(CNN)If all publicity is good publicity, a club in the sixth tier of English football and a North Korea travel promoter might have just stumbled on a gold mine.
A sideline stand advertising board appeared at the ground of the semi-professional Blyth Spartans on Boxing Day, with the simple declaration "Visit North Korea" and the website of the tour company of the same name.
Pictures of the ad popped up on social media, turning heads and prompting press coverage around the world.
"Visit North Korea is proud to announce the signing of a sponsorship deal with English football team Blyth Spartans FC," says a LinkedIn post by the tour company based in Shenzhen, China.
In addition to the billboard, Visit North Korea will be promoted on the club's website and social media.
Blyth plays in Croft Park, a 4,500-capacity ground in the port town, which is home to 37,000 people and located about 15 miles north of Newcastle.
The town's website boasts of its 12th-century roots, a history of coal mining and shipbuilding and now the presence of wind turbines generating electricity.
It seems an unlikely place to be sending visitors to North Korea, which only hosts about 4,000 Western tourists a year.
And traveling there is not something the UK government supports.
"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to North Korea (DPRK)," a British government website says.
"The security situation in North Korea can change with little notice and with no advance warning of possible actions by the North Korean authorities. This poses significant risks to British visitors and residents."
Rules for US citizens are even more restrictive. A US passport is not valid for travel there.