The Museum of London's football stories

The Museum of London, in partnership with the Greater London Authority, has created a short film celebrating the importance of grassroots football in London. 

Created by W Communications London, with direction from Sam Derby Cooper and Sebastian Nevols, and music from GAS Manchester, the film, called Eleven, focusses on eleven personal stories of Londoners who are involved at the grassroots level of the beautiful game.

The earliest recording of a game of football was documented in London and The Football Association was formed in the capital in 1863 and the film captures a range of stories; from Globe Rangers in Walthamstow to St. Matthews Project in Brixton, from the first Black Londoner to ever play football for England, Benjamin Odeje, to founder of Goal Diggers, Fleur Cousens, who created a team accessible to all women and non-binary people.

“Football is an intrinsic part of this city’s history and we’re thrilled to be celebrating the origins of the sport through our film," said Sharon Ament, Director of the Museum of London. "As we look ahead to our future home in West Smithfield we are asking Londoners to help us tell the story of sport in the capital, so we can better reflect Londoners in this currently underrepresented story when we move to our new home in the coming years.”