A new national attraction being developed in Wrexham city centre is to receive a major National Lottery Heritage Fund funding grant.
The Museum of Two Halves, which includes a fully refurbished and enhanced Wrexham Museum in the current building, alongside a brand-new National Football Museum in Wales, receives over £2.7m.
The project aims to combine the town’s sporting heritage and football’s popularity to increase an understanding of the history of the sport in Wales and engage new audiences.
Wrexham Association Football Club is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The museum will house a permanent display of the Welsh Football Collection for the first time in 24 years, showcasing a collection that embodies over 4,000 years of history, 40 years of community and many lifetimes of memories within football’s spiritual home of Wrexham.
90% of the collection is of national and international significance, with one quarter of the items being considered particularly rare or unique in nature, including John Charles’ debut shirt for Wales v Ireland from March 1950, and a cap awarded to Billy Meredith, a pioneer of Welsh football, having played for both Manchester City and Manchester United alongside Wales, and retired aged 50. Today (30 July) marks 150 years since his birth.
Exciting new additions to the Welsh Football Collection
Funding made possible by National Lottery players, means the museum can go ahead with the purchase of a significant Welsh football collection previously held in a private collection. This includes an unrivalled collection of material relating to Cardiff City’s 1927 FA Cup final victory and an impressive variety of Wales men’s international match programmes, the earliest dated 1901.
Wrexham County Borough Council Lead Member for Partnerships and Community Safety, Cllr Paul Roberts said: “This is huge news for Wrexham. The new museum is set to become a major new national attraction for the city, drawing new visitors from all over Wales and beyond, and playing a key role at the heart of Wrexham’s burgeoning tourism and cultural offer.
“We would like to thank The National Lottery Heritage Fund for their invaluable support and for their commitment in backing this ambitious and exciting project. The money raised by National Lottery players is going to help us transform one of our city’s landmark buildings into a world class venue where the rich history of our county borough will be celebrated alongside the eventful story of Welsh football, preserved for future generations to discover and enjoy for years to come.”
Nearly 6,000 museums supported by lottery players
A total of £7.6m has been awarded to museum projects in the latest round of National Lottery Heritage Fund grants funding. Other projects receiving funding include The Diving Museum in Gosport, Hampshire, The Leach Pottery Museum in St Ives, Cornwall, The Museum of Aberdeenshire, The Egypt Exploration Society in Camden and the Lancashire Cricket Heritage Experience in Old Trafford. Manchester.
These museums will join over 5,900 museums already funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund across the UK over the last 30 years.
Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “From Aberdeenshire to Cornwall, our latest investment in museums shows the incredible diversity and brilliance of our museums, with collections of local, national and international significance. These projects will inspire visitors of all ages, with many of these collections being revealed for the first time, and all will connect people with the individual stories of sport, diving, pottery, archaeology and much more, adding up to a national story covering all the many and varied heritage we have to offer.
“Our investment in the cultural heritage fabric of these museums will inspire people, connect communities, and drive growth, allowing everyone to discover the amazing local heritage in towns across the UK and support our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on for future generations, and these museums shows that passion and variety. So, no matter what the weather brings this summer, there is always a fantastic museum or heritage place open to discover, explore and enjoy.”
Find out more about the latest round of National Lottery Heritage Fund grants funding.