"I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class", surmised legendary thinker Randal Graves, "especially since I rule". Whether he was advocating the purest anarchy or most virulent oligarchy is open to interpretation, and the footballing world appears to be divided on the matter.

Pursuing the former is Football Club United of Manchester. Conceived in early 2005 as an option in the event of a takeover, the idea was supported by many intending to boycott but unwilling to be deprived of their United fix. A few months later, the club was born, with the aim - despite perceptions to the contrary - of running alongside, rather than in opposition to its bigger brother.

Of course the Glazer takeover was only a tipping point, serving to highlight the other liberties - early kick offs, heavy-handed stewarding and ridiculous pricing - that had been largely ignored through the previous decade because their encroachment was incremental and the football so good. The reality, though, was that the action had become the only enjoyable element of the 90 minutes, so FC set about revitalising the matchgoing experience as an outlet for well-intentioned unruly behaviour.

OK, its name is a bit of a mouthful, but what can you do? The words "Manchester" and "United" needed to be there, as did "Football" and "Club", their removal from the crest of Big United symbolic of its manipulation from fellowship to brand. But don't hate on the name, feel the acronym.

And anyway, though it could scan better, there were no complaints, because everyone who cared about it voted for it; the ruling class is everyone, and they all rule. The club is owned by its members, and not just in name; ticket pricing is determined by a vote, and those on the board are elected, not appointed. Run according to the Industrial & Provident Society Model as a not-for-profit organisation, the club is obligated to no one but itself and exists solely for its own ends.

Those ends, though, are by no means selfish. From its inception, FC has attempted to fill the space in the community that was once occupied by United. Going to the game is cheap enough to exclude no-one, the focus is on developing talent rather than buying it in, and the work done with local youth is at least the equal of anything done at Old Trafford.

Sadly, examples of supporter activism are rare in this country, fighting the power coming a distant third behind apathy and rivalry. The German model, on the other hand - where fans of different clubs co-ordinate protests about specific issues that matter to many - has led to reduced ticket pricing, stadia with safe standing areas, and match highlights shown on free-to-air television a couple of hours after full time.

Achieving this in England is difficult only because there is no coherence between the fans of different clubs. If parochialism could be briefly put aside for the greater good, then its continued enjoyment in a suitable environment would be far more likely than it is now.
In the meantime, we may as well enjoy the occasional minor victory. This weekend's game against Bolton is United's first Saturday home three o'clock in almost a year, leaving me with a choice of either pub or internet – how very apt. After years of disenfranchising matchgoers with the tyranny of television, the FA are now being repaid in kind, and well do they deserve it.

But it's not just the FA who are guilty of negatively applying Graves' aphorism. This was exemplified most recently by FIFA's decision to seed the draw for the playoff games that will determine the final World Cup qualifiers from the European zone. As a neutral, I'd prefer the best players to be involved, but only if they deserve to be. Currently, the likes of Ronaldo and Henry deserve a randomly drawn playoff against another country that could only finish second in its group, because that's all they were able to deliver for theirs.

Had the seeding been the intention from the start, it would still have been wrong but at least it would've been the system. Instituting it once it became clear some of the bigger names were struggling, is, as Daffy Duck would love to say, f**king despicable. But sadly, and yet again, money is prioritised over the integrity of competition.

Talking of money, Ryan Giggs was quoted this week as having said the following: "The average player is getting a lot of money - if that is right, I don't know".

Well, Ryan, allow me to enlighten you; it isn't. No one minds too much that the best players are paid huge sums – they are in most sports, as are the best in the world at most objects of human endeavour. But the amount of money thrown at mediocrities and young players is close to immoral. Why should supporters pay for El-Hadji Diouf to park his gold Cadillac in a loading bay and not care if he gets a ticket? What teenager wouldn't be affected by the sudden ability to afford and attract as much of anything as he and his friends could ever want?

This isn't 'Nam, so let's have a few rules. If basic pay were made lower and bonuses higher, obscene money would at least be some kind of reward. Young players would then have to earn their wealth, rather than be presented with it while on the fringes of a team that's keeping them just in case they turn out to be good.

On which point it was nice to see that after all these years, Fergie has finally learnt how to tap someone up without infringing the rules.

Sending a letter to Liege's Steven Defour wishing him a speedy recovery is nothing new (and to read it you'd think he was suffering from ebola, swarfega and gangrene all mixed into one), but doing it via his club is a lovely touch. In obliging them to pass it on, they've alerted the player to United's interest, but can't have any complaints because they told him of it themselves.

Realistically, though, this is about as good as it'll get. There's no way of stopping people talking to each other, so there's no way of stopping tapping. The best we can hope for is that it's done in public, so at least everyone knows what's what, which I suppose in the shady world of football counts as some sort of result.