Patience! That's the plea from Eastbourne Borough boss

He says everyone at Priory Lane can draw a line under the 2019-20 season – even though clubs in the National League are still debating how to bring the campaign to an end.

And he says he is certain Borough will come out of the football shutdown as a strong unit.

Because Borough were well clear of the relegation zone when fixtures were frozen last month, and not close to the play-off picture, Bloor and his players have known all along they will be in National South again for the 20-21 season, whenever that starts.

The manager said that meant they could relax and just tick off the days until football was allowed to return – and there was nothing anyone could do to hurry the waiting game along.

As reported, the National League has already voted not to try to resume this season, but members are still being polled on whether to expunge results and have no promotion or relegation or use points per game to calculate a final league table.

Bloor said: “Whatever is decided now won’t affect us. Whether they decide it’s null or void, or go with points per game, we are not going up or down. However I do think it would be nice if the league could get it sorted out one way or the other.

“I have great sympathy for clubs whose fate is up in the air but then when you see the number of deaths that have occurred through the virus, football really does pale into insignificance.

“The fact is since our last game, when we beat Maidstone, more than 20,000 people in this country have died. All I’d say to people, and it applies to everyone, is to stay home, stay safe, follow the advice and be patient waiting for the day when this is all over.”

Bloor says the football world could be a more positive place post-lockdown.

And he feels the strong community spirit evident around The Sports means they will survive the shutdown and come out stronger.

“We will get through this – 100 per cent.

“We’ve been ringing round fans, posting videos on our website, running competitions, doing everything we can to keep in touch with fans.

“The community really seems to be rallying round.

“I even had a text from a fan saying when we come back, he wouldn’t moan if the team were playing badly!”

Bloor said he knew many people wanted to know when life – and football – would return to normal and politicians were being pressed for answers.

But he added: “Those answers are just not there at the moment.

“Some have been critical of leagues for scrapping their seasons early but I feel sorry for the powers-that-be who are having to make the decisions.”

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