article: Behind glass screens high in the cavernous stands some will sip champagne as a galaxy of expensive stars including Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Marcos Rojo are introduced to the home support for the first time. Millions will watch around the globe. Around the pitch advertisement boards will promote multi-national companies, many of whom will have paid handsomely for the privilege. Fifteen miles to the east, another team called United and representing Manchester will be kicking off the second half of their first match on the long road to Wembley. Like those at Old Trafford, they will wear red shirts, white shorts and black socks. However, in the slightly more compact surroundings of Stalybridge Celtic's Bower Fold ground (capacity 6,500) there will be no millionaire superstars and no private boxes, although sponsors can watch with everyone else from the comfort of the clubhouse. Merseyside outfit Prescot Cables, named so because of a nearby cable company, will provide the opposition in front of a crowd of around 1,400 in a match held on Sunday not because of TV demands but because the landlords are at home on Saturday. Those in action will be on an average of £150-a-week and have jobs of their own. Fans will be able to stand on a terrace and mix with the players in the bar after the final whistle. The atmosphere is incredible. I could take my grandmother - it's what football should be like. Welcome to the world of FC United of Manchester. The rebel club, set up in protest at the Glazer family's debt-burdening ownership of United, will be 10 years old next year. In November, they will end almost a decade on the road by coming home to a new 5,000 capacity stadium in Moston, a working class urban suburb in north east Manchester. These are exciting times and yet, according to general manager Andy Walsh, it could have been different had a 2005 phone call to Sir Alex Ferguson shortly before the American family's controversial takeover prompted a different response. Walsh said: "We had it on good authority from our friends in the city that the banks who were lending the Glazers the money to buy the club would have pulled out had they not had the continuity of Sir Alex and (chief executive) David Gill in control of the club. "I was a member of the independent supporters' association at the time and would speak to Sir Alex from time to time. If players do not fit the attitude of this club they do not cross the line. "It was decided that I should call him and ask him to resign. It wasn't an easy conversation and ultimate respect to him for speaking to me. He listened to what I had to say but said that he did not want to jeopardise the livelihoods of all the staff he had brought to Old Trafford. "It was a high-risk strategy and, although it seems ridiculous now, we were close to getting a deal on the table that would have given supporters ownership
summary: In front of 75,000 paying customers at a packed Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United will parade up to £149m worth of new talent as they take on QPR in the biggest league in the world.