Mansfield Town chairman John Radford calls on Government to help football clubs stay afloat during virus crisis

But, after closing the One Call Stadium and with no clue as when football may return, he admitted lower leagues clubs will eventually need Government funding to stay afloat.

“In the short term I can fund quite a bit myself,” he said.

“But that is the short term as any football club, as a business, does rely on its stadium income - on the Sandy Pate Bar being open.

“That income has to be made up from somewhere and I am not a bottomless pit of money.

“I feel sorry for restauranteers and other businesses that will very quickly run out of money.

“I think in the short term we will be okay, but there has to be a long term plan. Unfortunately we have to turn to our Government to help with this.”

Radford said the shut-down would bite hard.

“You have got to understand we are basically now on a war footing against the virus,” he said.

“Most of us are going to be fine. But we are on a war footing to save our vulnerable people.

“The standard of living is going to go down a little bit if your standard of living is going to the pub or theatre and socialising. You are not going to be able to do that.

“We will all have to tighten our belts a little bit and social distance ourselves. It is going to be tough.”

Radford said he was relieved when the EFL halted the season indefinitely on Friday.

He said: “I was quite pleased actually as it was something I was thinking about the day before – should I let the game go ahead?

“I spoke to the EFL and you have to follow their rules. So I put a statement out saying don't come to the game if you feel unwell or you're over 65.

“Now is a time to take responsible action and I can't see football going ahead for at least the next two or three months.

“I can't see anyone coming up with a reasonable plan as, although I don't want to be the spreader of doom, this could last for five months.

“We could have a situation of no football or sporting events for quite a few month.

“But things could get really bad if we don't start acting now. The hospitals could get really full, there could be a lot of people really sick and us losing our loved ones. We have to be very careful.

“I am glad we've closed the stadium and glad we are starting to social distance. It's the responsible thing to do.

He added: “We can still work and operate from home while we are controlling the virus.

“Chemists and shops will still operate, but to get this virus under control, the luxuries are going to go. You are not going to be able to go out to any big social gatherings.

“Because of the importance of this we have to look at the worst case scenario and not be selfish. You must isolate yourself, keep yourself away from your fellow humans as much as possible, and stop spreading this disease.”

The Radfords are now based out in Portugal where he believes the authorities seem to be doing a good job so far.

“They closed the schools here a week ago and there is a lot of social distancing happening,” he said.

“The Portuguese do seem to have grasped the situation quite quickly.

“It's very hard to get a flight out of here now which worries me as all my family are back in Mansfield, as are Carolyn's family. We are in a foreign country and our support lines are not here.

“But we are all very well and have been living together for seven days. One of us will go to the supermarket and everyone stays a distance away from each other. No one is panic buying. The food supply and water is there so we have the basics.

“We are trying to get on with it and hoping the policies the Portuguese government have tried to put in place work.

“People here are adhering to them and we should do something like that back in England. Schools are closed, bars and restaurants are closed. I think they are a week ahead of the UK government in implementing rules and a couple of weeks behind in terms of infection rates.”