A PLANNED football museum at Preston North End football club could prove a valuable resource to Preston students, University lecturers have claimed.

A collaboration between the University of Central Lancashire and the Football Museum has been christened the Institute of Football and Professor Richard Taylor, Head of the Law department at the university reckons most students could benefit from a chance to research the great game.

He said "All students on all degrees have the chance to take electives - where they can study what they want as part of their course - and I think a football option might be popular with a lot of them."

The museum's future hinges on a £5.7 million bid for Lottery cash and if all goes well it could open by 1997.

People will have access to the FIFA museum collection - probably the world's most important collection of football heritage and a PNE display - which will be housed in the new Tom Finney stand.

Bryan Gray, Chairman of the Trustees of the Football Museum said: "We want to create a resource centre where anyone can study any aspect of the game."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.