To mark the hundredth anniversary of the end of the First World War, University of Kent staff will play a football match and officially twin a sports pitch with the Flanders Peace Field in Messines, Belgium. The match will be followed by a lecture from leading historian of sport, Dr Iain Adams, who will discuss the significance of football during the conflict and address some of the myths that have grown up around it (further information here).
Representatives from the British Legion will lead a short ceremony at the start of the football match and Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield and the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen Cox will unveil the Peace Field plaque.
The event is hosted by Gateways to the First World War, the National Children’s Football Alliance (NCFA) and Kent Sport, and the twinning of the football pitch is part of the NCFA’s international Peace Field project.
Peace Cycle Ryde
NCFA will also announce details of the sponsored PEACE cycle RIDE from the University of Kent to Ypres/Ieper, Belgium, on Saturday 23rd March 2019, which will raise money to enable Slum Soccer, India to send a team of children to the 2019 Global Peace Games. Find out more about the cycle ride here.
See the full programme and book your place for Football and the First World War here.
