Football Writing Festival returns to Manchester next month

Some of the UK’s top sports writers will star during the five-day event in November.
Michael Plant
By Michael Plant
Published 7th Oct 2021, 17:00 BST
The National Football Museum. Credit: Getty.The National Football Museum. Credit: Getty.
The National Football Museum. Credit: Getty.

The Football Writing Festival (FWF) is set to return to Manchester for its eighth year.

The event sees some of the best football writers from the UK and further afield discuss the biggest issues from the beautiful game.

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Whether it’s the future of football, female representation in the game or academies & youth production, the FWF has a range of topics to appeal to all fans of the sport.

When is it?

The event takes place between Monday 1st November to Friday 5th November, with an extra date on Thursday 28 October.

Where is it?

Three of the five events will be held at the National Football Museum in Manchester, while two will be streamed live on YouTube.

Which shows are taking place?

  • Thursday 28th October (11am-3pm)

The curtain raiser at the museum is a family event which has plenty of activities for children.

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  • Monday 1st November- Football She Wrote (7pm)

The Guardian’s Suzanne Wrack, BBC Sport’s Alison Bender and Julie Welch, Fleet Street’s first female reporter will discuss female representation in a male-dominated sport, as well as the new anthology, Football She Wrote. This event will take place at the museum’s Pitch Gallery.

  • Tuesday 2nd November- Bend It Like Beckham (7pm)

Narinder Dhami, author of the Bend It Like Beckham novelisation, will discuss the 2002 movie and his writing, with BBC Sport’s Miriam Walker-Khan. This event will be streamed on YouTube.

  • Wednesday 3rd November- Striking Out (7pm)

Walker-Khan is back again, this time talking to Musa Okwonga about his latest book, Striking Out, co-authored by Ian Wright. The book looks at the football youth structure in England and the event will be streamed on YouTube.

  • Thursday 4th November- Set Piece Menu (7pm)

A live recording of the Set Piece Menu podcast will take place at the museum. Host Hugh Ferris will discuss the latest football topics with New York Times’ Rory Smith, BT Sport reporter Steven Wyeth and Sky Sports commentator Andy Hinchcliffe.

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  • Friday 5th November- Whose Game is it Anymore? (7pm)

Following on from the issues explored in his renowned book Whose Game Is It Anyway? author Michael Calvin will discuss the future of the sport with Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt, Phil Young, Chair of the Shakers Community at the fan-owned Bury AFC, and ex-Oldham Athletic and Manchester City coach Pete Lowe. This event takes place at the museum.

How can I get tickets?

Tickets are available here.

More information

Further details can be found here, and make sure to check out the official Twitter page @mcrfwf for more news.

Related topics:ManchesterFootball

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