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Chronicles a momentous year in the life of England’s largest wholly fan-owned football club, FC United, who were the only English side to win a European trophy in 2024. In 2005, a group of Manchester United fans stood up and said no to the rampant commercialisation of football and set up their very own club. Some reckoned it would be `all over by Christmas’, but two decades on FC United of Manchester provides a beacon for supporter ownership in a world that increasingly views football clubs as the property of the fabulously wealthy. Read and you will discover:A unique perspective on life at England’s largest wholly fan-owned football club as it approaches its 20th anniversaryHow a collectively owned and run club – which seeks to unite football, fans and community – copes with turbulent economic times without the backing of a wealthy owner while staying true to its core valuesThe inside track on FC United: in his role as volunteer board reporter, Jonathan Allsopp has reported on more than 80 FC United board meetings over the last eight years, writing nearly half a million words in the processHow a regular pre-match `club night in the afternoon’ offers football fans something more than cheap lager, saturated fats, fixed-odds coupons and gawping at a big screenIn its founding manifesto, FC United set out to be `a good example of how a club can be run in the interests of its members and be of benefit to its local communities’ – 20 years on, has it succeeded?
Binding: Hardback