The National Football Museum was conceived in the 1990’s and subsequently opened its doors in 2001. Its location was Preston North End’s Deepdale stadium and was home to many artefacts which evolved into the Football Heritage collection. I could not think of a more justifiable host as in my view Preston is the home of football as they were one of the twelve founding members of the league in 1888. In that initial season they won the FA Cup and the league without losing a game and as a result were then forever tagged as the ‘Invincibles’.
The original ‘Invincibles’. Image Credit These Football Times.
In the women’s game the first and most famous team was the Dick Kerr Ladies who were a factory team in Preston formed in 1917. In 1920 they defeated an illustrious French team 2-0 in front of a 25,000 crowd, a historic first international women’s football game. On Boxing Day 1920 they played a charity match against St Helens Ladies who they beat 4-0 at Goodison Park with 53,000 spectators packed in, a world record for a women’s club match that lasted for a further 98 years.
The following year the FA disgracefully banned women from using fields and stadiums controlled by FA-affiliated clubs and the ban stayed in place for an astounding 50 years until 1971. Dick Kerr Ladies stayed in existence until 1965, and they had a remarkable record of winning 682 of the 755 games they played. If I was a filmmaker that sounds like a movie script I would be interested in!
Despite being popular the museum closed in Preston in 2010 and relocated to the Urbis building in Manchester. It was caused by a combination of local council ineptitude but also ‘big city’ pressure that caused the move, and for that second reason alone I begin to chunner when I walk past the museum and have never attended there since it was moved from its spiritual home!
As I unpack my imaginary soapbox and place it back in the metaphorical cupboard, I shall move away from the Urbis building to the Cathedral Gardens that lie adjacent to it. This area was a car park back in the day and the green open space now in place was only developed after the damage caused by the IRA bomb in 1996. It is situated nearby to the flagship Mark and Spencer’s store which at the stage of its opening was the largest in the world.
Manchester Cathedral Gardens. Image Credit Pinterest.
During the spring and summer months they have sporadic food and music events and currently have a Christmas ice skating rink in place there. One such gathering took place within the auspices of the Manchester International Festival in July 2021 as we were just beginning to drag ourselves out of the Covid pandemic period. As a result of the increased checks still in place at that stage, we were in a long queue on entry and then were escorted to a table. The stewards perhaps unwittingly placed us with a fine viewpoint of Manchester Cathedral Gardens Stage 1, but there were no complaints from myself as my 16-month drought of witnessing a live band was about to reach a denouement.
The weather thankfully was set fair and behaving itself. There was the obligatory app available to download and link up with the surrounding vendors, thus cold beers and pizzas were summarily ordered. The first band we saw were the Goa Express from Burnley who contain in their ranks the Clarke brothers. Last year they released their self-titled debut album, and I have heard them many times played on 6 music. They provided a pleasing slab of fuzzy garage rock, reminiscent somewhat of Nine Black Alps.
The Goa Express. Image Credit brightonandhovenews.org
At that point we spotted Tris and her pals (unfortunately not a band!) who were ensconced on a nearby table and via text messaging we surreptitiously manipulated a ‘chance’ meeting to have a quick parlay and a catch up. The other act to play was a local DJ crossover act called Chips with Everything (not half rice, half chips!) who have been part of the leftfield circuit for over two decades.
If we then swivelled and faced in the opposite direction, we had a slightly more obstructed view of Manchester Cathedral Gardens Stage 2 where we saw Porij (a deliberate mispronunciation of Porridge) play. They are a four-piece art-pop Manchester act who met initially at the Royal Northern College of Music a couple of years earlier. They have since garnered Coldplay support slots and then released their debut album ‘Teething’ in April 2024.