– An Educational Project funded by the EU Erasmus+ Programme –
Football Makes History brings together history educators and youth workers from all over Europe to develop new educational resources that can help young people explore European history and heritage through the lens of football, as well as use football to tackle social exclusion.
Stories
Browse our collection of stories about football history and inclusion. With the history of football being made up of millions of stories, of individuals and communities, of movements and processes, we offer stories that can inspire our cultural conversations today.
Videos
Get to know untold stories where individuals are making history with football. When faced with insurmountable challenges, individuals past and present can use football as a cultural force to foster positive change in society. We honour these individuals and tell their ‘untold’ stories in short videos.
Educational Resources
Explore our innovative educational resources that use football’s history, heritage and legacy to engage young people. The resources include ready-made lesson plans and historical source collections for school history education as well as toolkit with activities for non-formal settings.
Latest video
Let’s talk football history

Welcome to Football Makes History: let’s talk football history
A new platform to talk about our two favorite subjects combined: football and history.

Welcome to Football Makes History: let’s talk football history
A new platform to talk about our two favorite subjects combined: football and history.

When football went viral
On this day in 2020, Atalanta Bergamo hosted Valencia in a final-16 Champions League match. It was a superspreading event of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Remembering the Holocaust through Football
Today, 27 January, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Educators can use the life stories of footballers to explore this painful past with the students.

World War 1 in one life
A story of a professional footballer who died at the battle of the Somme in 1916.

December in Football
Waiting for UEFA2020, we provided you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts. Here is what you enjoyed reading in December!
FOOTBALL STORIES Latest
Football Highlights

December in Football
Waiting for UEFA2020, we provided you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts. Here is what you enjoyed reading in December!

November in Football
Waiting for UEFA2020, we provided you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts. Here is what you enjoyed reading in November!

October in Football
As the UEFA 2020 European Championships got pushed ahead one year, we provide you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts to help all fans out there to go back in time, think, and reflect.
December in Football
Waiting for UEFA2020, we provided you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts. Here is what you enjoyed reading in December!
November in Football
Waiting for UEFA2020, we provided you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts. Here is what you enjoyed reading in November!
October in Football
As the UEFA 2020 European Championships got pushed ahead one year, we provide you with a 365-day #onthisday series of posts to help all fans out there to go back in time, think, and reflect.
SPECIAL Lockdown Football Stories

Football Lockdowns: Smallpox outbreak in 1972
Football Makes History Developer and history teacher Igor Jovanovic wrote for us about other times when Football was stopped like it currently is. This time it is the Smallpox outbreak in Yugoslavia.

Football Lockdowns: Oil Crises 1956 and 1973
Dutch sport historian Jurryt van de Vooren wrote of other times when Football was stopped, like it currently is. This time it’s oil shortages!

Football Lockdowns: Tilburg (NL) 1951
Dutch sport historian Jurryt van de Vooren wrote a historical overview of other times when Football was stopped, like it currently is. Small story of a local epidemic.

Football Lockdowns: World War Two
Dutch sports historian Jurryt van de Vooren wrote a historical overview of other times when Football was stopped like it currently is. The Second World War is our second short piece.

Football Lockdowns: The Spanish Flu of 1918
Dutch sports historian Jurryt van de Vooren wrote for us about other times when Football was stopped like it currently is. Spanish flu of 1918 is the first story.
Life Stories
Football Makes History gathers life stories of unique individuals that help us connect the history of football to diversity and inclusion.
This is Football Lives.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Latest

Multiculturalism and representations of national identity
Teach students about questions of identity, citizenship and multiculturalism by looking at national football teams across Western Europe.

Should we always blame someone when something goes wrong?
Help your students develop social and civic competences by using examples of events in football history.

A system of push and pull
Expand the knowledge of your students about migration and its push and pull factors through the example of football.

Football as a portal to French colonial history
Learn about colonialism and migration by tracing the origins of French football players.

Disappearing from football and the world
Analyse and connect historical sources to learn about Italian fascism and the history of Europe in late 1930s – early 1940s.