A day before the pinnacle of the English football calendar, events off-pitch are already entertaining scores of football fans.

Four days ago, an American businessman called Malcolm Glazer completed his takeover of the world's biggest football club, Manchester United. Man U, like many Premier League clubs, is publicly listed. Last week however, it emerged that Mr Glazer had bought the 28.7% equity held by Irish investors John Magnier and J.P. McManus.

By Friday, Mr Glazer's stake had reached 74.8% - he needed only to own 75% of the club to de-list it from the Stock Exchange, and despite the protests and efforts of the fans, he managed this quite easily.

Man U fans who only last year jeered Chelsea supporters when the Russian oil baron Roman Abramovich bought the London club now found themselves in the same situation - and with an American who apparently knew nothing about football to boot.

Brothers in arms

Unsurprisingly, many are up in arms. Some fans have torn up the renewal forms for season tickets, there is talk of forming a breakaway team, and some are even calling for a boycott of Man U's last match of the season - the FA Cup final against Arsenal tomorrow.

Football though, being something of a religion for some (many) fans, boycotting the FA Cup match was never really a genuine option, so the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association (IMUSA) have exhorted fans to "wear black" during the Final because, as IMUSA spokesman Mark Longden told The Times, this "represents what is happening at the club".

The Glazer takeover has dominated the news for days. This is perhaps not so surprising, given football's huge popularity in Britain. Switch on the television on any given day during the season, and chances are that one channel or another will be showing a football match. Football is played the length and breadth of the country.

Overseas fans may only think of Premiership teams like Man U, Arsenal and Liverpool when one mentions English football, but there are many, many teams that compete in the various English leagues. On any given weekend, a football fan can enjoy his hobby in many ways - watching a match live at a stadium, congregating with friends to watch a match in a pub, participate in a game in the park or even pretend to be Rooney by playing a football game on the PlayStation or Xbox.

For all its popularity though, the professionals who play football are increasingly tarnishing the beautiful game.

Until now, incidents involving players are usually dealt with either by the clubs themselves or the English FA. Recently though, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that it was planning to press criminal charges on players who misbehave on the pitch. The prosecutors are planning to issue guidelines that can be used by police to determine how to treat offences like head-butting, spitting, verbally abusing officials and racist taunts by fans.

The price of fame

This would mean that an on-field brawl, such as the one involving Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer last month (both of whom play for Newcastle), could result in criminal proceedings, rather than a fine - which is small fry when the top players can command wages of up to 50,000 per week.

Of course, Messrs Bowyer and Dyer are not the only ones who have seen their names splashed in the newspapers for the wrong reasons.

Rio Ferdinand for instance, is facing a driving ban after overtaking a police car at more than 100 mph in January. His team-mate Wayne Rooney is facing a dangerous driving charge after colliding with another car at a shopping centre. Quite a few Premiership players have admitted to taking drugs.

A sordid episode involving some Newcastle and Chelsea players and a 17-year-old girl in 2003 introduced the nation to the word "roasting". That paragon of marriage, David Beckham, has allegedly had affairs. Even managers are known to publicly blame and berate referees for making unpopular decisions.

Small wonder then that at the grassroots level, more and more people are turning away from football. The sport is still popular - many children play it, but the number of adult volunteers who help manage games is fast decreasing. Many are becoming increasingly disillusioned by young players who, encouraged by the example of their idols, swear and question decisions. Some are aghast at the way parents, like some Premiership managers, seem unable to accept defeats.

For all its faults though, football has claimed one major victory. Before Euro 2004, the English flag was largely the preserve of ultra-right groups like the British National Party and Combat 18. Skinhead thugs would wield the flag while calling for non-whites to leave.

During the Championships, this changed. More and more people started reclaiming the flag as their own as they rediscovered a sense of pride in being English. This feeling might not have lasted long - England went out in the quarterfinals - but more and more people are beginning to wrest the flag back from being a symbol of the ultra-right.

Tribes

Football is also one of the few games that spawn intense rivalries. The existence of teams allows fans to create tribes, and nowhere is this more visible than during matches. Indeed, the creation of tribes and rivalries is so strong that schadenfreude thrives in football.

Last weekend saw the last matches being played in the Premiership. Four teams were in danger of being relegated, amongst them West Bromwich Albion and Southampton. West Brom played Portsmouth - who, being neighbours of Southampton, viewed them with great contempt and hatred.

How Portsmouth fans despaired when they heard Southampton had scored at Man U; how delirious they were when West Brom won - against their own team - thus sealing Southampton's relegation to the First Division! As one commentator wrote, it was as if "Portsmouth had won the cup any cup".

And so, the curtain falls at the end of yet another football season this Saturday evening. Football widows can breathe a sigh of relief and hold conversations with their football-mad husbands or boyfriends again. Still, there is one last hurrah - Liverpool play AC Milan in the finals of the Champions League on the 25th.

FARAH FAHMY lives and works in London as a consultant. She is amused by the differences and similarities in both English and Malaysian lives.