The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become significant figures in the history of the English game. New members are added each year, with an induction ceremony being held in September/October, formerly at varying locations, but exclusively at the Museum itself following its move to Manchester's Urbis building in 2012. To be considered for induction players must be either retired or, if their careers are still ongoing, at least 30 years of age. All inductees must also have played/managed for at least five years in England.
Members of the Hall of Fame are selected by a panel. Initially, this panel comprised ex-players Jimmy Armfield, Sir Trevor Brooking (also one of the museum's Vice Presidents), Jimmy Hill, Mark Lawrenson (also an Ambassador of the museum) and Gordon Taylor, all of whom had become professional pundits and/or senior figures in the game after retiring. They have since been joined by former England manager Graham Taylor and a group of the country's most eminent football historians; Robert Galvin, Peter Holme, Dick Holt, Simon Inglis, Alexander Jackson, Graham Kelly, Tony Mason, Gail Newsham, Dave Russell, John Walton and Jean Williams. Their role is to advise on the selection of players from the game's early days. All surviving inductees to the hall are also granted an additional place on the panel, for all following years after their selection.
The hall is on permanent display at the museum. An accompanying book, The Football Hall of Fame: The Official Guide to the Greatest Footballing Legends of All Time, was first published in October 2005 by Robson Books. Authored by the aforementioned historian Robert Galvin and the Museum's founding Curator Mark Bushell, it is updated every year with the newest inductees, containing an in-depth profile about the career and reputation of each one, along with a select exhibit from the museum which relates to their achievements.
In 2007, two other regular categories of induction were established alongside the main players, managers and women's categories. Chiefly, this was in recognition of football's central role in English culture, extending Hall of Fame honours to those whose main contribution to the English game has been outside the more obvious field of play. The Community Champion category – sponsored by the Football Foundation – honours professional players who have donated their spare time and money to the grassroots level of the sport, while the Football for All Award – sponsored by the Football Association – is presented to pioneers of the various forms of football played by disabled people.
Since 2009, the Museum now also commemorates whole teams alongside its awarding of individual players and coaches. The criteria for their induction is that they must have played at least a quarter of a century prior.
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In 2008, the museum was invited to stage an additional awards dinner in Liverpool at the ACC Liverpool as part of the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations. This time, the selection panel deliberated to select the English game's greatest players and managers on the criteria of their performance for English clubs in European competitions and/or their successful periods with clubs on the Continent.
In addition, fans of the host city's two major clubs – in conjunction with The Liverpool Echo – respectively picked their favourite performers from European games:
With the museum's relocation to Manchester taking up nearly all use of available resources, 2011 did not see a full induction ceremony. However two special ceremonies were held. The first, in January, saw the re-induction of Thierry Henry, who had been unable to attend his initial inauguration in 2008. The second, in October, was to induct Aston Villa's 1982 European Cup winning side into the teams section. A return to full-scale inductions is planned for when the move to Manchester is complete.
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