Nick Underwood, Senior Project Manager at Fraser Randall has recently returned to Wrexham, his childhood home, and is thrilled to be part of a project so close to his heart.
Fraser Randall have been appointed as Technical Project Managers for Wrexhamâs âMuseum of Two Halvesâ – a fully refurbished and enhanced Wrexham Museum alongside a brand new Football Museum for Wales, currently being developed inside the Wrexham Museum building on Regent Street.
Fraser Randall will be responsible for the procurement of the Base build and Fit-Out contractors, as well as managing the Construction phase until the projectâs is completed
Recently returning from London to Wrexham with his wife to be closer to family, Nickâs relocation will see him spearhead this project until the museum opens in 2026.
Nickâs client work over recent years includes, the award-winning Imperial War Museum (Second World War Gallery and Holocaust Gallery), Midleton Distillery, Royal College of Surgeons and National Portrait Gallery.
Nick was born and raised in Wrexham on Barkers Lane where he attended the local primary school. At 11 years old his family moved to Rhosrobin where he attended Darland High School before leaving to study at the University of Bristol.
A true football fan – Nick attended his first Wrexham FC game at the age of 4, and followed the team throughout his school years, often returning home to watch the games with local friends. Nick also played for a local side in Wrexham until he was 21 and his claim to fame is that during his teens he won a final at The Racecourse!
Nick says, âAs a football fan from the local area, it’s very exciting to be working on the museum project, and giving something back to the community in which I grew up in. Not just for the football, but also the history and culture of the local area. The grade II listed Wrexham Museum building on Regent Street has been a prominent feature in the city centre since it was built in 1857 and it deserves to have a major refurbishment for the local community can enjoy and learning more about the history of Wrexham and Welsh Football.â
More progress for museum project
Wrexham Museum is now closed to the public so that work can begin to prepare the building for redevelopment.
The project is set to be completed in 2026.
Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of the Council, said: âIâd like to pass on thanks to everyone involved with the Museum of Two Halves for the brilliant progress theyâve made in helping the project reach this milestone stage. Itâs fantastic to see one of our landmark city centre buildings being refurbished into a first class, national attraction. Iâm sure everyone in Wrexham will be excited to see how this project develops ahead of the grand opening in 2026.â
The Museum is being developed by Wrexham Councilâs museum team in association with museum designers, Haley Sharpe Design and architects, Purcell. The project is being supported with funding from Wrexham Council and Welsh Government, with additional support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Museum of Two Halves project has received ÂŁ1.3m from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.â
Activity planners have been appointed to help develop an extensive plan of action for Wrexhamâs new âMuseum of Two Halvesâ.
Wrexham Museum has now closed to the public so the building can be prepared for redevelopment. The new âMuseum of Two Halvesâ is set to open in 2026 and will include a fully refurbished and enhanced Wrexham Museum alongside a brand new Football Museum for Wales.
Cllr Mark Pritchard, Leader of the Council, said: âThe new museum project is one of the most exciting and ambitious developments taking place in Wrexham at the moment â a brand new, first class national attraction right here in the city centre. The development of the activity plan is a key part of this project and will present exciting opportunities to interest and inspire audiences all over Wales, and beyond. Iâd like to pass on our thanks to the team for the fantastic progress theyâve made in reaching this stage. Iâm sure the excitement will continue to build now as we approach the opening in 2026.â
Janice TullockEmma Parsons
‘Community participation at it’s core’
Thanks to funding by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, activity planners, Emma Parsons and Janice Tullock (from Emma Parsons Consulting and Janice Tullock Associates) are now working with the museum team to establish an exciting plan of activities to be delivered during the development of the project.
The activity plan will cover all sorts of key areas, including marketing, events, exhibitions, learning, volunteering, staff training and much more. These activities will set out how we work with our audiences, including local families, Welsh football fans, local/national/international tourists, under represented communities, and people who donât currently visit the museum. It will help to show clearly the direction we need to take, enable us to reflect on our successes and the areas we need to improve â all with community participation at its core.
Emma and Janice said: âWe are thrilled to be working with the Wrexham museum team on this project. We bring our experience of working on many major developments funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund as well as our passion and enthusiasm for the subjects involved â the story of the people of Wrexham and the story of football in Wales and the connections between the two.â
The Museum is being developed by Wrexham Councilâs museum team in association with museum designers, Haley Sharpe Design and architects, Purcell. The project is being supported with funding from Wrexham Council and Welsh Government, with additional support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Museum of Two Halves project has received ÂŁ1.3m from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.â
The âMuseum of Two Halvesâ is our shorthand name to describe the project that will see the development of the Football Museum for Wales and a new Wrexham Museum in the current museum building on Regent Street in Wrexham, Wales.
Wrexham Museum is already home to the Welsh Football Collection. Established in 2000 it is the largest collection of Welsh football memorabilia held in public ownership in Wales. Selected items from the collection are often used for temporary exhibitions, as well as being a resource for researchers, but we do not currently have space to put the entire collection on display.
The new football museum will celebrate Welsh football, past and present, in all its diversity, from grassroots clubs to the national teams, as well as highlighting Wrexhamâs historic achievements in the sport and celebrating the rich heritage of the County Borough. New galleries will be created to display the Wrexham Museum collections, and the museum will host a programme of activities and events to inspire all who visit to learn, be active and achieve their potential.
This survey is an important opportunity to share your ideas and comment on our plans.
The survey should take under 10 minutes to complete.
If you wish to be put into a prize draw for ÂŁ50 of shopping vouchers youâll have the opportunity to give your details at the end. This prize draw is for UK respondents only.
The deadline for completion is 11pm on September 17th 2023. The winner will be selected at random and notified by 11pm on September 24th 2023. See full terms and conditions outlined at entry.
This is an independent survey being conducted on behalf of Wrexham County Borough Council.
Wrexham Museum, CafĂŠ and Archives will be closing temporarily for a short period as part of the âMuseum of Two Halvesâ redevelopment project.
The project will see the creation of a new Football Museum for Wales alongside a fully refurbished Wrexham Museum in the current museum building on Regent Street in Wrexham – a major new national attraction for Wrexham City Centre.
The temporary closure in August will allow some initial work to be carried out. Full redevelopment work is due to start at the end of the year.
The Football Museum and refurbished Wrexham Museum are expected to open in 2026.
Full closure dates
The museum galleries will be closed from Friday 4th August and will reopen from Saturday 12th.
The Courtyard CafĂŠ and shop will be closed from 2.30pm on Friday 4th August and will reopen from Saturday 12th August.
Visitors will not have access to the galleries on the 4th August â just the cafĂŠ and shop until 2.30pm.
The Archives search room will be closed from Friday 4th August and will reopen from Monday 14th August.
Great progress being made
Cllr Paul Roberts said: âWe are now seeing some great progress being made in the development of this major new attraction for the city centre. As well as the building work, weâve also now appointed activity planners for the project, our team have started running football heritage tours in Wrexham, and our football museum engagement officers have been working extensively with clubs and communities across Wales, building links and collecting stories.
“The team will have a stall at this yearâs national Eisteddfod in Boduan next week â another fantastic opportunity to engage with national audiences and spread the word about what weâre doing here in Wrexham.
âWe look forward to announcing more exciting developments for the project as it continues to progress over the next few months.â
An exhibition showcasing images taken during the Homeless World Cup has opened at Wrexham Museum â the future home of the new Football Museum Wales.
The exhibition, titled Dragons Warriors â Dreigiau Rufelwyr, features a selection of photographs, taken by South Wales based photographer, Nigel Whitbread, during the 2019 Homeless World Cup, which took place in Bute Park, Cardiff.
The launch of the exhibition comes just a day ahead of the start of the 2023 Homeless World Cup, which kicks off in Sacramento, California, this Saturday.
Nigel describes the exhibition: âMore than 500 players representing over 50 countries travelled to South Wales in 2019 to attend the week-long free festival of football which took place in Cardiffâs iconic Bute Park, right in the heart of the Welsh capital.
âThe images contained in the exhibition aim to reflect at its core and represent a cross section of homeless people. How they are all, despite their differences, trying to overcome the isolation from the rest of society, and how taking part in the Homeless World Cup gives them a sense of empowerment and the knowledge that they are part of something bigger than themselves.â
âAs you browse the pictures, I hope that you will not view the guy or girl on the street in a stereotypical way, as people in doorways asking for money, but simply as people who have no home to go to. Please appreciate that there is a story to be told about each one of them as to why they are where they are and to understand that there are ways people can change their situation for the better given the right support.â
Football as a force for good
Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety at Wrexham County Borough Council, Councillor Paul Roberts, said: âWe are delighted to present this exhibition at Wrexham Museum, the future home of the Football Museum for Wales.
âThis powerful collection of photos is well worth seeing up close. They are an inspiring example of how football can be used as a force for good, to empower communities and draw attention to urgent social issues.â
Dragons Warriors â Dreigiau Rufelwyr is now on show on the forecourt at Wrexham Museum.
The new football museum is being developed alongside a totally refurbished Wrexham Museum. Both will exist side by side in the current museum building on Regent Street â a brand new national attraction in Wrexham city centre.
The new football museum will celebrate Welsh football, past and present, in all its diversity, from grassroots clubs to the national teams, as well as highlighting Wrexhamâs historic achievements in the sport and celebrating the rich heritage of the County Borough.
New galleries will be created to display the Wrexham Museum collections, which means an enhanced experience for visitors and a first-class, modern venue for discovering the fascinating and eventful story of our region of North East Wales.
The origin stories of six Welsh football clubs are to be told in a brand new series of short films.
The films have been funded by Welsh Government and produced by the team at the new Football Museum for Wales (currently being developed inside Wrexham Museum as part of the Museum of Two Halves project), working with Cardiff based media company, EatSleep Media.
Each film clocks in at around 15 minutes and features exclusive, candid interviews with key individuals from the clubs and the communities who support them.
Six clubs agreed to be filmed for the project, representing the six area associations across Wales.
The clubs documented are Caernarfon Town FC (supporters club, North Wales Coast FA) , Ruthin Town FC (youth football, North East Wales FA), Aberystwyth Town Ladies FC (amateur womenâs team, Central Wales FA), Merthyr Town (club playing in English league system, Gwent County FA), Pontyclun FC (amateur menâs team, South Wales FA), African Community Centre AFC (inclusion club, West Wales FA).
The films will be premiered individually at a number of events taking place across Wales over the summer. The films will also be made available to view for free on our brand new youtube channel, following each premiere.
âFootball is still a community game in Walesâ
Accompanying the filming crew on their travels around Wales were the Football Museum Wales Engagement Officers, ShĂ´n Lewis and Delwyn Derrick.
Delwyn shared his experience of creating the films: âThis project has been an amazing experience. We went out to tell the stories of the origins of clubs from across all regions and all levels of football in Wales. We didnât have a massive production crew, we didnât have a special effects budget, we didnât even have an umbrella between us one particular day of filming, but what we did have was a story.
âWe spent time at clubs with over a hundred years of history and clubs who have only just started their Welsh football journey, but the story that I found fascinating, inspiring and surprising in equal measure, was that no matter the age of the club, the level of the club or the geography of the club, it seems that every football club in Wales has that small group of hardworking, dedicated and passionate volunteers.
âI wasnât uninspired when we started these films, but I have come away from them even more inspired than ever before. Football is still a community game in Wales and I think thatâs great, because if itâs a community game, then that means that itâs still our game, played for the love of the football. The last couple of months have been an absolute whirlwind of late nights, early mornings, cold wind, colder rain and literal hours of travel, but every second of it done with a smile.â
A platform for Welsh clubs to have voices heard
Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety at Wrexham County Borough Council, Councillor Paul Roberts, said: âThe new football museum may be being developed in Wrexham â the spiritual home of Welsh football â but itâs mission will be to tell the story of football across the whole country, from grassroots community clubs, all the way up to the national teams.
âThis project is a superb example of the engagement work the new museum will be carrying out. As well as documenting an important aspect of Welsh football heritage, the films have also given a platform for the communities who support these clubs to have their voices heard and to share some very thought provoking insights and experiences on what itâs like to run a football team in Wales.
âThe films make for compelling viewing and Iâd encourage everyone to take a look as they are released online over the next few months.â
Find out more
Each film will be available to watch on our YouTube channel following its premiere.
You can join the Football Museum mailing list to receive updates about the project, more stories from Welsh football history, plus information about how you can get involved.
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Facebook â Amgueddfa Bel Droed Cymru / Football Museum Wales
A further ÂŁ5.4m is being provided by Welsh Government for the development of the new Football Museum for Wales in Wrexham, the spiritual home of Welsh football.
The funding is part of an agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden made the announcement on a visit to the city and comes at a time when interest in Welsh football is at an all-time high.
The development of the new Football Museum is part of a wider project that will see the current Wrexham Museum building on Regent Street fully refurbished and transformed into a ‘museum of two halves’ – a major new national attraction for the city centre.
The Football Museum half of the building will celebrate Welsh football, past and present, in all its diversity, from grassroots clubs to the national teams, as well as highlighting Wrexhamâs historic achievements in the sport and celebrating the rich heritage of the County Borough.
Meanwhile, in the same building, new galleries will be created to display the Wrexham Museum collections, which means an enhanced experience for visitors and a first-class, modern venue for discovering the fascinating and eventful story of our region of North East Wales.
Celebrating Wrexham’s ‘unique cultural heritage’
Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety at Wrexham County Borough Council, Councillor Paul Roberts, said, âIâd like to thank the Welsh Government for their continued support for Wrexham, the spiritual home of football, to continue to develop the Football Museum for Wales.
âThis is a really exciting project as football plays such a large part in our culture and identity and the people of Wrexham and across Wales can now be assured that the Welsh Football Collection will be preserved for present and future generations in Wales.
âThis will be developed alongside a new museum for Wrexham which is currently home to a large and interesting collection of historical objects which shows the unique cultural heritage of Wrexham.â
‘We are now at a very exciting stage’
Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said: âWrexham is the birthplace of Welsh football so itâs the ideal location to celebrate the sportâs heritage.
âWe have seen many successes, especially in recent years, in menâs and womenâs football, and ensuring the dramatic and emotive events on the international stage, the history and development of club football in Wales and the spirit and diversity of the Welsh football community is told in one place will be vital for present and future generations.
âThe new museum will become a key venue in the city as well as for North Walesâ tourist and visitor offer. It also comes at an exciting time for Wrexham AFC as they aim to get back into the Football League.
âI am grateful to all our partners who we continue to work closely with on this project including Wrexham County Borough Council and the FAW.
âWe are now at a very exciting stage and the funding announced today, subject to conditions and approval of a Full Business Case in due course, will see community and pan-Wales engagement on the project continue as well as developing the content, collections and exhibitions through to construction and opening of the new Football Museum for Wales.â
‘Working together to make it happen’
Many themes will be showcased at the Football Museum for Wales in Wrexham including Welsh language communities, fan culture, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and LGBTQ+ experiences.
Since 2020, more than ÂŁ800,000 in Welsh Government funding has already ensured the appointment of a dedicated Football Curator and Engagement Officers, the progression of designs, and a pan-Wales public engagement and community consultation to develop proposed plans and content.
Designated Member Siân Gwenllian said: âWe have all seen the pride and joy the national team has brought us in recent years and how important football is to Wales.
âThis redeveloped museum will celebrate our nationâs contribution to the game and the heritage and legacy it provides for us all. Wrexham, a city steeped in football history, is a fitting home for this exciting project and I am delighted we are working together to make it happen.â
Find out more
You can join the Football Museum mailing list to receive updates about the project, latest blog articles (see below), plus information about how you can get involved.
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Facebook â Amgueddfa Bel Droed Cymru / Football Museum Wales
As plans to build a brand new Football Museum for Wales alongside a fully refurbished and reimagined Wrexham Museum continue to progress, we’re now delighted to be able to share the latest designs.
In this quick guide we’ll give you a tour of the various new galleries and spaces that will form the Football Museum and introduce some of the ideas for the content, themes and stories you’ll be able to discover on your visit.
All images and artist’s impressions courtesy of Hayley Sharpe Design.
Brand new galleries and spaces are also being designed for the refurbished Wrexham Museum. You can read all about those design plans here.
The tour starts here:
The plans envisage a double height atrium at the heart of the museum building on Regent Street in Wrexham (see above). Here you will encounter the âmuseum of two halvesâ. Full height LED display screens, with object and image displays providing a flavour of what is to come.
Image: artistâs impression by HSD.
The football museum will be about people. It will be engaging, sensory, accessible, dynamic, informative, enjoyable and above all Welsh. If it was a stick of rock the letters running through it would spell CYMRU.
Thereâll be an immersive experience at the start of the football galleries on the first floor of the museum introducing the birthplace of Welsh football and inspired by those experiences at the start of every match.
The first football gallery (above) will cover the domestic game: the grassroots, the clubs you support week in week out through thick and thin and the challenges womenâs football has faced since the beginning of the game in Wales. Do you know any lesser-known clubs with a great history? If you do, tell us!
The middle gallery explores the fortunes of our national teams since 1876. Choose your favourite moments. Explore the ‘Heartbreak and Glory’ object timeline. Which key moments do you think we should aim to include? Interactives on the laws of the game and a challenge for the football know-alls. Thereâll be space for a case devoted to the latest in the game.
The far gallery is all about the supporters and the true spirit of the game and its importance to our country. Match journeys and match memories. Singing for Wales, fan fashion, celebration and commiserations, and finally the fight to save your club. With loads more activities for kids, big and small.
Our Engagement Officers will be gathering material for this gallery and the other two over the coming year.
Next steps
2023 is shaping up to be very exciting year as the project continues to make fantastic progress.
The valuable feedback we received in our recent consultation sessions will be used to help inform the next stage of design work. Weâll be keeping you updated on this via this blog and our social media channels.
We recently held consultation events to gather feedback on the new design plans for the Football Museum and refurbished Wrexham Museum.
The design plans were put on display for public viewing at an open day event, held at Wrexham Museum.
Members of the museum and design teams attended the events to discuss the plans with visitors and gather thoughts and suggestions.
We organised an online presentation to enable a wider audience to view and comment on the design plans.
We also consulted with the various football specialist and community focus groups that we’ve assembled to work alongside us throughout the design process.
All the sessions included a presentation/display of the latest proposals and an opportunity for questions and feedback.
Your thoughts
Here are some of the highlights from the dozens of comments submitted at the various sessions….
Loyalties & Rivalries
“It would be good to see more about the rise of womenâs football and that there is still a long way to go for all clubs to have a womenâs team. Historic material related to this may have been lost.”
“The grassroots football film could include regional tournaments or the community cup that exists in Wales. The gallery also needs to show stories from diverse clubs including refugees / asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ community and those with a range of disabilities.”
Heartbreak and Glory
“It would be good to look at how press/media have covered Wales teams across time, as coverage was previously very negative and now it is all positive. Welsh teams and fan communities have prevailed despite this.”
“It would be good to show the experiences behind the scenes and all the different processes involved in setting up for a match e.g. use of clappers during the match and the process of design / manufacture”
Education
Teachers suggested that it would be great to get children to input in the design process and a number of teachers said they would like their schools to be involved in this.
Wayfinding throughout the galleries could also be playful and potentially incorporated into the flooring.
Suggestions for additional interactive elements included:
Ability to commentate on game
Within the galleries or externally there should be the opportunity to kick a football.
The themes within the galleries tie in well with the Welsh Curriculum and a wide variety of subjects could be taught using the galleries.
Accessibility
Acoustics of the gallery spaces to be considered in development.
Provide good light levels along circulation routes.
Consideration of how the visitor welcome incorporates BSL to let visitors know it is used and that they are welcome â this could be done in-person or on a screen.
Wrexham History
Suggestions for additional themes / stories which could be included in the Wrexham galleries included:
The canal and railway connections which have supported the growth of the city.
Religion and diversity
The âblackâ years when Wrexham felt âdowntroddenâ and âundervaluedâ
The galleries should be used to help signpost visitors to other heritage / cultural sites around Wrexham e.g. Bersham.
The links with Tš Pawb are important as this venue is seen as a multi-cultural hub which helps to brings diverse communities together and highlights the changing identity of Wrexham.
Next steps
The project is continuing to make fantastic progress. Your valuable feedback will be used to help inform the next stage of design work. We’ll be keeping you updated on this via this blog and our social media channels.
As the work to build a new Football Museum for Wales in Wrexham continues to progress, we’re now delighted to be able to introduce you to the two newest members of our team.
Delwyn Derrick and ShĂ´n Lewis have recently been appointed as the new Engagement Officers for the Football Museum Wales project.
Their mission will be to travel across Wales and reach out to football communities, clubs, players, fans and other individuals and groups involved with the game. Through building connections and collecting stories, ShĂ´n and Delwyn’s work will help ensure that the new museum can truly represent Welsh football heritage in all its diversity, from our grass roots clubs, all the way up to the national teams and their historic achievements.
We invited Shon and Delwyn to tell us a little about how they first became engaged with Welsh football, why the new Football Museum project excites their imaginations and which aspect of the engagement work they are looking forward to the most….
O Chwith i’r dde / From left to right: ShĂ´n Lewis + Delwyn Derrick
Delwyn Derrick
How did you first get interested in football and what are your early memories of watching Welsh football?
“Iâve always enjoyed football but my interest went far beyond just being a hobby back in 2016 when I started my own club here in Wrexham. I have since moved more into the administrative side of football, having a seat on the North East Wales FA and being voted onto the management committee and as chair of the senior football development committee.
“As with most football fans in Wrexham, my first experiences of football were at The Racecourse and it was there that I first saw Wales play in a friendly match against Wrexham in 1998. It was a few years after that when I started discovering grassroots football and Iâve been hooked on the community game ever since.”
Tell us why you think its time Wales had its own football museum…
“Iâm excited to see Wales finally have a football museum and Iâm thrilled that itâs going to be in Wrexham where the FAW was first founded in 1876. In a sense, the museum being based in the town where the national team started is our own version of football coming home, but itâs also really important that the rest of Wales see it that way and feel part of this journey even if they donât live in Wrexham.
“For me the Welsh team has always been my second team. When I was younger I supported Wrexham and then Wales. I think thatâs what sets us apart from other nations in a way is that the national team is more like our second local team, which is whatâs great about a small nation that dreams big and can sing even bigger.
“Our football story is ours and being able to tell the whole of that story in one place, not to the fans, but with the fans, itâs something that we all need.”
What are you looking forward to the most in your new role as engagement officer?
“As an engagement officer, my role is literally going out across Wales, talking to people about a country and a sporting history that Iâm passionate about and incredibly proud of. I firmly believe that I have the best job in the world and even in the very short time that Iâve been here, Iâve been able to talk about the museum project and what we are hoping to achieve with some of my childhood heroes like Brian Flynn, Ian Rush and Rob Earnshaw, but Iâve also been meeting some really interesting people in domestic football whoâve told me stories and shown me objects from some of Walesâ history that could have easily been lost.
“Being an engagement officer for a project that is already engaging so many people is amazing and Iâm looking forward to digging even deeper and finding people with stories to tell that nobody has told before. What Iâm looking forward to the most, is what comes next. Welsh football isnât done yet and whatever happens tomorrow, the day after it becomes history and part of my job is recording and protecting that for generations to come. Itâs a huge responsibility and a dream come true at the same time.”
ShĂ´n Lewis
How did you first get interested in football and what are your early memories of watching Welsh football?
“My earliest memories of football were going to watch a local side called Mountain Rangers, during the mid-80âs they played in the field behind my home in Bontnewydd.
“Even though I was brought up an Everton fan the higher levels of the professional game were a distant, disconnected fantasy to my peers and I, only accessible via television watching the results come in or seeing them compete with Liverpool at the top of Division 1 on the Big Match (well it was the 80âs!) or in Wrexham, Cardiff & Swanseaâs case Soccer Sunday on HTV Wales.”
“My first tangible connection with professional football however came in 1991, seeing my dad watching tv where Rush and Southall play together in red and be victorious against Germany.
“From that day to this I havenât missed a kick on my 31 year journey as my team plumbed the depths of international football and rose to the heights of qualification to Euro 2016, 2020 & Qatar.
“Today I can comfortably say Iâm not a fan of any club side, to me international football is the pinnacle of the game and as such anything and everything to do with domestic Welsh football ultimately feeds into it. As I always say, my club is WalesâŚthe only side that I feel truly represents me as a fan, also the only side that can make me feel sick before, during and (if we lose) after a matchâŚbut the highs are so, so worth it!”
Tell us why you think its time Wales had its own football museumâŚ
“Wales has a unique footballing history due to its economic, cultural and political structure, football in the north and south developed almost independently of each other and the game here in Wales has a very fragmented history as a result, but itâs a story that needs and deserves to be told.
“To finally be able to give it a âhomeâ in Wrexham where the FAW was founded is amazing not only for the history of the game in Wales but also its future.
“The museum is uniquely placed in this regard, especially today when Welsh football identity has never been stronger, so to have a museum at the ready to document everything as we travel through the most successful period in Welsh football history is vital.
“There are multiple sides to every story and football is no different, hopefully the museum can become a place where all of our stories are kept and made available for future generations to come and see, and perhaps find their own truth about Welsh football and its history.
“Our individual introductions to football, our experiences growing up with it as fans and our reasons for falling in love with the game are all going to be different and are usually tied into our localities and upbringing, and even though Iâm only a few weeks in Iâve heard so many amazing stories and viewpoints from people in different parts of Wales that I was previously unaware of.
What are you looking forward to the most in your new role as engagement officer?
“Iâm really looking forward to going out into communities throughout Wales, discussing and recording peopleâs stories about their own local football histories, seeing whatâs out there and then bringing it all back into the museum to help make it truly representative of all of Wales, telling our stories as Welsh football fans and our unique footballing culture and history in both our languages.”
If youâd like have any Welsh football stories or items youâd like to bring to our attention, you can get in touch by emailing footballmuseumwales@wrexham.gov.uk
