The National Football Museum is temporarily closed to the general public. A brand new visitor experience is expected to open in Manchester's Urbis building late in 2011.

The museum was opened at the beginning of 2001 at Deepdale, one of the oldest professional football grounds in the world, which was one of the factors in locating the museum in Preston.

But it has been agreed to be moved to the larger Urbis site in Manchester in the hope of boosting visitor numbers, with the doors sadly closing at the museum outside Deepdale for the final time in April 2010.

The museum has been a great attraction for Preston, a Club steeped in history, and boasted such aspects as the world's first exhibition dedicated to women's football, to coincide with the UEFA Euro 2005 Women's Championship.

The museum displayed about 2,000 items from their collections at any time, with a further 30,000 items held in storage, some of which are borrowed by institutions from all around the world.

Staff at the Preston venue had hoped to keep the museum open as a "public face" for the institution, however funding could not be agreed upon, unfortunately meaning the site will definately be closed to the public after the move.