Things might not all be rosy for Newcastle United Football Club in the Premier League at the moment, but an exhibition dedicated to the club’s history has become the most popular exhibition ever to be staged at the Newcastle Discovery Museum.

The Toon Times exhibition, which opened in February and closed 5 October, drew 315,000 visitors alone – more than six times the capacity of Newcastle’s home ground of St James’ Park and even larger than the population of Newcastle.

By comparison, the museum’s usual annual visitor numbers are around 410,000, but the Newcastle United exhibition sparked the site's busiest ever figures between February and August.

The exhibition was organised in partnership with the Newcastle United Foundation and fans of the club were asked to loan personal items to the exhibit to create a unique collection of exhibits related to the club and its local history.

“In a museum telling the history of Tyneside, you can’t not have the story of Newcastle United because it is part and parcel of what Tyneside is about,” said Discovery Museum and Archives manager Carolyn Ball speaking to Chronicle Live.

“It has been very much a fans’ exhibition and we will now explore how we can have a permanent presence for the club in the museum.”

Following its success in 2014, the exhibition will move to its new home at the nearby Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum in Wallsend for 2015.