Nineteenth Century cap among prized possessions at first national football museum

A museum showcasing the history of football in Wales is set to open to the public.

The Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum is the first of its kind, and will bring to life artefacts and memorabilia spanning 150 years of the beautiful game in Wales.

Following a major redevelopment, part of the museum has also been designated to the history of Wrexham, showing how people lived and worked in the city over centuries.

About 70% of the football material on display will not have been exhibited before.

Curator Nick Jones highlighted five artefacts to see when visiting.

Wales first played in the World Cup in 1958, and their star player, John Charles, was playing for Juventus in Italy.

Picking players to play for Wales wasn't as easy as it is now, with Juventus apparently reluctant to release Charles because Italy hadn't qualified.

Eventually, however, Italy allowed the "Gentle Giant" from Swansea to represent his country.

The telegram, which would now be an email, shows Italian counterparts giving permission for Charles to play just a few days before the first match following what the Italians described as "difficulties and exigencies".

One of the museum's most prized possessions is William Harrison's cap from 1899.

Harrison played a couple of international matches for Wales, and also played for Wrexham.

It was given to the museum in 2021 following the family of Stoke City striker Walter Watkins donating his Wales international cap from 1905, having spent decades in Australia, believing it to be Wales' oldest.

Paul Swainson, Harrison's great-grandson, donated the cap a week after Watkins family gave theirs.

Harrison's cap is similar to Watkins', but has black stitching rather than the gold braiding that later became common.

Eddie May's 1977-78 shirt is a "special possession", said Jones.

The former footballer's shirt was donated by his son, Paul.

May played and managed all the major Welsh clubs, making more than 300 appearances for Wrexham and 90 for Swansea, as well as managing Cardiff and Newport.

Jones said: "It's a nice shirt and story, and we decided to put it on for the Swansea section."

Pennants are often exchanged at the start of football matches, and there are more than 20 on display

One of the "most special" is from when Wales faced Portugal in Lisbon on 15 May 1949.

Tommy "TG" Jones exchanged pennants with Francisco Ferreira.

It's one of the oldest in the collection, and has been restored before going on display.

"It was in quite poor condition before and thread bare at the bottom, but it's all been repaired. It's back to it's former glory," said Jones.

A football that still harbours a mystery of when it was actually made.

Tom Hughes was a saddler from Llangollen and made balls for the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in the 20th Century.

This particular ball was "quite mouldy" when it was donated, but has now been restored.

Nobody knows when the ball was made, but the label says it was played in a Wales v England international.

The museum believe it was used in the 1920s after World War One, but research indicates it could be even older than that.

The Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum opened to the public on Friday.