Visit The Green Howards Museum in 2026 to explore the sporting and military lives of Green Howard footballers.

Football was an integral part of Green Howards life. Soldiers were equally comfortable in their football boots or their ‘battle bowler’ (army slang for a tin or ‘Brodie’ helmet). Team pride, whether football or regimental, went hand-in-hand but this exhibition avoids picking a side (which for some staff was very hard!). So with no VAR, no offside rule, no simulation and no relegation, we hope you enjoy discovering more about the things you thought you knew, and much about the thing’s you didn’t.

Featuring golden boy Wilf Mannion, the popularity of women’s football, football boredom busters in prisoner of war camps and the only professional footballer to be awarded a Victoria Cross, Donald Simpson Bell.

This exhibition has been made possible as a result of the Government Indemnity Scheme. The Green Howards Museum would like to thank HM Government for providing Government Indemnity and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England for arranging the indemnity.

We would also like to thank The National Football Museum and The Players Foundation for their support and for lending objects for this exhibition.