AMATEUR teams have cancelled their league matches to cheer on Worcester City in Sunday’s FA Cup clash against former winners Coventry City.

McDonald’s Worcester and District League secretary Tim Phillips says 24 clubs from the six-division competition have chosen to follow Carl Heeley’s Blue and Whites at the Ricoh Arena.

More than 450 match tickets have already been bought online by City fans.

Tickets are due to go on general sale in Worcester from 10am today at the tourist information centre next to the Guildhall.

League secretary Phillips said City’s mouth-watering first round tie with Coventry had caught the imagination of local football.

“We allow clubs two dates per season in which they can ‘close’ and they must give us six weeks’ notice but we have made this a special case.

“After the draw against Coventry there has been a lot of interest from teams wanting to go to the match and we have asked the clubs if they wanted to close on Sunday.

“As far as I am aware, 24 of the 66 clubs in the league have asked for a close on Sunday and we are more than happy to agree.

“There’s a lot of interest and I can remember when Worcester City played against Coventry in 1983. Our fixture secretary will revise the fixture list so the other member clubs who want to play will get a game on Sunday, too.”

Worcester City company secretary John Jordan says match and coach tickets will be on general sale at the tourist information centre until noon on Saturday.

Jordan said: “I would urge people that they don’t need to panic about buying tickets for the match. We have got our first batch of 1,000 tickets and our allocation is 3,800.

“But we have been told that we can take even more fans if we need to.

“Supporters can buy their match tickets online (worcestercityfc.com), at the tourist office or pay on the day, while coach tickets must be booked in advance at either the tourist office or online.”

He added: “People who have bought tickets online and paid postage will be sent their tickets with recorded delivery.

“We will be sorting out a collection point for those who have bought tickets online and have decided not to pay postage.”

Club director Rich Widdowson is expecting a bumper away support.

He said: “We have taken 1,000 fans to away matches in the FA Trophy and big matches in the third or fourth qualifying rounds. But there is nothing like the FA Cup.

“Our website normally gets 500 hits a day and that figure has gone up to around 3,000.”

Match tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 concessions (under 21s and over 60s). Coach tickets are £10 for adults £5 juniors (under 16s).