PROUD PNE fans opened their arms to The National Football Museum which opened at the club's Deepdale ground recently.

The legendary Sir Tom Finney (pictured) and his wife Elsie joined a host of big football names as well as civic dignitaries and business leaders including The Citizen's senior group editor Naomi Bunting and reporter Shaun Gibbons with photographer Kevin Walsh.

Although a separate entity from the club, the Deepdale ground was considered the most appropriate national venue for two important reasons.

Not only were PNE winners of the world's oldest professional league in 1888-9, but the club has played at the same ground for longer than any British club.

The centrepiece of the new £12million museum is the FIFA Museum Collection, the word's finest array of football memorabilia, with great international significance.

It will also house the Wembley collection of memorabilia and a further six important collections, totalling more than 20,000 exhibits.

The museum has received more than £7.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is registered charity with a board of independent trustees.

It is designed to appeal to football diehards and novices alike and is split into two 'halves' with a traditional museum area with profiles of individual teams and players as well as a themed, hands-on section examining different facets of the world of football.