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Kevin Kwong

Hong Kong Museum of History

Ends Sept 18

The Hong Kong Museum of History could not have chosen a better time  to stage this exhibition. Jointly presented by Britain's National Football Museum, the Football Exhibition showcases soccer as a sport with an international appeal.

You  only have to go  to your local bar or pub tonight to feel the frenzy the World Cup has brought upon this city - and around the world.

While the museum show may be a more  sedate affair, it's comprehensive in scope and precious in content.  It aims to explore the early origins of football across the world, the story of Fifa (Federation Internationale de Football Association) and the World Cup in its three-month run.

It also showcases  players  past and present through a rare collection of  150 artefacts, photographs and memorabilia. And there  is   a section on the history of local  soccer. The origin of soccer has been a topic of debate for many years, according to the curatorial notes.

Different ball games had been played in China, Japan, Mexico, ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. At the China Football Expo 2004 in Beijing, however, Fifa declared the game originated in China: Linzi, to be exact. But the game was known as cuju then, more than 2,400 years ago.

It's said that after the Asian Football Confederation in 2004 formally recognised that football 'was born' in Linzi, the local government submitted an application to the Cultural Department in Shandong province, proposing to list cuju as the nation's first example of intangible cultural heritage. Most visitors are likely to zero in on the 100 exhibits  selected from the National Football Museum.

They include a ball used in the first World Cup in 1930, a replica of the lost Jules Rimet  Trophy, the last pair of boots worn by Manchester United  and Northern Ireland player George Best and  soccer shirts signed by the likes of Pele, Ronaldinho,  David Beckham and Michael Owen.

Not to be outdone, the Hong Kong Football Association has also lent the museum several valuable exhibits, including the 1923 Hong Kong-Shanghai Inter-city Cup, the trophy awarded at the 1957 Merdeka Cup  and the Viceroy Cup, which was presented from 1969 to 1998.

Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm, Sun and public holidays, 10am-7pm; closed on Tue (except public holidays), 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, $20. Inquiries: 2724 9042



Football Exhibition