All eyes will fall on Swindon tomorrow evening as the Premier League Champions come to town.

Swindon Town Football Club will play host to Manchester City tomorrow, in the third round of the FA Cup, which will be shown live on ITV, and the game will see a sold-out County Ground for the first time in a long time.

This is the first time the club have reached the third round of this historic competition in a decade, and what a match to get as a reward.

I’m lucky enough to have bought tickets for myself and my family and we’re so excited to see Ben Garner’s Reds go up against the very best English football has to offer.

And it’s a great moment for the town too.

TV cameras and media outlets will no doubt be arriving throughout the day and looking to speak to residents about the big game and we want to offer them all a warm welcome to our town.

The football club had a rough first half of 2021, but the arrival of new owner Clem Morfuni in the summer has seen a revival of the club and its supporters.

I’ve been to a number of games already this season and it blows me away to see the support the fans have for the club.

Just last weekend, a visit from Northampton Town saw the County Ground reach more than 9,000 spectators and tomorrow’s match against City will see a capacity crowd of 14,500.

With this match being over 10,000 spectators, it’s important to remember that additional COVID-19 rules will be in place.

This means fans aged 18 or over who attend the game will need to show one of the following to enter - the NHS Covid-19 pass (which can be obtained on the NHS app), an approved international equivalent or a valid text or email confirming a negative LFT or PCR test result within the last 48 hours.

It will take additional time for these checks to take place, so fans are encouraged to arrive in plenty of time to avoid missing the start of the game. Turnstiles will be open two hours before kick-off.

Fans aged 11 and over will also be required to wear face coverings when moving around internal areas of the stadium including bars, concourses and the Club’s Shop (unless they are exempt).

Crucially if any fans are unwell, have any symptoms of Covid-19 or receive a positive lateral flow test, they must not attend the game, and should stay at home and book a confirmatory PCR test.

It’s a bright future for the club and hopefully this marquee game will be the first of many to come in the near future.

Swindon Town is not a Premier League club, but with the support the fans give and the investment into the club from its new owner – including the anticipated sale of the County Ground to the Supporters’ Trust and the Club – who knows where it could end up in the next five years.