Touring Exhibition Available from 2025

Football: Designing the Beautiful Game touring exhibition

Whether you are a fanatical fan, side-line supporter or sporting sceptic, visitors to this exhibition will enjoy discovering the remarkable design stories behind the world's beautiful game.

#DesigningFootball

Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait – in the exhibition, watch the remarkable 91 minutes long film by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parenno portraying player Zinedine Zidane over the course of a single match

Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League, the first ever league for girls in the North of Pakistan, 2019, Sumaira Inayat/Goal Click

Forest Green Rovers Stadium interior, 2016, Render by negativ.com, Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects

Brooke Hendrix and Anna Moorhouse, 2019, Brianna Visalli/Goal Click

George Best's first pair of football boots, exhibition photography by Felix Speller

Exhibition photography by Felix Speller

Exhibition photography by Felix Speller

Over 70s women’s team The Sockers during the Las Vegas Friendship Cup in USA, 2021, Judi Works And Shannon Siegel/Goal Click

Exhibition photography by Felix Speller

Exhibition photography by Felix Speller

Exhibition photography by Felix Speller

What's in the exhibition?

Football: Designing the Beautiful Game is the first major exhibition that explores the story behind football, unpicking how design has been used to push the game to new limits.

Take a journey through more than 500 objects, films and interviews in sporting performance, kit development, stadium design and more and immerse yourself in iconic football moments with star objects telling the stories of club legacies and game legends such as Messi, Pelé, George Best and Diego Maradona and more.

Football is unquestionably the world’s most popular sport, with a dedicated fan base and truly international reach. It is estimated that more than half the population of the planet - around 3.5 billion people - watched part of the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

This exhibition reveals the master-planning of the world’s most significant football stadiums, the design innovation used in today’s boots, how the graphic design of team badges, kits and posters shape a club's identity and how grassroots initiatives are pushing back against the sport’s commercialisation.

You will glimpse a rare insight into the people and processes that have made football what it is today.

The exhibition was produced in partnership with the National Football Museum in Manchester.

'A winning combination of style and substance.'

★★★★ Evening Standard

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'Tells the story of how design has not only influenced the sport, but how the sport has influenced wider design.'

★★★★ The Telegraph

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'This is a show that captures the thrills, pain and zeal of a game that grips us in our billions.'

★★★★ The Times

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'Unearths fascinating artefacts and restores the long history of women’s football.'

Financial Times

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'A wonderful reminder of why football is still a magical game'

i Newspaper

Celebrating the beautiful game

Skills challenge: An unusual football match

To celebrate the exhibition, Arsenal legend Ray Parlour goes head-to-head with world champion freestyler Andrew Henderson to answer the question: ‘Is today’s football kit really better than its past designs?’ From free-kicks to dribbling, the pair faced a series of challenges to see how kit from the 1920s compare to today’s designs.

10 Unmissable Highlights from #DesigningFootball

From original kits to a match ball that decided on a match score – check the top 10 items from our exhibition.

Video: Gary Lineker visits #DesigningFootball

Former professional footballer Gary Lineker visits our exhibition with the Design Museum director Tim Marlow and recounts some anecdotes behind some of the objects on display.

Podcast: Gary Lineker in conversation with Tim Marlow

Hear Gary Lineker talk about some of the highlights in his career, and reflect on why football holds such an important position within our collective consciousness.

Partners

Content Partner, National Football Museum

The National Football Museum originally opened in Preston in 2001. After investment from the European Regional Development Fund, the museum opened in Manchester in July 2012 and has played host to a range of popular and thought-provoking exhibitions celebrating football’s role and impact in wider society.

National Football Museum

Supported by

Exhibition Partner, Italian Trade Agency

Italian Trade Agency

Get in touch

For more information on this touring exhibition, contact the Touring team by completing the tour enquiries form.

Exhibition Credits

Exhibition 3D Design: OMMX

Exhibition 2D Design: Shaz Madani

Marketing Campaign Identity: Maker Motel | Designer: Alistair Ager