MANCHESTER.- The National Football Museum is launching a nationwide search to unearth the best football stories and memories from fans throughout the country.

Designed to celebrate those individual stories that might otherwise be lost, the Game of Our Lives campaign offers fans and clubs at all levels the opportunity to get involved in a fan-led collection to feature in a future exhibition at the museum.

It is the first time in the museum’s history that so many in the football community are being asked to directly contribute to the museum.

Fans will be encouraged to share their stories, including photos and video, on social media tagging @footballmuseum and using the hashtag #gameofourlives. Those without social media can send their stories via email to gameofourlives@nationalfootballmuseum.com. Footballers, celebrity fans and clubs will also be sharing their own memories as part of the campaign.

National Football Museum CEO Tim Desmond says “We too feel the void that football has left in our lives since Covid-19 brought games to a halt, but that’s not to say we can’t still enjoy reliving our favourite moments. This campaign is a way of keeping football alive during the lockdown and seeking out those special football memories that exist in communities, clubs and families throughout England.”

“There could be thousands of reasons why football is the game of your life. We want to know why it makes you proud, sad, happy or even angry. What is it you love about the game, what is that one stand out moment for you?”

EFL on Quest, the home of the English Football League highlights, has teamed up with the National Football Museum to encourage fans of Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two clubs to share their stories. Show pundits will be kicking things off by posting their best football memories on Twitter.

EFL on Quest host Colin Murray says, “Football is such a central part of so many people’s routines so while there are more important things, it’s still very much missed. So, the Game of Our Lives campaign is a way for us to unite over football, to support our clubs in a different way and to take our place at the National Football Museum. It’ll be something to look back at in years from now. We’ll be getting behind this and I’d encourage all football fans to do it too.”

The Game of Our Lives campaign and the stories that come from it will form part of a permanent digital collection online and at the museum and be shared with visitors from around the world.

“Now more than ever it’s important to capture and share the diverse stories of what football means to the fans. We want to celebrate England’s passion for football and provide an outlet for people to share memories, reminisce and get excited about football’s ultimate return. It’s ambitious and it’s something we’ve never done before, but we believe the football community will help us bring it to life,” says Tim.

EFL on Quest airs at 9pm each Saturday, and 10.30pm on Wednesdays for mid-week fixtures, available on Freeview [channel 12], Freesat [channel 167], Sky [channel 144], Virgin Media [channel 217] and streamed live and on demand via dplay.co.uk and the dplay app.