In 2005, FC United of Manchester was founded by disaffected fans of Manchester United. They created their own club, one that will forever be fan-owned, and began playing at the bottom of the English football pyramid, about as far from the bright lights of Old Trafford as one can go. From the beginning, FCUM fan Matthew Wilkinson has been traveling far and wide in support of the club and photographing much of their adventure as it has gone on.

In 2005, FC United of Manchester was founded by disaffected fans of Manchester United. They created their own club, one that will forever be fan-owned, and began playing at the bottom of the English football pyramid, about as far from the bright lights of Old Trafford as one can go. From the beginning, FCUM fan Matthew Wilkinson has been traveling far and wide in support of the club and photographing much of their adventure as it has gone on.

There is definitely something in the air. If the landscape of the football supporter has been defined by any single theme over the last two or three years, then the notion of protest and a more general feeling of satisfaction at the way on which our game is being run has to come close to the top of anybody's list.

The FA Trophy continued this weekend with Durham City entertaining FC United of Manchester at New Ferens Park, after a brush with serious financial difficulties which threatened the very future of the club. FC United of Manchester, meanwhile, are still celebrating the planning permission granted for their new ground.

The FA Trophy continued this weekend with Durham City entertaining FC United of Manchester at New Ferens Park, after a brush with serious financial difficulties which threatened the very future of the club. FC United of Manchester, meanwhile, are still celebrating the planning permission granted for their new ground.

This time. Perhaps this time. FC United of Manchester have been once bitten and can certainly be forgiven for being twice shy over their planning application for a new ground of their own, to be built in the Moston area of the city. Their previous attempt to do exactly this in Newton Heath ended in failure after government cuts slashed their hopes, but this time there should be no such concerns.

It's been a big week for Manchester. First of all the Manchester Egg was, thanks to the Food and Drink festival, brought to the wider audience it deserved, smashing out of the cult snack niche in to mainstream acceptance, and in doing so being treated with the same sort of awestruck reverence that greeted Marty McFly's guitar playing at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance.

It's been a big week for Manchester. First of all the Manchester Egg was, thanks to the Food and Drink festival, brought to the wider audience it deserved, smashing out of the cult snack niche in to mainstream acceptance, and in doing so being treated with the same sort of awestruck reverence that greeted Marty McFly's guitar playing at the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance.

We have noted on here before that non-league football can be a hand to mouth existence for many clubs, all of which makes the recent behaviour of Northern Premier League club Chorley FC in relation to the ticketing and policing arrangements for their match against FC United of Manchester on Saturday even more perplexing than they might otherwise be.

We have noted on here before that non-league football can be a hand to mouth existence for many clubs, all of which makes the recent behaviour of Northern Premier League club Chorley FC in relation to the ticketing and policing arrangements for their match against FC United of Manchester on Saturday even more perplexing than they might otherwise be.

It was Non-League Day this weekend, as you will all now be thoroughly aware, so to close up on this it's time for this week's Non-League Videos Of The Week, this week featuring no fewer than six matches, from the Blue Square Premier, the Blue Square South, the Northern Premier League, the Southern League and the FA Cup.

It's Non-League Day tomorrow, but you already knew that, didn't you? The brain-child of Mike Bayly occasionally of this parish and James Doe is celebrating its second annual event this weekend, and the extent to which non-league football has embraced the idea has been refreshing, to say the least.

July, some say, is a little too early for the football season to start. The new season lumbers to life each year likein the manner of a bear awakening from hibernation. We don't merely leap to life, ready to jump into another year of those twin false gods of hope and despair, though. We have to be spoonfed our addiction, as if on a drip and we have to be cajoled back into action.

July, some say, is a little too early for the football season to start. The new season lumbers to life each year likein the manner of a bear awakening from hibernation. We don't merely leap to life, ready to jump into another year of those twin false gods of hope and despair, though. We have to be spoonfed our addiction, as if on a drip and we have to be cajoled back into action.

With the future of Supporters Direct still under threat, it is worth taking a moment to reflect upon an anniversary that will most likely go unremarked upon elsewhere, but is still an anniversary that has changed our perception of how football clubs can be run. Long before Chester FC or FC United of Manchester, before even AFC Wimbledon were formed, the first club set up in protest at the ownership of one individual took their first steps.

Quiet, isn't it? In years ending in an odd number, the Euro-centric football enthusiast's calendar suddenly opens out before them like the savannah plains. The 2011 Women's World and the European Under-21 Championships sit before us like twin oases and the press will continue to feed the constant thirst with a drip of transfer stories, many of which will come to nothing and many more of which will not become truth until the last possible moment before a ball is kicked in anger again.

After three years, then, it looks as if the Leigh Genesis experiment may be coming to an end. The club had been rebranded during the summer of 2008, but it now looks as if the club is to cease playing after three years of chaos which followed what was supposed to be a brave new world in the history of a club which had, through several different names, been playing since 1896.

It is the end, then, of another long, hard season, and perhaps now is an appropriate time to be looking at how those clubs that are owned and run by their supporters trusts this season managed to fair. As AFC Wimbledon paraded the trophy that confirmed their accession into the Football League nine years after their formation, the words of the FA's committee, that a new club in the borough would be, "not in the wider interests of football", have never sounded more hollow.

It has been another strange, confusing week at Wrexham Football Club. The last time we reported on what has been going on there, it seemed as if a deal had been done and that the Wrexham Supporters Trust were at the point of losing out in their bid to take over the running of the club. While one potential bidder although whether there was anything substantial behind her intention to bid for the club had become more and more questionable as the weeks had progressed Stephanie Booth, had all but withdrawn from the process, but a deal had, it seemed, been reached between the club's owners, Geoff Moss and Ian Roberts, and a consortium led by Jon Harris to complete the purchase of the club.

Fußball und Bier SC Victoria Hamburg 0-2 Meiendorfer SV (06.05.11) Matt Wilkinson is a professional Mancunian. Religion: Manchester United - Politics: FC United of Manchester. He took time out from his lofty abode, perched up on Saddleworth Moor to visit Germany for a European Football Weekend....

There was, perhaps, something inevitable that it would all come down to a ninety minute shoot-out. That FC United of Manchester is in itself an extraordinary part of our football culture is without doubt, but even the most optimistic of their supporters could scarcely have guessed at the amount of drama that they have managed this season, from an FA Cup run that took in a last minute win at Rochdale and a last minute penalty save at Brighton to a league season that saw them end last year nearer to relegation than the play-off places, yet has ended up on the North Wales coast on a Bank Holiday Monday, with 2,000 people packed inside Llanelian Road and hundreds more perched atop a hill overlooking the ground.

There was, perhaps, something inevitable that it would all come down to a ninety minute shoot-out. That FC United of Manchester is in itself an extraordinary part of our football culture is without doubt, but even the most optimistic of their supporters could scarcely have guessed at the amount of drama that they have managed this season, from an FA Cup run that took in a last minute win at Rochdale and a last minute penalty save at Brighton to a league season that saw them end last year nearer to relegation than the play-off places, yet has ended up on the North Wales coast on a Bank Holiday Monday, with 2,000 people packed inside Llanelian Road and hundreds more perched atop a hill overlooking the ground.

The Southern League play-offs weren't the only matches being played last night. Play-off semi-finals were also being played in the Northern Premier League and we were lucky enough to have Andrew Gibney offer to write up the match between Bradford Park Avenue and FC United of Manchester for us.

The Southern League play-offs weren't the only matches being played last night. Play-off semi-finals were also being played in the Northern Premier League and we were lucky enough to have Andrew Gibney offer to write up the match between Bradford Park Avenue and FC United of Manchester for us.

FC United of Manchester travel to Matlock Town for an Evostik League Premier Division match this afternoon in second place in the table, but during the week they played Marine at Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold. As Marine is a club from Liverpool, there is always a little needle in the air when the two clubs meet, and we are pleased to be able to bring you highlights from this match.

FC United of Manchester travel to Matlock Town for an Evostik League Premier Division match this afternoon in second place in the table, but during the week they played Marine at Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold. As Marine is a club from Liverpool, there is always a little needle in the air when the two clubs meet, and we are pleased to be able to bring you highlights from this match.

Each year, the FA Cup brings the English football consumer, entertainment that (apparently) no other country brings to the table, as the joy of a second knock-out tournament makes its yearly appraisal.

And now, our journey has brought us to a completely underwhelming semi-final, where even the mere glimpse of the ties makes you wonder if the FA Cup itself is out to ruin its own enjoyment.

It's a slightly different time for our non-league videos of the week, and this week we're focussing on clubs that are owned by their supporters again. First up is the match from the Evostik League Premier Division between FC United of Manchester and Worksop Town. A couple of months ago, we could have been forgiven for thinking that FC United's league season was grinding to a halt, but they have won seven of their last nine matches and now have an excellent chance of making the play-offs at the end of the season.

It's a slightly different time for our non-league videos of the week, and this week we're focussing on clubs that are owned by their supporters again. First up is the match from the Evostik League Premier Division between FC United of Manchester and Worksop Town. A couple of months ago, we could have been forgiven for thinking that FC United's league season was grinding to a halt, but they have won seven of their last nine matches and now have an excellent chance of making the play-offs at the end of the season.

If you're viewing this site from a mobile phone you would be best advised to click the link at the bottom of this page, which will take you to the desktop version of this site.

We've got a two-part Non-League Videos Of The Week for this this week, with more to follow in a day or two.

If you're viewing this site from a mobile phone you would be best advised to click the link at the bottom of this page, which will take you to the desktop version of this site.

We've got a two-part Non-League Videos Of The Week for this this week, with more to follow in a day or two.

It often seems as if football commentators are more divisive that than they perhaps they should be. We, as supporters, allow our hackles to rise whenever they open their mouths, yet what they do is extraordinarily difficult. Perhaps the point is that they make it look easy, leading us to believe that it is easy.