In 1991 Manchester United listed on the stock market in an effort to raise money and bring about sporting and financial success. It worked; but at what price?
14 years on the Old Trafford club is set to be taken private once again following Malcolm Glazer's takeover - a move that will shroud the club in secrecy at a time when its finances are more important than ever.
A similar thing happened two years ago at Chelsea when another billionaire appeared, bought the club lock, stock and oil barrel before taking it off the publicly traded market.
The key difference is that where Chelsea fans are now indebted to Roman Abramovich, United are now facing a future in debt because of their new owner. Anyone clinging to hopes that Glazer will be a sugar daddy is sorely mistaken.
Of course, Glazer will now wage a PR war. He'll probably offer cash to strengthen the team and maybe offer Sir Alex Ferguson a long-term contract; sweeteners in an attempt to get people back into their boycotted seats and overstocked mega store.
But simply refraining from using Vodafone mobile phones, shunning Nike shoes, not buying season tickets and refusing to buy replica shirt will not be enough to stop Glazer.
A man who deals in millions will not be deterred by the valiant and heartfelt resistance being waged by the men and women of Shareholders Untied.
SU number around 28,000; which is a sizeable amount. But for a club which in the last few years has boasted a worldwide fanbase of 50 million, SU's current membership is a drop in the ocean.
Glazer knows this and will be basing his business plans not on the hardcore supporters of Salford, but on those millions he feels are an untapped resource.
The whole sorry episode is anathema to football fans who prize tradition and heritage, but Glazer is a businessman and while former glories offer interesting context, the real money is to be made 'going forward' and television is the way to do it.
The current Premier League television rights deal will end in May 2007. At present the 20 clubs pool their rights together and sell them collectively via the league and share the pot. It works well, especially for the smaller clubs who benefit from the league's big name clubs and players.
At the moment the Premiership's domestic deal is worth in excess of £1 billion over three years, while its international deal is worth in the region of £300 million. The combined total is then shared out.
The European Union has been increasingly unhappy with the collective sale of rights and is keen for the practise to end, which would play perfectly into Glazer's hands - a fact he knows only too well.
Man United fans protest against Malcolm Glazer's takeover bid. (NealSimpson/Empics)
If United seize control of their own television rights MUTV, the club's television channel, could become the only place to watch Premiership games played at Old Trafford.
How much could a Glazer-led United earn if MUTV were available in the homes of the club's 50 million fans, with games yours on pay-per-view for $20 each?
Consultancy firm Ernst & Young estimated earlier this year that Untied could make an extra £15 million a year by selling its own TV rights. Given Glazer's aggressive stance thus far, that figure seems a little conservative.
Other big Premiership clubs could benefit in the short-term from an end to collective TV rights sales, but the vast majority would suffer. And not just in the Premiership; money from TV filters through to lower leagues, granted not in huge amounts but its more than nothing, which is exactly what they can look forward to if Glazer gets his way.
Taken to its logical conclusion the top five clubs in the Premiership would be able to remain competitive by selling their own TV rights, but the other 15 clubs would suffer hugely - even the big clubs need someone to play against.
This would ultimately mean a reduction in meaningful domestic fixtures and lead the top clubs to look elsewhere for week-in-week-out matches that could sell PPV tickets; European Super League anyone?
Broadcasters and sponsors and money men in general will be smacking their lips at the prospect, but is this really why we started following football?
Hindsight is a strange thing; wonderful and useless at the same time. The same is true of maxims like 'you play with fire, you get burned'. You can't really live your life by them, let alone run a business by them, but sooner or later you'll wish you had.
Listing on the stock market ultimately led to the Glazer takeover. But listing was not the only instance of a regrettable decision, another came when Ferguson's political manoeuvrings clashed with his hobby.
Problems with the club's board led the Scot to tout the merits of buying into United to the now infamous 'Coolmore Mafia'. Ferguson hoped that having his wealthy then-pals John Magnier and JP McManus owning a sizeable chunk of United would give him extra bargaining power at the club.
Unfortunately the nascent Celtic triumvirate with a shared love of horse-racing fell out over ownership of the stud rights to Rock of Gibraltar; Ferguson's political machinations left him with burnt hands.
The Irishmen were never football fans and were never interested in anything other than making money. Yesterday they walked away with upwards of £70 million in pure profit after a few years investing in United, and, in a final act of revenge, left Ferguson's empire in the control of a reclusive septuagenarian who sued his sisters over the will of their late mother - not the ideal candidate to run a much-loved community asset.
There is however hope. PPV only works if the product on offer is worth paying for. United are already in trouble on the pitch and are in need of at least a new goalkeeper and some steel in midfield; talent doesn't come cheap and it takes a shrewd manager to pick them and forge a team around them.
One asset Glazer needs to hold on to is Ferguson, a man who could easily walk away from the club after the FA Cup final. Ferguson would be the perfect steward for Glazer; he could keep the team's promising players, nurture any new signings and be a link between owner and fans. Losing Ferguson would be a disaster.
However, there is growing suspicion the Ferguson will indeed bring his 19-year tenure to an end after the Cardiff showdown with Arsenal.
Remove Ferguson and you have an ailing team without its patriarch; a failing team could swiftly follow. If Cristiano Ronaldo were to be tempted by Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney by Chelsea, the club would be without its most promising players. All of a sudden United could crumble from a giant into midtable also-ran shorn of superstars.
How then to convince a world of United fans to pay good money for PPV games; to buy merchandise and products from credit cards to Ryan Giggs bedspreads?
How many of the 50 million worldwide fans will switch to Chelsea if failure and mediocrity follows a decade of success? Johnny Come-Lately is a fickle fan - if you're not winning you're nowhere, his attention and money will go on the next new craze, be it Chelsea or Star Wars or Pokemon.
Glazer must tread carefully if he is to avoid the collapse of Manchester United. The hundreds of millions of debt he has taken in order to assume control of Old Trafford is only serviceable if the club remains a winning force and loyal fans pay to be associated.
That, it seems, is the only hope for fans like those within Shareholders United: watch and hope as the club bleeds to death, wait until Glazer is forced to quit and then hope against all else that the phoenix can rise from the ashes.
Whatever the outcome for the club, SU and Ferguson the day Manchester United were sold to the Glazer will be remembered as a dark day for football.
