JIM Rushe reckons the weekend visit of Charlton Athletic is the high point of his tenure as Northwich Victoria owner.

He told the Guardian that Sunday’s FA Cup first round match was the biggest he had been involved in during his time in football.

“I’ve got butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it,” he said.

“It makes everything the club has been through over the past two years worthwhile and a little bit of the magic people associate with the FA Cup has arrived here.”

In January Vics were locked out of their home and left with nowhere to play.

Now they are set to host a bumper crowed for the second successive home match, playing live on terrestrial television for the first time.

Rushe added: “It’s quite a turnaround.

“I’ve not known a week like this one. The phone has not stopped ringing and the interest the game has generated is incredible.

“It’s a learning curve for us.”

Vics’ owner says he is not sure how much of the action he will be able to watch come Sunday afternoon as there will be so much to do around the ground.

“What we have to do in order to be ready is the same as any other home game except the volume of work is magnified by at least ten,” he said.

“I’ve had to think about how many pies to order or how much beer we will need. It’s really tough to make the right call.

“People who may have come to the match might now decide to watch it on television, while others may wait until match day to decide whether to be there.”

Vics hosted FC United of Manchester in the last round in front of the second biggest crowd to watch them play at the Victoria Stadium since their switch in 2005.

Rushe says lessons from that day will be put into practice this weekend.

He said: “I think we got most things right.

“But there are always ways in which we can improve. We only had a few days to get everything in place and it’s hard to do that when we’re not used to having thousands of people through the gate.

“It’s been a brilliant experience getting ready for the weekend and, even though things have been chaotic since the draw, we are loving the experience of preparing for such a big game.”