Only A Game? launches in Liverpool
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Article summary
The Only A Game? exhibition opens its doors to the public on Saturday as the UEFA-driven project takes up residence in the World Museum Liverpool from 11 October to 1 March.
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Appeal
With admission free, the interactive exhibition invites visitors to plunge into the emotions of football, inspired by a selection of prestigious artefacts, trophies and memorabilia, covering in particular the last 50 years of European football. Only A Game?, which first showed in Brussels last year, has a wider appeal than just to football fans, however, as it charts the development of the European Community after the Treaty of Rome, in tandem with the growth of the European club competitions.
Social message
UEFA first vice-president Şenes Erzik told uefa.com: "The exhibition is a fantastic event to convey the message that football is a family, altogether, without discrimination. In today's society, football wants to prove once again that, through the game, you have the right platform to make a united front of human beings. It is a top platform for conveying the social message."
Partnership
The exhibition's designer, Olivier Guilbaud, worked alongside UEFA's Brussels office head Jonathan Hill to bring Only A Game? to Liverpool as part of the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations. Thanks to the co-operation of partners – the National Football Museum, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and National Museums Liverpool – Liverpool 08 can enjoy a ground-breaking football exhibition for free.
Second best
Guilbaud said: "Liverpool is the place to be, and it is so nice to be able to do an exhibition in this city and in this museum which is full of families and children." Visitors will also note a strong local flavour courtesy of contributions from the city's two famous clubs as well as from the National Football Museum in Preston. "We had not so many objects in Brussels, but here it is full of objects because of Preston, because of Everton [FC] and Liverpool [FC]. We are so many people involved in the project now and I'm very happy with it. When you are doing almost the same thing a second time, you know what you can improve and change in terms of quality – I am much happier with this one."
Practical details
Address: World Museum Liverpool, William Brown Street, Liverpool
Admission: FREE
Open: 10.00–17.00GMT every day
Information: +44 (0)151 478 4393