International Football History Conference 2026

The call for papers/presentations has been released for the 2026 International Football History Conference (#Footycon26). If you are interested in attending or presenting the details are here:

International Football History Conference

11th June – 13th June 2026

***CFP Deadline January 5^th 2026***

The 2026 International Football History Conference will take place at Fulham Pier, Fulham Football Club, London, England on Friday the 12th & Saturday the 13^th of June 2026. We hope delegates can join us for a welcome social event on the evening of Thursday 11^th June too.

This is a call for papers for those who wish to present at the conference. There will be an opportunity to present on any topic relating to the history of football of all codes. This includes, but is not limited to: Association Football, Rugby Union & Rugby League, Gaelic Football and Aussie Rules.

Main conference proceedings will take place between 8.30 am and 6 pm on Friday the 12^th and Saturday the 13^th of June 2026.
As with previous years, Abstracts are welcomed on any football-related topic (football of ALL codes)
Abstracts are welcomed by researchers from any discipline.
Presentations must not have appeared at another conference. As our conference does not have parallelsessions, we insist that presentations must not repeat something presented elsewhere.

NEW FOR 2026: We have added a new style of presentation (‘Interview’) which some delegates may find more appropriate to their style, topic or experience and we encourage delegates to consider that or any of the other formats. Please also get in touch if there’s a style you have used elsewhere that you feel would work well instead of those listed below.

Abstracts for the following presentation styles are welcomed:

Interview (20 minutes) – New for 2026. We are aware that some delegates may find the idea of standing up to do a presentation daunting. Similarly, a traditional presentation style may not always be the best way to get your material out there, while some find it difficult to engage with audiences. So, for this year we would like to offer delegates the opportunity to be interviewed about their research by either one of the organising committee or by another delegate. The intention is to have the expert/author/presenter and interviewer seated for a general discussion covering the key points (agreed in advance) of the expert’s research.

This would be a more relaxed style and, hopefully, will appeal to those who would like to present but are put off in some way by traditional formats.

The opportunity for multiple delegates with related topics to be interviewed together exists (like a panel presentation).

Short Form (10 minutes) – Suggested 20 slides (plus a title slide) with a maximum of 20 seconds per slide. Ideal for a summary of research; to present early findings; Image-related research etc. We allow ten minutes for these.

Twenty Minutes – Those choosing a 20-minute slot will be able to split that time between presentation and questions as they feel appropriate (for example 15 minutes of presentation and 5 minutes of questions or 20 minutes presentation and no audience questions).

Panel – One hour: three presenters and a moderator on a related theme with specific time for individual presentations within the session agreed by the moderator including allowance for questions at the end to the group.

If you wish to present at the conference, please send a 100-to-150-word proposal to footycon@outlook.com bythe 5th of January 2026. The selection of presentations will take place by the organising committee, and we will ensure confirmation as soon as possible after that date, particularly for those travelling some distance.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

The International Football History Conference is a self-funding event. All delegates, whether presenting or not, willneed to book their place before attending. We will open the booking system in October.

Financially, these remain difficult times for delegates and for the conference (a self-funding, non-profit making endeavour). Once again an early bird price for delegates will be available for booking before the end of January. This will keep the cost of attendance for full-time delegates at the 2023, 2024 and 2025 conference rates. The rate from 1 February will be the same as last year’s final rate.

Full Delegate (2 days): £139 (rising to £149 from 1 February)

Students/unwaged/retired delegates (2 Days): £129 (rising to £139 from 1 February)

Special Day Rate: £76 (employed) & £67.50 (unwaged/Students/retired; rising to £70 on 1 February)

Travel & Accommodation

Delegates will need to make their own arrangements regarding travel & accommodation for the conference. The organisers of the conference recommend reviewing transport arrangements to Fulham Pier/Fulham FC before booking accommodation. The venue is about a 20 minute walk from the nearest London underground station, Putney Bridge. London prices can be steep, but Fulham’s excellent transport connections via the underground or bus network mean that it may be cheaper to stay in locations around the Greater London area with direct connections to Fulham than in Fulham or central London.

Further information will be released closer to the conference.

It is our intention to have a welcome gathering on Thursday 11^th June evening. Any social gatherings on Friday 12^th and Saturday 13^th of June are expected to be in the Fulham area.

Future Opportunities

We hope to announce exciting new opportunities linked to the International Football History Conference over the next few months. Please watch this space.

#Footycon25 Award Winners

The International Football History Conference 2025 was held at Windsor Park Belfast last week and, as usual, we had a panel of judges picking out their best paper awards and an inclusivity award. Competition was fierce and the winners, once again, thoroughly deserved their recognition. The award winners were:

Day One (Friday 13 June 2025) Best Paper: The judges asked if they could make two awards at the end of this day and they selected Tim Mills for his presentation ‘Football & Museums – A model for community led programming’ and Kasey Symons for her presentation on ‘Investigating women’s Australian rules football romance fiction and the history of fandom it tells from the first decade of the AFLW’ (co-authored research with Lee McGowan). Kasey has been a regular attendee at the conference since it was established in 2017 and she has always presented high quality research in an engaging way.

Day Two (Saturday 14 June 2025) Best Paper: Gabriela Ríos-Infante won the award for her presentation on ‘The Philosophy of Women’s Football in Mexico: Interactions Through an Ethnographic Lens in El Volcán’. As well as this being a great research topic and presentation, it was particularly impressive that Gabriela was presenting in English for the first time.

The Inclusivity Award was judged over both days and this went to:

Karen Fraser, Fiona Skillen & Julie McNeill for their panel on ‘A most unsuitable game: Reflections on a community celebration of the women’s game in Scotland.’ Back in 2023 Karen, Fiona and Julie presented about this project at our Hampden Park conference and it was gratifying to see them return with reflections on what was clearly a well-managed, researched and impact-making project.

Congratulations to all winners. These awards are supported by Routledge books and they provided books and vouchers to each winner.

Previous winners of these awards are:

International Football History Conference 2025 @ Belfast

Last week (13 & 14 June 2025) we staged our annual International Football History Conference at Windsor Park, Belfast. It was a great occasion, attended by delegates from across the world and with presentations on football (of all codes) throughout the two days. Belfast was a great, welcoming city and we had a wonderful time. The conference was established almost a decade ago when I first discusssed the idea with colleagues at Manchester Metropolitan University, since then we’ve held the conference annually, starting with our first in Manchester in 2017.

Right at the start my aim was to bring together leading academics, researchers, historians and others passionate about football to discuss in a friendly environment their projects and research.

Since 2017 we’ve staged the conference at Manchester City (4 times), Hampden Park, Cardiff City and at Windsor Park, only taking a pause during the Covid years, We were supposed to stage our 2020 conference at Hibs but sadly that was cancelled and our financial reserves were lost as a result. The conference is self funding and non-profit with none of the organisers taking any payment for their time. It’s always a precarious financial commitment but fortunately, so far, each conference has covered its costs (just!).

We’re now looking for venues to stage the 2026, 2027 & 2028 conferences, so if you are involved with a footballing (again, any code) venue with conference facilities and you feel you can help then please get in touch at footycon@outlook.com.

This was our agenda for 2025 in Belfast to give you a feel for the variety of topics presented:

Women’s Football in Manchester

The history of women’s football in Manchester deserves to be properly recorded. This week I’m presenting at the International Football History conference in Belfast on the teams and communities of women’s footballers that existed in Manchester during the 1950s. People often assume there’s either no women’s football in the city back then or there are one, maybe two teams. My research is identifying that there are many more teams than that and that the community of women playing football in Manchester during the 50s was significantly greater than most believe.

Over the last decade I’ve been interviewing women who played football in Manchester, or for Manchester based teams, during the 1940s to modern years. This includes Maureen Charlton, Dorothy Allcock and Flo Cloake (who played in the 1940s & 50s) and players like Steph Houghton, Karen Bardsley and Jill Scott (who of course played in more recent times). For me the stories of all are inspiring. Many women from Manchester, or based in Manchester, played prominent roles in football’s development during the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Some who played decades ago are still contributing significantly today.

To date I’ve published two books and written many articles, chapters and features for a variety of publications on Manchester’s women’s teams. The latest of these is the book on the Manchester Corinthians. I’m absolutely delighted with this from Matt Williams, a longlist judge for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2025 award. He has posted the following video about the Manchester Corinthians book as his ‘What are we reading this week?’ post on social media. It really does please me and demonstrates why I’ve been so keen to get the Corinthians story out there.

For those interested Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History is a must for anyone interested in Manchester or women’s football and consists of 356 pages. Getting it into Manchester bookshops, particularly Waterstones, is proving difficult so if there’s anyone reading this who can help please get in touch. We can organise events if that helps?

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far to promote the Corinthians and their stories. But we need to bang the drum for all Manchester’s clubs, so please do all you can to spread the word.

I’ll let everyone know more about the other teams, the presentation at the conference and more later. For now… the Corinthians book is illustrated throughout and you can order it now for £25 (including UK postage and packaging). I’ll sign all copies ordered direct from me below.

If you live outside the UK then please contact for details of additional postage costs.

You do not need to have a PayPal account to order – use the ‘Pay with PayPal’ button above and it will give you the option to pay by credit/debit card without creating a PayPal account.

UK ONLY – Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History

The story of a pioneering women’s club as told to Gary James by those who were there. This will be published in late December 2024. This is UK only at £25 (incl UK postage and packaging). Outside UK contact for additional postage costs.

£25.00

International Football History Conference 2025 at Belfast

The 2025 International Football History Conference will take place at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland and will be held over two days (Friday the 13th & Saturday the 14^thof June 2025).

Main conference proceedings will take place between 8.30 am and 6 pm on Friday the 13^th and Saturday the 14^th of June 2025.

As usual we have a wonderful collection of presentations, with leading academics, historians, researchers etc. in their field. Here’s the schedule for both days:

The International Football History Conference is a welcoming community. Cone and join us. This is a self-funding event. All delegates, whether presenting or not,will need to book their place before attending via our Eventbrite page, which can be accessed via this link: https://bit.ly/FootyCon25

Travel & Accommodation

Delegates will need to make their own arrangements regarding travel & accommodation for the conference. The organisers of the conference recommend staying in the city centre. The information below will cover how to reach Belfast City Centre and the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, the venue for our conference. Further information will be listed in the conference pack released closer to the conference.

For those flying to Belfast, the city is served by two airports: Belfast International Airport (BFS) and George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD). Bus connections from the international airport to Belfast Grand Central Station, the new transport hub of Belfast City Centre, run every fifteen minutes, and from the city airport to Belfast Grand Central Station every twenty minutes. Rail services to and from Belfast Grand Central will be operational by the time of the conference as train services are currently being transferred from the old stations to the new hub.

Belfast Grand Central Station is also close to many of Belfast City Centre’s hotel options. Pricing will range from 4* options such as the Europa, Leonardo or Fitzwilliam Hotels (all located on Great Victoria Street, close to the station), to more budget-friendly nearby options such as Benedicts Hotel, Travelodge, easyHotel, Maldron, Premier Inn, etc.

For those driving to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, the stadium can be accessed from either Boucher Road or Donegall Avenue. The postcode for your satnav will be BT12 6LW.

Ten Years On

Ten years ago this month I was awarded my PhD. It’s been a remarkable decade since. there were two areas I wanted to make significant progress in during the time that followed. One was the establishment of an annual conference where those researching the history of football (of all codes) could meet and share ideas in a positive and supportive environment. the other was to perform detailed research into the history of women’s football in Manchester.

Both aims have been met with the establishment of the International Football History Conference and the setting up of a self funded project into women’s football. The next football conference is in Belfast next month and the women’s football history project has seen two books, a booklet, a chapter and lots of articles published.

I’ll be posting features on both soon. Thanks to all who have helped with these initiatives.

International Football History Conference 2025 at Belfast

Main conference proceedings will take place between 8.30 am and 5 pm on Friday the 13^th and Saturday the 14^th of June 2025.
As with previous years, Abstracts are welcomed on any football-related topic (football of ALL codes)
Abstracts are welcomed by researchers from any discipline.
Presentations must not have appeared at another conference. As our conference does not have parallel sessions, we insist that presentations must not repeat something presented elsewhere.

Abstracts for the following presentation styles are welcomed:

Short Form (7 minutes) – 20 slides (plus a title slide) with a maximum of 20 seconds per slide. Ideal for a summary of research; to present early findings; Image-related research etc.

If you wish to present at the conference, please send a 100-to-150-word proposal to footycon@outlook.com by the 6^th of January 2025. The selection of presentations will take place by the organising committee and We will ensure confirmation as soon as possible, particularly for those travelling some distance.

Cost of Attendance

The International Football History Conference is a self-funding event. All delegates, whether presenting or not,will need to book their place before attending via our Eventbrite page, which can be accessed via this link: https://bit.ly/FootyCon25

The cost of attendance for full-time delegates will be kept at the 2023 and 2024 conference rates.

Full Delegate (2 days): £139.

Students/unwaged/retired delegates (2 Days): £129

Special Day Rate: £76 (employed) & £67.50 (unwaged/Students/retired)

Travel & Accommodation

For those driving to the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park, the stadium can be accessed from either Boucher Road or Donegall Avenue. The postcode for your satnav will be BT12 6LW.

International Football History Conference 2024 at Cardiff City 7-8 June

The latest International Football History Conference will be staged in two weeks time at Cardiff City’s stadium. Delegates from around the world will meet up to discuss football (of all codes). It’s always a great conference and it’s a great opportunity to meet other historians, writers, researchers and enthusiasts. The details are:

International Football History Conference 2024 (#Footycon24)

7 & 8 June 2024 at Cardiff City Football Club

Guest speaker: Professor Florence Ayisi (film maker of Zanzibar Soccer Queens & others)

The 2024 annual International Football History Conference will take place at Cardiff City F.C. and will be held over two days (7 & 8 June 2024). There will be a fantastic collection of papers being presented with contributions from leading academics from across the globe including many leaders in their field, as well as early career researchers and others with a passion for football (of all codes) research.

The conference organisers are: Max Portman, University of Chichester, Professor Wray Vamplew, University of Edinburgh and Dr. Gary James, Visiting Research Professor at New York University & Honorary Research Fellow at De Montfort University.

Gary James: ‘The inaugural International Football History Conference was staged in 2017 and proved popular with leading academics, early career researchers, football historians and students. That was followed in 2018 & 2019 by further enjoyable conferences. Covid meant we had to cancel our 2020 & 2021 conferences but, in 2022 we returned with another great conference. In 2023 we took the conference to Glasgow and the historic Hampden Park Stadium, which added further to its status. This year we’re taking it to Wales for the first time and are delighted to be staging it at Cardiff City’s home. This year’s event promises to be another significant conference with world leading research presented, while also providing networking opportunities, as well as the potential for collaborations.’

**** THE TITLES OF PRESENTATIONS ARE DOCUMENTED BELOW ****

The conference will run from Friday morning c.08.30 and end on Saturday about 18.00. There is anticipated to be social gatherings on both Thursday 6 June for those arriving the day before the conference and one on the evening of Friday 7 June.

COST OF ATTENDANCE £139 (delegates in employment) and £129 (students/unwaged/retired delegates). Held at Cardiff City FC 08:30 to 18:00 on both days. You can book here:

In 2022 & 2023 we added a special day rate for those who can only attend on one day and we’re doing that again this year for those who can only attend on one day. The day rate is £76 (delegates in employment) and £67.50 (students/unwaged/retired delegates).

Delegates will need to make their own arrangements regarding accommodation & travel for the conference. We hope to have a social gathering on Friday evening in central Cardiff. If you would like some advice on where to stay please contact the organisers via footycon@outlook.com

As with previous years there will be awards in connection with papers presented. Routledge will be providing these for a daily Best Paper Award and for a new inclusivity award.

Here is a draft list of presenters and topics (the timings and specific details will folllow):

International Football History Conference

30 June – 1 July 2023

***CFP Deadline 3 April***

The 2023 annual International Football History Conference will take place at Hampden Park, Glasgow, G42 9BA and will be held over two days (30 June and 1 July 2023).

This is a call for papers to be presented at the conference. There will be an opportunity to present on any topic relating to the history of football of all codes.

Main conference proceedings will take place between 8.30am and 5pm on Friday and Saturday.
As with previous years the conference will be open to those presenting on football of any code.
Abstracts are welcomed on any football related topic (football of ALL codes)
Abstracts are welcomed from researchers from any discipline.
Presentations must not have appeared at another conference. As our conference does not have parallel sessions, we are insistent that presentations must not be a repeat of something presented elsewhere.

Abstracts for the following presentation styles are welcomed:

Short Form (7 minutes) – 20 slides (plus a title slide) with a maximum of 20 seconds per slide. Ideal for a summary of research; to present early findings; Image related research etc.

Twenty Minutes – Those choosing a 20 minute slot will be able to split that time between presentation and questions as they feel appropriate (for example 15 minutes of presentation and 5 minutes of questions or 20 minutes presentation and no audience questions).

Panel – One hour twenty minutes: three presenters and a moderator on a related theme with specific time for individual presentations within the session agreed by the moderator including allowance for questions at the end to the group.

To apply to present please send a 100 to 150 word proposal to footycon@outlook.com by Monday 3^rd April 2023. Selection of presentations will take place by the committee by 30^th April. We will ensure confirmation is as soon as possible.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

The conference is self-funding and all delegates whether presenting or not will need to book their place before attending. It is anticipated that the cost of attendance for full-time delegates will be £139 and for students/unwagedl/retired delegates: £129

Special Day Rate: £75 (employed) & £65 (unwaged)

Tickets will be on sale soon.

Delegates will need to make their own arrangements regarding travel & accommodation for the conference. It is suggested delegates stay in city centre hotels but further information will be available by the end of April.

International Football History Conference 2023

I’m delighted to announce that the 2023 International Football History Conference will be staged at Hampden Park, Glasgow on 30 June and 1 July 2023. The call for papers and details of how to get involved will be announced in January but here are a few details for those interested in getting the date in their diaries….

The aim of this conference is to listen to quality research and to network with others. We hope delegates take the opportunity to meet with colleagues, friends and other delegates to share your research, hear their ideas and help establish a strong network of football (of all types!) researchers and experts.

The most recent conference was held in Manchester in November 2022 and it owes its success this year to all delegates whether presenting or not, and to the following who have provided great support:

City Football Group & Routledge

We would also like to put on record our thanks to British Society of Sports History for their support during Covid when the BSSH funded a zoom licence which allowed us to have a couple of gatherings online.

Rouledge have provided vouchers for a ‘Best Paper Award’ each year and their support has helped enormously.

Following feedback and the support of Richard McBrearty and the Scottish National Football Museum we will be able to take the conference to Glasgow for the first time in 2023. Provisional details are:

Main conference anticipated to be held Friday 30^th June through to Saturday 1^st July, with main conference proceedings taking place between 8am and 6pm on those days.
As with previous years the conference will be open to those presenting on football of any code. This is a fundamental element of the conference, so if you’re looking for somewhere to present your years of research into gaelic football, Aussie rules or other form of the game then look no further.
The call for papers will be issued in January. We are particularly keen to have panel debates/discussions next year, as well as traditional presentations. If you’ve got an idea for a debate/discussion you’d like to arrange then please email footycon@outlook.com and we’ll see if it can be accommodated.
To get a feel for the range of topics covered have a look at the schedule for Manchester 2022 at the end of this article (after images of Hampden).

In addition to any debate suggestions, presentations in the following formats will be welcomed:

Short Form (7 minutes) – 20 slides (plus a title slide) with a maximum of 20 seconds per slide.. Ideal for a summary of research; to present early findings; Image related research etc.

Twenty Minutes – Twenty minutes of slides but no audience questions.

Fifteen plus Five – Fifteen minutes of presentation slides plus five minutes of questions (or any combination up to a maximum of twenty minutes).

Follow @footycon for further information.

If anyone would like to contribute to the conference (in terms of organisational support both in the build-up to 2023 and at the conference itself) then please let us know as soon as possible. The more volunteers, the better the conference. Also, financial support is always useful in helping to keep the costs for delegates down. If you are involved with an organisation who can provide some support then please get in touch. Or if you feel you may be able to add value in some way then we are keen to hear from you.

See you in Glasgow, 30^th June & 1^st July 2023!