OnlyAGame? UEFA football exhibition comes to Liverpool - World Museum Liverpool - 11/10/2008 to 01/03/2009

UEFA football exhibition comes to Liverpool

Only a Game? is an interactive exhibition for the whole family that explores Europe and its most popular sport: football.  Bringing together UEFA’s most prized trophies, historical artefacts from the last 50 years, and stunning images from the great games, Only a Game? invites people of all ages to plunge into the emotions of football.

This ground-breaking exhibition explores the human face of football. In our school playgrounds, amateur fields and corporate stadiums, dreamers, players and supporters all seem to belong to one family. Football gives us a sense of local and national identity. But does it also open our eyes to other cultures?  Through football, can we see Europe in a different light?

Only a Game? is accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, from the football fanatic to anyone curious about the social and cultural role of modern sport.  It also targets the international tourists that visit Liverpool, since Only a Game? is itself a European project that speaks a universal language.

The exhibition offers interactive elements that engage younger visitors: they can mix football footage with their favourite music to create their own video clip, and compete against their friends in a quiz.

For the football aficionado as well as the more traditional exhibition visitor, a selection of prestigious artefacts, trophies and memorabilia from 50 years of European football will ensure a special experience.  UEFA’s most prestigious trophies will be on display: the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners Cup.

The National Football Museum has provided the shirts, medals and trophies of great European players such as George Best, Ferenc Puskas, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Phil Neal, Stanley Matthews and Petr Cech.

Visitors will discover the city of Liverpool’s own dramatic role in European football. Special items from the Everton Collection and from the Liverpool FC Museum will be on display.

A strong sense of design aims to lend the exhibition both a modern feel and an appealing aesthetic; the exhibition is beautiful to look at.

Only a Game? ends with a question-mark.  The exhibition encourages the visitor to reflect on the social and cultural aspects of modern football.  Visitors should leave the exhibition with more questions than answers.  Why do I care about football?  Which emotions does football trigger?  Does it strengthen my sense of local identity or introduce me to new cultures, or both?  What does ‘Europe’ signify in all of this?

UEFA, the Northwest Development Agency, the National Football Museum and National Museums Liverpool are proud to present this exhibition, marking Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture.