Imagine being so furious over a business decision made by your favorite sports team, that you join with others to form a completely new team. That happened 10 years ago, following American businessman Malcolm Glazer’s takeover of Manchester United. Many Red Devils fans stopped supporting the Premier League club, choosing to form a team completely owned by its fans; thus, F.C. United of Manchester was born.

The club began playing in 2005, in Division Two of the North West Counties Football League – one of the branches in the tenth tier of the English system. Led by 18 goals from Rory Patterson, FC United finished atop the division, earning a spot in Division One. The 2006-07 & ’07-’08 seasons brought more promotions, as the team earned success at a rate not unlike the Premier League side. After missing out on the promotion play-offs during the first two years in the Northern Premier League’s Premier Division, FC United made three successive play-off finals, only to lose at the final step. The 2013-14 season saw FC United lose in the play-off semifinals, after finishing second out of 24 teams – only the league champion gained automatic promotion.

In 2015, after seven seasons in the seventh tier, FC United of Manchester are champions of the NPL Premier Division, clinching the title Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Stourbridge. It caps off a campaign where the club didn’t lose a league match from late November (against Stourbridge) through mid-April. Greg Daniels scored the goal to ensure the three points that guaranteed first place.

Also on Tuesday night in Manchester, Salford City FC, a club partly owned by several former Red Devil legends (Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary & Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes), clinched the NPL’s Division One North title, meaning they’re headed to the seventh tier. But after seven years of trying to make the Conference, the joy of FC United fans is unmistakable.

What’s next for F.C. United of Manchester? For starters, there’s still one more league match to come Saturday, at second-place Workington, who would’ve still had a shot at automatic promotion had United failed to win on Tuesday. The main thing for fans to look forward to now, though, is the opening of their very own ground, Broadhurst Park. The club had hoped to open the new stadium during the 2014-15 season, but delays kept that from happening. The ground is set to formally open with a May 29 friendly featuring FC United and Benfica – the same Benfica that Manchester United defeated 4-1 in the 1968 European Cup Final. FC United show all the characteristics of a club setting goals and reaching them; with the club just two tiers away from the Football League, it will be interesting to see if they can keep this success rate.