FOOTBALL WITHOUT FANS IS NOTHING

"Football without fans is nothing." That observation by Jock Stein was engraved on the Supporters Direct Cup which the Dons narrowly won on Saturday - and the thousand or so FC United fans who travelled south to Surrey were living proof of the wisdom of his words.

An Isthmian League ground in Kingston may not have been the most appealing place to spend a humid midsummer Saturday afternoon but, for the Manchester rebels with a cause, there was nowhere else to be.

"It's the first time they've had to travel a great distance," said United's manager Karl Marginson, "and you saw how much it means to them through their vocal support and their songs about the players. They're right behind the team because they own it."

Football's obsession with money, and in particular Malcolm Glazer's £790m takeover of Manchester United, was the catalyst for the club's creation but Andy Walsh, a director of FCUM has no problem with wealthy benefactors coming on board.

"Money's not evil. This is about how a club like Manchester United is used to make money for a very small group of individuals. If a disenchanted supporter came to us with £1m we'd take it and that person would have one vote at our AGM - like everyone else.

"At the beginning we were told it would all fizzle out and we'd end up trooping back to Old Trafford with our tails between our legs to support Glazer's business plan, but that's not happened. The spirit and soul of Manchester United will be sustained within FC United. We want to establish a community team and drive roots throughout Greater Manchester to sustain it, whatever happens at Old Trafford."