FA CUP fever has reached mainland Europe, after Chippenham Town Football Club chairman Neil Blackmore revealed the Bluebirds have received interest in their FA Cup first round tie against Northampton Town from a fan in Germany.

Blackmore confirmed tickets are selling fast for one of the biggest games in the football club’s 146-year history as fans from all over the United Kingdom and beyond clamour for a spot on the terraces.

Chippenham’s stadium – Hardenhuish Park – can hold 3,000 fans, but with TV cameras set to film highlights of the occasion for Sunday night’s Match of the Day highlights programme, the attendance will be restricted to around 2,800.

With a full stadium watching, as well as a live stream being broadcast to those outside the UK, Blackmore is nervously hoping his team can show off the very best the town has to offer.

He said: “We’ve had calls from all over the country and even abroad regarding tickets.

“Tina Hemmings, our community manager, said someone from Germany had been in touch about buying a ticket, and they are coming over for the game as well as other Chippenham fans from all over the country.

“That’s great news for us as a club because one of my reasons for wanting to reach the first round proper was to put the town and the club on the map.

“Hopefully we’ll have a full house and then a lot of those fans will come back again because they’ll see how good it is and want more.”

Chippenham – fondly known as The Bluebirds – will win £36,000 in prize money should they inflict a shock defeat on Northampton, who ply their trade two divisions above in the fourth tier of professional football.

Compared to the riches of the Premier League, this nominal fee would mean the world to Blackmore’s National League South club, who were forced to close their sister outfit Chippenham Park last season as running costs outweighed the practicality of keeping the team going.

Blackmore said: “If we win on Sunday, we will get £36,000, which is double what we’ve already made throughout the FA Cup qualifying rounds this season.

“It may not seem like a lot, but to non-league clubs, even a small amount of money is massive.

“We had an expensive year last year, through nobody’s fault, we were just devastated by serious injuries to key players which cost us a lot of money.

“As a consequence of that, we’ve had to make budget cuts and savings across the club.

“This year, things haven’t been so bad and we’re doing well in the league and cup.”