For my 30th, my best friend who was very skint, did a collage of photos of me and my friends with some lovely writing around the sides (stuff about me) and framed it. I still have it up on my wall and still one of my fave presents ever!
You could also do a collage of some sort of all her favourite things? Get pics from internet and cuttings from magazines, you could include things like a coffee label, and make a beautiful unique collage. Get a 2nd hand picture frame from charity shop to finish it off.
Is there going to be a celebration of any sort? If so, you could take photos of the whole event and make a photo book (loads of cheap deals for this, especially for 1st time customers, have a browse on the internet).
You could have a look for original magazines from the month/year she was born. Lots of companies do this but also have a look on ebay. Does Man U have (or did they have) a magazine? I bought an original Arsenal mag for my cousin for about £12 from the year he was born and he loved it. Look on the Man U website too.
This might be a late notice and may not work but worth a try....email Bill Bailey. Tell him about your friend and ask if he could send an email wishing her a happy birthday with one of his favourite jokes?
I remember once buying a fabric bracelet for my friend, that had been handcrafted from a vintage tie. The vintage tie was from the decade my friend's birthdate. It was from Ebay a few years ago, not sure if the seller is still around. Otherwise you could do something like that yourself.
Another idea....make a game board. A simple game, like snakes and ladders but make it personal to her, for example "forgot to buy coffee, go back three spaces" and "Man U scores a goal! forward 2 spaces" etc. The counters could be handmade with different pics on them (Bill Bailey, shoes, coffee etc) or you could look on ebay/bead shops/cake shops for small 3d objects of a shoe, a coffee cup, etc.