urbis/National Football Museum since way back in 2009 when there was an exhibition on video games. When it was transformed into the National Football Museum I have to admit, I was an unbeliever. Why make something that will end up so biased? What about the rest of us who don't even particularly enjoy football unless it comes with the promise of a free drink in return for not talking during the match? I, now, am a believer. The building is just as imposing as ever, a real landmark of the Manchester skyline. The entrance is clear but along the side of the building you can see both the exit and the entrance to Kaleido, the restaurant currently getting rave reviews by many Manchester based critics. Upon entering there is a tillpoint, instantly making my head go 'what, what, I thought this place was free? can I back out now without seeming completely cheap?' Panic over though folks, it's only so you can pay for your programmes or buy special tickets. My welcome was nice and friendly, pointing me in the right direction and, despite almost getting stuck in the turnstile, I managed to find my way to the stairs and began my ascent to level three for the Fashion & Football 'Strike a Pose' exhibition. Set in the temporary exhibition space the layout is easy to find your way around and explore, from a George Best dedicated area to a special section for WAGs, a feast for the eyes and the ears, with videos sitting comfortably alongside the mannequins. There are a great range of photos and even a few interactive sections, one with large wigs and hats for dressing up and a pier style stick-your-face-through-the-hole-for-a-photo stand. As a non-dedicated football watcher I really enjoyed this exhibition - particularly well dated ready for a Valentine's trip both him and her should enjoy. I'm keeping the other two floors for explorating when I have a companion. Until then I will enjoy the photo of David Beckham through the ages.

A great museum on all things football, Im not a huge football fan but it was really interesting, Its home is the cool Urbis Building with 3 floors of football memorabilia. Its great for those rainy days in Manchester.

Decided to take my son to the National football museum on recommendation, and because he loves football and also a huge fan of mufc. ..He loved it full off facts not just on our favourite players , but on all football legends. A variety of activities on offer to which we didn't realise we had spent most of the day being entertained .Great family day out and also free entry.

Been here three times with my little brother begging to go back and enjoyed it each time myself A pilgrimage much needed for all hardcore footie fans, as soon as it was brought to the city of football I found myself migrating towards it and after visiting it for the first time I was not disappointed, an amazing experience and very interesting. Told my brother about it and he couldn't wait, and then wanted to go once again a second time! Loving the minigames throughout the building Thoroughly enjoyable for all ages. Also...free entry, how can you complain???

My husband and I got to explore Manchester for a day and made a bee line for this museum! It was a great experience. We learned so much in the museum and loved seeing some of the exhibits. We also loved that they had a mix of hands on activities and exhibits to see. We didn't have kids with us, but it would be a great museum experience for all ages. All of the employees inside were so kind and helpful!

If you are a fan of Football and you are in the area then this place you must visit. It's a great museum on all things Football and it was really interesting. Admission is free but things like Football plus has to be purchased. Visited this place time and time again since the opening and never got bored.