This is real football

Many people know about Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool and the most assiduous among supporters might even recall my own favourite football team, Southampton FC. Some may celebrate Chelsea as the best football team and the older guys might trumpet the glories of the Spurs, Forest, Blackpool or Wolves.

However, the two very real and genuine football clubs in England are called AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester. They are clubs with a difference because they celebrate pure football values - communitarianism, non-profit and direct involvement - and alienate themselves as much as humanly possible from the commercial aspect of the game.

In a time where money seems to be the unique promoter in the world of football, AFC.Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester are a breath of fresh air which, through their creation and subsequent progression, have instilled in genuine lovers of football a grain of hope.

What is the story of these clubs?

AFC Wimbledon currently lies in the middle of the table of the Ryman (Isthmian) League Premier Division, which basically translates itself into the seventh tier of English football.

AFC Wimbledon was set up in 2002 by a number of genuine Wimbledon FC supporters who were devastated by the FA's decision to grant permission for a group of businessmen to relocate Wimbledon FC - a top ranking club that had even secured an FA Cup at Liverpool's expense - to Milton Keynes, 70 miles from home.

Through this decision, the businessmen leading Wimbledon FC secured a home ground for the newly-baptised Milton Keynes Dons and, thus, increased profits, but totally went against the original concept of community and team football, alienating the club from its proper roots.

The obscene Wimbledon FC case was purely one where money and profit won over true and genuine football, where business interests came before 115 years of accrued football history and generations of happy memories for Wimbledon supporters.

In an attempt to promote the true football values, the former Wimbledon FC supporters set up their own team, AFC Wimbledon, coached by former Wimbledon hero Terry Earnes, and did this in style.

The promoters of AFC Wimbledon chose to vest the ownership of the club in a not-for-profit trust or organisation that guards the principles and aims by which it operates. Basing themselves on a cooperative kind of ownership, the promoters of AFC Wimbledon organised this democratic structure for supporters' representation and, through membership fees and donations, financial stakeholding.

This new and socially-oriented style of running is indeed a reflection of the genuine values of this sport. According to AFC Wimbledon's website (www.afcwimbledon.co.uk) any genuine supporter of the club may become a member of the trust and, thus, a part owner of the club with full powers to even stand to be elected to the managing board of the trust.

AFC Wimbledon has shown all the world that fans and communities can indeed run their own football clubs.

For the record, in the first season at the lowest ranks of English football (2001-2002), the club finished in the third place, narrowly missing promotion. In 2002-2003, AFC Wimbledon maintained a record of full wins, winning every single game. Upon promotion to the regional Isthmian League, they managed to chalk up enough victories to earn a second promotion, this time to the Isthmian League - Premier Division.

Their star player, Rob Ursell, was in the 2004-2005 season short-listed by the FA for the FA Cup Player of the Round Award.

Who knows, maybe AFC Wimbledon will imitate the former Wimbledon side and climb through the ranks of English football? If it succeeds, it will be a victory not only for all genuine football supporters but even for all those who have had enough with businessmen turning our favourite game into a business.

AFC Wimbledon's success attracted the attention of genuine Manchester United supporters who had long been showing disgruntlement at the way their club was turned into a business machine. Malcolm Frazier's takeover in 2005 was the last straw for a group of more than 1,000 supporters who, acting on the advice of AFC Wimbledon's chairman Kris Stewart, formed a new club based on the cooperative spirit of the Dons.

Most importantly, FC United of Manchester's manifesto declares clearly that:

• The board must be democratically elected by its members.

• Decisions taken by the membership will be on a one member, one vote basis.

• The club will develop strong links with the local community and strive to be accessible to all, discriminating against none.

• The board will strive wherever possible to avoid outright commercialism.

• The club will remain a non-profit organisation.

Furthermore, the club, though accepting sponsorships, does not allow sponsors' logos to be displayed on the team's shirts, underlying the point that as far as possible the aim of the club is to celebrate more the values of the sport and less the values of commercialism.

Its manifesto declares: "Our aim is to create a sustainable club for the long term which is owned and democratically run by its members, which is accessible to all the communities of Manchester and one in which they can participate fully... we want to be seen as a good example of how a club can be run in the interests of its members and be of benefit to its local communities".

The supporters responded very well to the call. The attendance of 2,590 for the first match of the club of the 10th and lowest tier of English football, the North West Counties Football League Division Two, set a new record for the league. The first year was an immediate success, with the club being promoted to the North West Counties Football League Division One.

Currently FCUM are in the second position of the league, aiming for a second successive promotion to the Northern Premier League, which is the equivalent of the Isthmian League.

Is it possible the same would happen in Malta?

I sincerely hope that more and more clubs decide to opt for a cooperative form of owning football clubs for the sake of the love of the game itself. Who knows, maybe there are enough community leaders in our island who are prepared to promote this new and modern idea locally!

In my view, it is really worth a try. This is real football.

owenbonnici@onvol.net