With the football season well under way and the World Cup kicking off next weekend, there are only a couple of weeks left to catch local exhibition ‘Football in Welwyn Garden City’ at Mill Green Museum.
The Welwyn Hatfield museum is open Thursdays to Sundays, from 10am to 5pm.
The ‘Football in Welwyn Garden City’ exhibition runs until Sunday, November 27.
Here museum curator Emma Harper explains more about football in WGC and the Mill Green exhibition.
From the very earliest days of the town, football has been a feature of life in Welwyn Garden City.
It is arguable that the game has involved and engaged more citizens than any other leisure activity.
The exhibition has been developed by local historian Roy Williams in conjunction with the museum and brings together rarely seen items of local football heritage to illustrate and illuminate the story of Welwyn Garden City football.
From the early factory teams such as Welwyn Foundry (Thistle FC) and Shredded Wheat through to Welwyn Garden City FC’s 1947 Dutch Tour and more modern-day Sunday League football, the exhibition explores this unique sport through photographs, medals, trophies, kit, memorabilia and people’s memories.
There’s also a chance to see the wartime film The Team – It All Depends on Me made for the Ministry of Information by Welwyn Studios and featuring many boys from Peartree Boys Club.
The film follows a group of boys playing an enthusiastic but ill-disciplined game of football on the green opposite the then newly built Woodhall Shops near Hatfield Hyde.
The then manager of Arsenal, George Allison, arrives and explains the importance of team spirit to the boys, then broadening his message to take in different aspects of the war effort.
One of the boys featured is Tommy Southren, a Peartree Old Boy, who went on to play for Aston Villa.
We’re delighted to be displaying his football boots, London FA shirt and associated memorabilia in the exhibition, with kind permission from his widow, Elsie Southren.
Some table footballers have also been hidden around the exhibition for children to find in our football trail, and there’s a chance to design your own football shirt and share your own memories of football in the town.
We look forward to welcoming you to the exhibition throughout November.
Visit www.millgreenmuseum.co.uk/mill-museum/exhibtions/ for more details.
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