For fans who are fed up with the existing set-up, it is the ultimate fantasy: buy your team and run it yourself.

A website, MyFootballClub, turns fantasy into reality, with an invite asking fans to pay 35 pounds apiece; the object is to raise 1.4 million pounds, through 50,000 fans, to take over a football club.

Each participating fan will have a vote on player selections, transfers and every other major decision that affects the club.

"I have created a vehicle that will pool fans' opinions, passions and wealth, and turn fantasy football into reality," site creator Will Brooks, a former football journalist, says in an interview to BBC Sport.

"I've met several club owners and ex-managing directors of Championship and Premiership clubs, all of whom were captivated by the concept and believed it to be workable," the 36-year-old Brooks told the BBC.

The spark, he says, was sometime in the 1980s, when he visited Craven Cottage, at a time when the club was flat broke.

"I looked around at the 3,000 fans who had turned up and was left thinking that if everyone chipped in we could buy the club, but then there was no way of mobilizing that feeling. The internet changes all that."

Brooks believes the notion is a potent force for good: rich owners of top teams look at their clubs as investments, and aim to make more money whereas fans will have the good of the club at heart, over every other interest, he argues.

"So this is an exciting opportunity for someone who has fallen out of love for the game to rekindle their passion and get involved on a whole new level," Brooks said.

The website, which lists 15 clubs supporters would like to buy, is reportedly creating much buzz. Though listed clubs include Manchester City and Arsenal, among other top names, Brooks believes that a lower league club will be the best buy.

The idea, he says, is for members and money to come in. Once there is a corpus, and member consensus on which team to buy, the project goes ahead.

If the website is successful in taking control of a club, Brooks says, members will vote only on important decisions, while the day to day running will be in the hands of a professional management.

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