Manchester Football Writing Festival

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Manchester Football Writing Festival at National Football Museum, Manchester 1 — 8 September 2016 Tickets 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.

Manchester Football Writing Festival at National Football Museum, Manchester 1 — 8 September 2016 Tickets from £5.00 Book now

Where to go near Manchester Football Writing Festival

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 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.

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.

What's on: Literature

Okechukwu Nzelu
LiteratureHuddersfield
Polari at Huddersfield Literature Festival

Huddersfield Literature Festival is back with a packed programme this May, and this Polari-themed special caught our eye, featuring writers including Okechukwu Nzelu and Rosie Garland.

from £10.00

Culture Guides

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.