By Damian Derrick

Paulton Rovers are gearing up for the single biggest day in their 128-year history as they face Norwich City in the FA Cup first round.

Around 200 people normally make their way to the Winterfield Road ground to watch Rovers but on Saturday they can expect an audience of two million as the television cameras roll in.

Paulton currently ply their trade five divisions below the Canaries in the Southern League Division One South and West.

Manager Andy Jones vividly remembers the moment when their FA Cup dream became a reality and they were drawn out of the hat against the League One side.

"When that name Norwich City was read out, that feeling will remain with me for the rest of my life," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"My wife took a video of me the moment the draw was made. I just stood there with my hands in the air jumping up and down like an idiot for a minute-and-a-half."

Paulton, like many non-league teams, survive with help from a team of volunteers including groundsmen and tea ladies, not to mention the kitman, Colin Parsons.

"I love everything I do at this club. It's my life. Just can't do enough. I do the school taxi run then come up here and put the kit in the washing machine," he said.

"I do the changing rooms as well. Sometimes I come up here and spend three or four hours on them. This week I'm going to come up here with a steam cleaner and give it a proper blast."

The Paulton side includes a mechanic, a water-treatment engineer and three players who work for manager Jones at his wholesale flower business in Bristol.

For the last two weeks almost all his time has been taken up in preparing for the Norwich game.

"Preparing for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day is crazy but this has been as close if not more crazy," said Jones.

"It's incomparable, it feels to me as though I'm preparing for the cup final. I've had a sneak preview at the matchday programme and they're compiling it, like it's the cup final programme."

Paulton has a population of just under 5,000, so come Saturday more than half the village could find themselves at the Winterfield Road ground which will have a 2500 capacity.

According to club records that would be their best-ever attendance, exceeding the 2,000 people who are believed to have watched Rovers play Crewe Alexandra in the fifth qualifying round in 1906.

PAULTON ROVERS' FA CUP JOURNEY Bideford 3-1 Tiverton Town 1-0 Didcot Town 2-0 Newport County 1-0 Chippenham Town 3-0

The ground is currently undergoing a transformation as a temporary stand is erected and new turnstiles are brought in to deal with the record crowd.

Although a lot of the organisation has fallen on the shoulders of Jones he has not lost sight of what the big day is all about.

"At the back of my mind everything I do and am doing is for my players," he said. "I'm preparing for my players to have the best day of their lives and that is the most important thing to me.

"There is a possibility, it does happen, it has happened in the past and that's what I'll be telling the players."

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