Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

Manchester Football Writing Festival

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Manchester Football Writing Festival

National Football Museum, Manchester
1-8 September 2016

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

From £5.00
Book now

From national newspapers to novels, fanzines to podcasts, if football journalism gives you a kick, then this week-long exploration of the beautiful game is for you. Back for a third season, expect discussions and debates, puns and punditry, and ‘an essential group therapy session for England supporters’.

Hosted by Caroline Barker, Fifty Years Of Hurt will see the authors Henry Winter (Fifty Years Of Hurt: The Story of England Football & Why We Never Stop Believing), Rory Smith (Mister: The Men Who Taught The World How To Beat England At Their Own Game) and Carrie Dunn (The Roar of The Lionesses: Women’s Football In England) pondering where the Three Lions go now, post Euros.

If you’d rather think local, former City midfielder Paul Lake helps make up the popular Manchester panel alongside The Times’ Oliver Kay, whose new book Forever Young: The Story of Football’s Lost Genius looks into United ‘class of ’92’ dropout Adrian Doherty.

Where to go near Manchester Football Writing Festival

Cathedral Gardens
Cathedral Quarter
Park
Cathedral Gardens

Cathedral Gardens is a partially lawned public space in Manchester city centre, located between Manchester Cathedral and the National Football Museum.

Manchester
Event venue
Festa Italiana

The 2022 Festa Italiana was a roaring success, with great food options and captivating live music performances throughout the weekend.

Cathedral Quarter
Restaurant
Mamucium

High-class restaurant next to Victoria Station in Manchester, and attached to Hotel Indigo. Famed for steaks.

Cathedral Quarter
Restaurant
Salvi’s Mozzarella Bar

Head to this tiny Italian eatery for an authentic slice of Naples. It majors in mozzarella and the stuff here is a revelation: light, flavoursome, with oily, oozing pesto.

Chetham’s Library in Long Millgate in Manchester
Manchester
Library
Chetham’s Library

Chetham’s Library is one of the must-sees of any visit to Manchester. The library was founded in 1653, and is the oldest public library in the world – but the building dates back even further, to 1421.

Manchester
Restaurant
Döner Haus

This authentic Berlin kebab and bier haus is the latest addition to the ever-growing Corn Exchange food family.

See all places

Culture Guides

Music in the North

Manchester’s closing out the year – and looking to the new one – with a run of gigs from some of the country’s best underground exports.

Sepia image of a courtroom with the words 'Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird’
Theatre in the North

Winter brings a huge haul of seasonal shows, as well as productions that resolutely veer away from the fairy lights.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

In galleries around the North this autumn, you'll find tactile sculptures, Treasures with a capital 'T' and plant magic.

Food and Drink in the North

Hear ye, hear ye. Take some eating-out tips from our wintertime guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

See all guides