Gardner's unassuming appearance may not be nearly as striking as that of Sir Roland Smith, the Old Trafford plc chairman he will succeed in March who, at 74, is still built more like a prop forward than a fly half.

Yet the man who runs marathons in London and New York has sprinted from nowhere only two years ago to be first to the tape in United's boardroom battle - denying Martin Edwards the job he has long coveted.

Edwards' critics might well enjoy the notion of United's former chief executive being pipped to the plc post by a relative unknown whose main claim to fame is transforming British Gas from a national joke into a giant. That he plays golf, has three children from a marriage lasting 32 years and lists Annabel's as his club, hardly fleshes out a full picture of the man who rarely gives interviews.

But as Sir Roland chairs United's annual meeting this morning for the last time before handing on the baton, the questions being asked concern the strength of Gardner's support for another retiring knight who takes on a new role at Old Trafford next summer.

They hardly need answering. For there is no doubt that fans and many shareholders will feel 56-year-old Edwards, still the football club chairman, has paid the ultimate price for his clashes with Sir Alex Ferguson.

While their important relationship swung between cool and chip-away-the-icicles despite United's success on the pitch, Ferguson found a champion and supporter in Sir Roland as an Old Trafford power struggle as fierce as any derby match was waged inside the club.

Edwards lost popularity among United fans for banking millions from the club's flotation on the Stock Market and then sanctioning the proposed takeover by BSkyB, but he was still earmarked to take overall control of arguably the biggest football club in the world.

However, not only did Sir Roland postpone his retirement but, on December 14 1999, United ushered in three non-executive directors in a move that changed everything in Old Trafford's corridors of power. As well as diluting the boardroom strength of Edwards' old guard, it presented Gardner as a viable alternative to step into Sir Roland's role.

For the lifelong United fan - who has climbed Kilimanjaro to raise £80,000 for charity, reputedly on a dare --scaling the heights of Old Trafford in quick time held huge appeal, particularly because his own football career never scraped beyond a schooldays trial for QPR.