Christmas Truce memorial to be built in Staffordshire

A competition has been launched to find a design for the memorial, which will be built at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas.

The project is being backed by the Duke of Cambridge. Schools and football academies are being asked to come up with designs.

Bosses want to mark 100 years since the Christmas Truce.

The winning design will be chosen by The Duke, and Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott and the memorial will be formally unveiled in December.

FA Chairman Greg Dyke said: "Having just been to visit the battlefields and memorial sites in northern France, I saw at first hand just how much a part football played in the First World War. The scale of the loss is unthinkable and it is only right and fitting the game comes together to pay tribute to those that made the ultimate sacrifice.

"By bringing the story of the Christmas Truce to life for a new generation, we can also remind how football can be a positive force in bringing people together - even at the worst of times. All at The FA will be involved in the commemorations and I would like to pay special tribute to our President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge for his personal support – particularly with the memorial design competition which I hope will really capture young people's imagination."

It comes as a 'Football Remembers' education pack is set to be sent to more than 30,000 schools across the UK, including resources to help children learn about the truce such as eye-witness accounts, photos, drawings and letters from soldiers, some of which have never been published before.

On Christmas Day 1914 German, British and French soldiers ventured into no man's land, where they played football and exchanged food and souvenirs.

It is seen as one of the iconic moments in history that showed sport can transcend war.

First World War and Sports Minister, Helen Grant, said: "When both sides laid down their arms at Christmas and played football, they showed how sport can overcome even the biggest divide. The Football Remembers educational pack is a fantastic way to reconnect young people with that moment and with a war that risks feeling so distant. The letters, photographs and mementoes vividly tell the story of what happened in the words of those who lived it. It is fitting then that, from playing fields and playgrounds to the world stage, football will once again unite us, this time in remembrance."