SOME offices run their own fantasy leagues. You know the script: everyone blows their budget on Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and John Terry, then fills the rest of the squad with assorted Premiership journeymen who spend half the season out injured.

Not The Herald sports desk. We say that is kids' stuff. Instead, we have just bought our own football club. Well, us and about 30,000 others, but still . . .

We will pick the team, decide on tactics and vote on all major decisions affecting the club on and off the park. Now, before our editor starts scrutinising the salary levels on the sports desk, I should say that our collective stake cost us a mere £35. All you need to do is register as a member at MyFootballClub.co.uk.

The co-ownership scheme is the brainchild of Will Brooks, a 36-year-old Fulham supporter and former sports journalist, who always had a nagging suspicion that he could do a better job than whoever was managing his club at that time.

"The idea had been in my head for a long time that lots of fans putting money into a club made more sense than just one person," he reflected. "I'm a Fulham fan and in the late Eighties, when the club were struggling, we were getting gates of 3000. I used to think that if every fan put in £1000 then we could raise £3m and buy the club.

"I happen to think that football fans are very well informed and crowds are often proved right. It happens so often at games when fans are shouting for a change, the manager does it eventually and it works out well. So it was a combination of both those ideas."

He set up a website three months ago, attracted 50,000 registrations and last week invited them all to become members and contribute £35 for a stake in a proposed buyout of a yet unnamed club. On the first day, they raised more than a quarter of a million, enough to buy a club in the Conference, and the figure is still rising.

"We had a phase one website where we took names and emails, and got 50,000 registrations. It's obviously quite a leap of faith to go from that number to actual members paying their money, but in the first 24 hours, we raised more than £250,000 and, just over a week into it, it's still going well."

They have had preliminary talks with four clubs - from the Football League and the Conference - and secured sponsorship with EA Sports. Leeds United top the list of most popular clubs among members, with Nottingham Forest in second place. Cambridge United and Accrington Stanley in third and fourth place are more realistic targets.

Brooks, who hopes to match Barcelona's 155,000 membership, took a while to get the idea off the ground.

"I have always had absolute faith in the idea but, at the same time, it was quite a revolutionary idea. I thought the best way would be to get members on board first, then the finance, and then organise a buy-out.

"I've been surprised at how the idea has caught fire. We have enough money to buy one or two of the clubs in the Conference, but we will wait a couple more weeks. We have had preliminary talks with four clubs, who actually approached us. I'd like to think we'd be in a decent position in a few weeks' time. It's a great opportunity for a club to pick up thousands of more fans and all the benefits which come along with that."

So how will it work? Whereas Barcelona's members vote on who will be the club's president every four years, Brooks' scheme takes it much, much further.

For £35, each member will be given a vote on team selection, transfers, managerial appointments and ground development. A head coach will be employed to carry out the will of the majority.

"There will be an internet vote every Friday morning and everything will be done by a majority. People might decide to take the coach's suggestions or they might have their own input.

"The club will have all the typical positions that you have in a football club, but all the major decisions will go to votes. There will be safety mechanisms in place, whereby members will not be able to vote on issues which can take the club into the red. It will be run prudently. We have 30 independent film companies wanting to follow us for the season, but are not at that stage yet."

Brooks refused to rule out expanding the concept north of the border. "It could easily be done in another country if it proves to be successful in England. We have a lot of Scottish members and it could work with a club in Scotland too."

Watch this space.