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{ Crawley Town captain, Pablo Mills, leads his players in applauding the fans after their 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Manchester United. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

What a week. There has never been anything like it in those 24 years: being asked to talk to a radio station in New Zealand, nonstop work, and by the time I had finished yesterday's match preview, about 10,000 words written on Crawley in seven days.

When the fifth-round draw was made, there were supporters in the club bar who had followed the club through thin and thinner for more than 30 years. There was more elation at the pairing with Manchester United than there had been 24 hours earlier after the fourth-round win at Torquay United.

It really has been nonstop. My paper, the Argus, is based in Brighton and has had the home-town club's exploits to report, too. We did a 20-page "FA Cup Fever" special on Saturday, covering both Sussex sides (it's the first time two from the county have made it this far) and we could easily have filled a 40-page supplement. It is strangely gratifying when you go into Tesco and see people devouring every word. It is a story that gathers its own momentum very quickly, though it can still upset some readers. The front-page splash the day after the draw was all about Crawley's £2m game, yet a few Brighton fans rang up to complain about unbalanced coverage.

This week was always going to be busy, but there was also a league game at Wrexham on Tuesday to fit in. The match ended 0-0 and fortunately there were no "injury heartache" stories – just a nice line instead about Sir Alex Ferguson being there on a spying mission. "A lot of people are talking about these boys – I thought I'd take a look for myself," he said.

We got back to Crawley at 2.30am on Wednesday and later in the day it was time to field a dozen or so calls from journalists from the national press asking for information and phone numbers. Then the news desk needed help tracking down fans from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and Canada who were coming over for the game.

Thursday was the club's press day and nearly 60 journalists, radio and TV crews, and photographers turned up. The players looked overwhelmed and who can blame them? Normally there are three of us covering the club home and away. But they seemed to revel in it, especially Ben Smith when he was asked to compare the cars the Crawley players drove with those of their United counterparts. The club organised it well and have coped with the past three weeks superbly, selling 9,000 tickets, shedloads of merchandise, organising 27 supporters' coaches and dealing with worldwide media interest. All with a full-time staff of four.

The Sun have their name on the shirts and enjoyed more access to the team as a result, but speaking to Steve Evans and the players throughout the past couple of weeks has never been a problem. When all the fuss is over, it will be back to the usual suspects watching Southport at home on Tuesday night.

And so to the big day. I get there way too early and feel a bit like a tourist wandering around Old Trafford for an hour before we can get into the ground. It is surreal watching players I am used to seeing perform in far more humble surroundings on one of the biggest stages in world football and playing with more belief than a few Premier League teams have at Old Trafford this season. The final whistle blows and reality bites: six pages to fill. Next away trip: Kidderminster two weeks on Tuesday.

Bruce Talbot is the Crawley Town correspondent for the Argus, Brighton

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