The National Football Museum has reported a record number of visitors during its 2023 summer season.
This summer, between 1st June and 31st August, the Manchester museum saw a total of 68,253 visitors through its doors, marking a record high for the museum since its opening in 2021.
The Summer visitors numbers are a 35% increase on the same period last year, and a 31% rise on pre-Covid figures for the museum in 2019.
The period included exhibition ‘Batteries Not Included’, which makes visitors through the journey of football toys from the Victorian era through to the latest VR technology.
The museum said the increase in visitors has created 15 new jobs since 1st April 2022.
The museum also introduced its season ticket for visitors, which allows unlimited visits to the museum for 12 months. Funding from Manchester City Council has also allowed Manchester residents and schools to visit the museum free of charge, which the museum said was “vitally important in the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis.”
Sheona Southern, Managing Director of the city-region’s destination marketing organisation Marketing Manchester, said the museum “is a much-loved attraction in Manchester and is a key driver for sports-loving visitors who come to enjoy great events, including football.
“It is fantastic to see the museum’s visitor numbers are now even higher than before the pandemic, and particularly encouraging to see the strength of the international visitor market, which the museum and other attractions in Greater Manchester will see great benefits from.”
