This is the structure used by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AFC Wimbledon, the club formed by fans alienated by the old Wimbledon. The two Spanish giants, with memberships of 85,000 and 102,000 respectively, are non- profit-making and fully democratic organisations, holding quadrennial elections at which a president is mandated to run the club's affairs. AFC Wimbledon are run by a trust that aims to control at least 75% of the club's shares, and it will be interesting to see how long that principle survives in the club's rapid climb up the pyramid of English football.
Apart from enfranchising fans, the system appears to hold down costs. Membership of Real Madrid costs around €100 (£68), with an average season ticket on top at about €250, and all members have equal voting rights. None of that, one imagines, would appeal very much to Malcolm Glazer.
David Boyle, the deputy manager of Supporters Direct, an umbrella organisation for 127 trusts, more than 60 of which have some form of shareholding on behalf of supporters in football clubs across the country, says the idea of United fans walking out on Old Trafford forever and forming a new club is not as ludicrous as it might sound to those besotted with the club's legendary status.
'Some fans are already talking about starting again,' Boyle says, 'like AFC Wimbledon, who took 3,500 supporters with them. There will be a lot of people who will boycott United and it's not just over Glazer. He might just be the last straw. It is now so expensive to follow a club as big as United that many people simply can't afford it any more. They now have what might seem to be a convenient excuse to go.'
Cynics. meanwhile, see greedy businessmen presiding over a corporate monster and a team of hugely rich footballers whose loyalty is determined not by old-fashioned values but by their agents; already rumours are spreading that Cristiano Ronaldo is getting ready to go. Rio Ferdinand might not be far behind. How long will Roy Keane's legs hold him up? John Obi Mikel, the Nigerian teenager at the centre of a tug-of-war between United and Chelsea, might now view London as a more promising destination than Manchester. Others, in place or in waiting, could easily become skittish. And Ferguson, at 63 and in charge of a fading team, could decide to negotiate a dignified exit rather than risk a humiliating sacking by an owner for whom he appears to have little affection. David Gill, the feisty chief executive who has counselled bravely against the entreaties of Glazer, will almost certainly be readying himself for the long envelope, too.
It all has the look of a desperately listing ship. There could be worse to come. If Glazer is as ruthless as his critics say - 'a snake in sheep's clothing', as an American judge once called him - he will provide United supporters with the most terrible dilemma: to stay and fight, or walk away, disillusioned by the virus that has taken such a grip on all of football: greed.
This is the question United fans will be asking themselves this morning, on the eve of their final Premiership match. It is a comic twist that only victory in the FA Cup - the Cup they so arrogantly refused to defend in their pomp - can rescue their miserable season. It might all have been so different had Shareholders United moved into the boardroom earlier. 'If Glazer had tried this on five years from now,' says Boyle, 'the United fans would have had a very good chance of stopping him.'
It is some claim. But, he says, Supporters Direct is one of the best-kept secrets in football and is growing. He predicts that its guiding principle - turning fans into shareholders and encouraging the bond between the community and the boardroom - is the only way forward. 'Every model has been tried: butcher, baker, candlestick maker, millionaires, sugar daddies, plcs. They have all run up debts and gambled with tomorrow's money today. This is the only game left in town because, as long as there are football fans, there will be football clubs. In truth, the game has never been as properly run and community-based as it can be.'
There are 10 Football League clubs where trusts have a majority holding, with Stockport County and Rushden & Diamonds coming on board next month. 'In five years,' says Boyle, '25 per cent of clubs in the Nationwide will be run by supporters trusts. That should be up to 50 per cent in 10 years. And 20 years from now we expect the vast majority of clubs to be run by their supporters.'
In various forms, it works in Norway, Germany and Spain. If the great experiment in footballing democracy were to take hold here, the fans just might rescue what is left of football's soul.