WHEN was the last time you really enjoyed going to a football match?

By that I mean coming away with a smile on your face, not only because your team won, but the place was jumping, the songs loud and banter funny. For far too many, the answer doesn’t come quickly. That’s not good at all.

Those of us who watched football in the days before all-seater stadiums and when kick-off tended to take place on a Saturday at 3pm, can fondly recall a time when stewards didn’t frisk you on the way in or told anyone to sit down in case, God forbid, they might be having a good time.

And singing. Do you remember singing? It is not looking at the past through the rosiest of spectacles to suggest there was an awful lot more singing back in the day. Singing sections are now being introduced. Not so long ago they were called stadiums.

Gordon Strachan, we hope, has answers that will improve our game, however, chances are there will nothing in his manifesto which will address the actual match-day experience, which really should be easier to sort out.

Work takes me to most grounds in Scotland. I struggle to recall the last time I felt the atmosphere came close to matching what it once was. I don't think I'm alone here.

“You should get yourself down to FC United in Manchester,” more than one pal suggested. “Remember what going to the game used to be like? This is it. It’s magic down here.” And so it is.

Saturday afternoon was simply the best day out at the football I have had in many years. The weather was rotten, FC United lost to the giants of Gainsborough Trinity but it was still great. Scottish football clubs please take note. This is the way forward if you want to attract fans back to the game.

FC United of Manchester were born ten years ago when a group of angry Manchester United supporters gave up on their club following the Glazer family’s hostile take-over at the club. That was not the only reason. They got fed-up with many things including prices, the sanitisation of live football and, of course, and the rarity of the once sacrosanct 3pm kick-off.

It’s cheap to get in to the new Broadhurst Park. You can stand. And jump up and down. There are a couple of bars, kids freely wonder about them, there are even dogs on the terraces, all wearing FC Unites scarves, and everyone is into it. Really into it.

Tom and son Sam are regulars. They stand in the busy St Mary’s Road terrace – think the old Jungle at Parkhead except behind a goal – where a good 2000 people swing, sway and wave flags. It is a brilliant place.

"What kind of crowds are you getting in Scotland these days?” Tom asks. When I reply that we are struggling, he says; “You need to do what we’re doing here. The fans own and run the club. So we are all part of it and have a say on how things are.

“I thought football like this was gone and my lad had missed out on it. I am so glad that we can come here and it is like the old days. We would never go anywhere else now. This is what going to the match is supposed to be about.”

FC United manager Karl Marginson, who has been in charge since day one, believes the key to the club’s success is that it’s not a case of them and us, with regards to the board and fans having no connection, but rather it is simply us. There is no them.

“The community involvement is vital,” he tells me in his cramped room a whole 45 minutes before kick-off. “We are not paying lip service when we say it’s our own club because the club literally belongs to all of us. Nothing is perfect but what we have here is a football club for the people and it’s why the people keep coming back.”

Nobody wants to go back to the days when terraces were over-crowded and the little streams running down the stairs were not caused by a knocked over latte. But we have lost something by everyone sitting in soulless stands afraid to raise their voices.

“I got a bus from town to Old Trafford as a kid and if we didn’t have the money, we would wait outside until 15 minutes before the end and get into the Stretford End for free,” said Marginson.

“Within all that, the social lessons I learned stood me in good stead, from the adult language to working out that guy was dodgy so we’d stay clear but this lot were friendly so we’d stand beside them. This is getting lost on the younger generation because instead of them experiencing that, they go to pub. They can’t get a ticket.”

Pricing is key. The brilliant Helen Goldsmith, a founder member, is my hostess for the day and is rightly proud of what is going on. It’s £9 for adults and kids cost £2. It’s non-league football you might say, but we need to be honest and admit what level we find ourselves right now. This should be the price at most grounds.

“Season tickets prices are decided by the fans,” she says. “What we say is pay £100 and then whatever else you can afford on top of that. If you can’t pay £100 in the one go then come in and we’ll talk about it.”

You can imagine chairmen around the country having a stroke at the idea of such low prices. But should it cost as much as it does to watch Scottish football at a time when the product is not as good and whole stands sit empty, even at Premiership stadiums? Of course not.

We need to bring down prices and bring back standing and drinking, and not just for those in the posh seats.

Vinny Thompson, volunteer and raconteur, gives me a guide to the bar under the terrace which is lively and friendly before the game and at half-time.

“I’ve begged, borrowed and stolen everything in here,” Vinny tells me with a glint in his eye. “Even the cider has been made from apples picked by the fans. There is belief here, a belief in what we are doing.

“This is true working class football. The game has been taken away from the working man. We have brought it back and it works. People are buying into it. You should get something like this going in Scotland.”

Vinny is right. Pick a Scottish club, any club, and put some of FC United’s ideas into them and suddenly it would a bit better. There is no heavy stewarding, flags are allowed, singing is encouraged, you can have a drink and are able stand to watch the game. No area is cut off from the ordinary punter.

A crowd of 3300 attended Saturday’s game, which is slightly down on the average. Bad weather will have played its part but it’s still as good as some top tier matches and absolutely dwarves most of our lower league fixtures.

Now Manchester is a big place and there are an awful lot of Manchester United fans (disgruntled or not) in the area so to compare FC United with Falkirk, Ayr United or Montrose is plainly daft when it comes to attracting the punters.

However, something has to change. Let’s give the people what they want. It's at least worth giving it a go.

The game is average, Gainsborough win 2-1 although a draw would have been right, but the experience took me back to a time when a football match seemed like an event and not something you do because that’s what you’ve always done.

There was very little swearing, no real hatred and not a single song about Ireland. It was all about their team and a pride in where they come from. They sang from first to last minute, and I mean that literally.

To the tune of Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols; “I am a FC fan, I am Mancunian, I know what I want and I know how to get it, I want to destroy Glazer and Sky.” That is just superb.

At half-time, cheered by a FC United equaliser, I head for a jar. The Stone Roses and The Smiths get blasted out and the boys who are dressed well with smart haircuts, this is Manchester after all, sing along.

Maybe it’s my third pint of Humdinger doing its job, but I find myself joining in. When was the last time you heard anyone singing at half-time?

Andy Walsh is general manager and one of the club's founder members.

“Why does it work? Because in the structure it’s one member one vote. We are trying to create a benefit for the wider community so we have a clear purpose," he said.

“Look, teams win and lose all the time. Most clubs never win anything and lose more games than they win. So you need to ask; what is the purpose of your football club?”

Do FC United have all the answers? No. However, every club in Scotland should send someone down to take in a game at Broadhurst Park, stand on the St Mary’s Road end and take some notes. The fans feel part of it and it's a great day out. We need to get back this. In truth, we don't have an alternative.

Tomorrow: The volunteers of FC Manchester reveal why the English Premier League's billions are nothing to be envious of