Shropshire Star

Newtown set to miss out on £4m football museum

Newtown is set to be left disappointed after a feasibility study recommended Wrexham as the preferred location for a National Football Museum.

Published
Montgomeryshire AM Russell George

The Welsh Government is pledging to spend more than £4 million to give Wales its own dedicated National Football Museum.

Newtown had been touted as a potential location, with Newtown Town Council and the town's Welsh Premier League side Newtown AFC pledging to support any campaign.

However a study commissioned by the government has recommended the best place for a museum would be in Wrexham,

But no decision has yet been made by ministers.

The estimated cost of creating the football museum in Wrexham would be £4.4 million and would involve redeveloping Wrexham Museum.

The Welsh Government would need to put in around £145,000 a year towards the museum's running costs.

'Strong claim'

Sport museum report authors Just Solutions estimate that around 80,000 visitors a year would go to the museum, and described Wrexham as the spiritual home of Welsh football.

Montgomeryshire AM Russell George, who had supported having the museum in Mid Wales, said Newtown had a strong claim.

He said: "While I am pleased that the feasibility study has recommended that a National Museum will be located in the north-east of Wales, the only region of Wales to be without a National Museum, there will inevitably be disappointment in Powys that Wrexham has been recommended as the location for the National Football Museum for Wales over a location such as Newtown.

“With Newtown being a founder member of the Football Association of Wales, I thought it had a strong claim to be the host town for the National Football Museum for Wales which is why I asked for its consideration by the feasibility study."

Wrexham already has a football collection, which is used for temporary exhibitions at Wrexham Museum.

The study found that costs would be needed for staff, re-designing the current Wrexham Museum where it is recommended to be, new displays, and re-locating existing collections.

Proposals will be debated next week but the government is yet to reveal when a final decision will be made.