The football museum, which will also be created in close cooperation with Sportland, will be an engaging museum on a 170-square-meter area right in the heart of Estonian football at the A. Le Coq Arena stadium, and its establishment will be supported by the 135,000 euro development program “Muuseumide kiirendi”. In addition, a large collection campaign will be launched on the sports museum’s website starting today, with the aim of finding extraordinary and previously unseen items and historical sports equipment. The selected items will also find a place in the new exhibition being built.

According to Siim Randoja, a member of the Sports Museum’s board, the museum will focus on playfulness and team spirit. "Football is in the hearts of Estonians and we are pleased that, in cooperation with the Estonian Football Association and Sportland, we can bring a piece of the largest sports museum in the Baltics to Tallinn, to the largest football stadium in the Baltics. As is typical of a sports museum, the environment of the football museum will also be experiential and interactive, and therefore invites not only football fans to explore," adds Randoja.

"Mapping the history of Estonian football and presenting it in a dignified and modern way is very important: history needs to be known and it inspires new generations. In addition, the opening of the museum will bring even more activity to the A. Le Coq Arena, offering added value to both domestic and foreign visitors. The previous long-term and very good cooperation with the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum is the basis on which we arrived at the establishment of the museum," said Aivar Pohlak, President of the Estonian Football Association.

The Sports Museum and the Estonian Football Association have previously collaborated on introducing the history of Estonian football. For example, in 2016, the sports museum opened a grand annual exhibition "King Football. The Story of Estonian Football", which provided an overview of the more than 100-year history of Estonian football. Later, the A. Le Coq Arena lobby and the VivatBet Stars Club were designed in collaboration, and the men's Baltic tournament winner's trophy, several national team shirts, medals, etc. were exhibited in the sports museum. In addition, the joint activity also includes storing the football team's iconic items in the museum's collections.

Sportland co-founder and board member of the Estonian Football Association Are Altraja recalled that the idea for the football museum indirectly began over ten years ago at a vision meeting of the Estonian Football Association at the sports museum. Under the leadership of Mihkel Uiboleht, an active collection of football-related materials began, and by 2018, the most important rooms of the A. Le Coq Arena were named after Estonian football legends.

According to Altraja, the role of Sportland is to inspire people to play sports and thereby support football culture. “Our stores display hundreds of items that belonged to sports celebrities, which create an emotional connection with visitors and motivate them to practice sports,” explained Altraja. “The A. Le Coq Arena Sportland store has already undergone two renovations. When Siim Randoja came up with the concept of a football museum, it was clear that we would do the next renovation together.”

The Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum is the largest sports museum in the Baltics on the main street of Tartu. It is one of the most modern sports museums in Europe, where you can test yourself in various sports and thereby learn about the history of Estonian sports. In addition, the sports museum has been nominated for the European Museum of the Year 2024.