Routinely ridiculed and maligned for being Guildford-dwelling souvenir hunters, the real United fan couldn't be further from that stereotype.
That myth was dispelled some ten years ago with the launch of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association. Initially set up as a reaction to a ground announcement during a home match against Arsenal, ordering fans in the K-Stand to remain seated or face ejection, the group were well placed just three years later when the spectre of Rupert Murdoch loomed into view.
The subsequent defeat of Murdoch's bid to take over the club is one that resonates with Kris Stewart, the Chairman of AFC Wimbledon.
'What the Manchester United fans did when they defeated Murdoch was an incredible thing. It remains the greatest victory a group of fans has managed and it must be terribly debilitating to defeat one of the world's most powerful men only for another to appear in Malcolm Glazer.'
A view echoed by Independent journalist and Sports Writer of the Year, David Conn, writing in his lament for the beautiful game, Searching for the Soul of Football.
'It may well be that the fans will see off Glazer eventually but the depressing thing is they'll fight this battle and there'll be another, and another.'
Enter FC United of Manchester. Luc Zentar is the acting secretary of the newly-formed club and doesn't waste any time in explaining why the club has come into being.
'I am sick of football and what it has become: the money; the arrogance; the lack of connection between the players and the fans; the way we, the supporters, are treated; the Gestapo-like environment. I can't stand the fact that is costs £36 to get in to a ground with no atmosphere, where you can't stand, can't shout, can't fart, can't even sit with your friends,' he explains without taking breath.
'And then Rio Ferdinand, who earns £75,000 a week, gets banned for eight months through his own stupidity and has the gall to demand over £100,000 just to carry on.'
It's a formidable charge sheet and one that doesn't even include Malcom Glazer and his sons.
'The fans of AFC Wimbledon, and those at AFC Telford and Leigh RMI, have been immense. There has been a lot of work - an incredible amount and possibly we have had even less time than Wimbledon fans had - but to have their input and guidance has been invaluable.'
This 'guidance' has covered all aspects of how to form a supporters'-run club from scratch in a matter of weeks, as Zentar explains.
'There is so much to consider. Obviously we needed a manager but then you think 'he needs a contract. How do we do that?' AFC Wimbledon have ensured we don't forget anything.'
The culmination of this union is a friendly at AFC Wimbledon's own ground - purchased at a cost of almost £3million - in Kingston-upon-Thames, just two miles from the Dons' spiritual home in Plough Lane. The match on July 23rd is expected to attract a capacity crowd of 4,500 - not bad for two clubs who didn't exist four years ago.