Football Writing Festival at National Football Museum and online

Part of our Literature guide

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Posted 12 October 2021

Football Writing Festival 2021 at National Football Museum, Cathedral Quarter, 1–5 November 2021, from £6.84 - Book now

The Football Writing Festival is back in action at the National Football Museum, kicking off on Monday 1 November and running throughout the week to Friday 5 November. The eighth edition of the Football Writing Festival showcases a programme of soccer-and-book-related events, bringing together some of the best sports writers and journalists for five nights of interviews, insight and debate about the beautiful game. Three of the events will be held in person at the National Football Museum, two can be viewed for free online.

The eighth edition of the Football Writing Festival showcases a programme of soccer-and-book-related events, bringing together some of the best sports writers and journalists.

First up, Football, She Wrote (Monday, 7-8.30pm, NFM, ticketed) brings together The Guardian‘s Suzanne Wrack and BBC Sport’s Alison Bender with Julie Welch, Fleet Street’s first female reporter, and lawyer and FA intermediary Kehinde Adeogun to talk about their experiences within the industry and the women’s game in general and discuss the groundbreaking new anthology, Football, She Wrote.

On Tuesday 2 November (7-8pm, online, free), BBC Sport’s Miriam Walker-Khan will be discussing the enduring popularity of Bend It Like Beckham with the author of the seminal 2002 film’s novelisation, Narinder Dhami. The award-winning children’s writer will be chatting about the story’s conversion into a different format and, more widely, the development of women’s football over the past two decades.

Miriam Walker-Khan is back on Wednesday 3 November (7-8pm, online, free), when she’ll be talking to renowned writer Musa Okwonga about his latest book, Striking Out, co-authored by Crystal Palace and Arsenal legend Ian Wright. Musa will be delving into the process behind the book, drawing from the player and pundit’s own personal stories, and talking about issues around young prospects coming through academy systems across the country.

On Thursday 4 November (7-8.30pm, NFM, ticketed), popular podcast Set Piece Menu will be recorded live in front of an audience at the National Football Museum. Host Hugh Ferris will be joined by the New York Times‘ award-winning journalist Rory Smith, BT Sport reporter Steven Wyeth and Sky Sports commentator and former Premier League star Andy Hinchcliffe for a lively discussion of the game’s hot topics.

The festival wraps up with Whose Game Is It Anyway? (Friday, 7-8.30pm, NFM, ticketed), when award-winning and critically acclaimed sports writer Michael Calvin will ruminate about the issues explored in his latest book of the same name. In Whose Game Is It Anyway?, Michael searches for meaning within a game increasingly dominated by greed and self-interest, and this event sees him develop those themes and ponder the game’s soul and its future with Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt and Bury AFC’s Phil Young.