Sports heritage and the re‐imaged city: the National Football Museum, Preston

Abstract

Sport is increasingly a part of the regeneration strategies of British cities and there is an increasing connection between sport and culture within these strategies. It is perhaps surprising, therefore, that there is only one clear example where sports heritage (in the form of a sports museum) has been a significant part of a city’s regeneration initiative, the National Football Museum in Preston. This paper considers the development of this Museum as a case study of sports heritage in urban cultural regeneration. It examines the cultural position of sports heritage and sports museums in the UK, including earlier proposals to establish a national football museum; the development of the National Football Museum in the context of the wider regeneration of Deepdale Stadium; the early struggles of the Museum due to a lack of funding support and their resolution; the economic and social impact the Museum has had in the city; and the unfulfilled potential for further regeneration presented by the Museum.