Dover away in the grip of a global pandemic? A surreal "I was there" moment for the 161 die-hard Chesterfield fans

That is what the loyal, or some might argue daft, 161 Chesterfield supporters who made the 500-mile round trip to the other end of the country in the grip of global pandemic will be able to proudly brag about it years to come.

With the country shutting down due to the coronavirus outbreak, with people panic-buying toilet rolls and pasta and all major sporting events cancelled, 250-miles away in Dover there was a football match being played. And there was no way Blues fans were going to let a little thing like a deadly virus stop them watch their beloved team.

Utter madness, bonkers, crazy.

What did their families say? ‘Oh you’re not still going are you?’ I’d imagine some replied.

But then again perhaps we should not be so surprised. Because that is what football does to us, isn’t it? It sends us absolutely loopy.

Paul Goodwin, organiser of the Bridge Inn Blues Away Travel Club, said: “I think the consensus amongst our group was that they weren't worried about going to the game. The conversation was more about would the game be on rather than worries about attending.”

There’s always that fear of missing out isn’t there? What if we score a last-minute winner? What if we come from 3-0 down to win? What if it finishes 1-1 and not a lot happens? Ahh yes. That’s exactly what happened.

The match, which was one of only six played in the top five divisions of English football (all in the National League) had an end of season/pre-season friendly feel about it. There were no particularly bad challenges, no bad tempered moments, no dark arts of time-wasting. It was clear the events of the last 24-hours and the uncertainty of whether the game would be going ahead had drained everyone.

The atmosphere was subdued. The attendance was 1,214 but you could hear the players talking on the pitch. I asked if it was always this quiet? I was told not.

The game was fairly uneventful until the 80th minute when Chesterfield were awarded a penalty for handball. Tom Denton slotted the spot-kick away in front of the jubilant travelling fans tucked away in a little terraced corner.

Did anyone hold back from hugging complete strangers when the goal went in? “Everyone seemed to celebrate the penalty in the normal way,” Paul added.

As the clock ticked down to the 89th minute, Dover substitute Nassim L’Ghoul was left unmarked in the area to equalise. Damn. ‘I’d have taken a point before kick-off’, we all said.

And that was it. 1-1. A decent point on the road in the fight to avoid relegation.

Referee Gavin Parsons blew his whistle and everyone left in a flash.

Back on the coach. Wash our hands. ‘We’ll be reet’.

The 161 die-hards scurried out with their badge of honour. Dover away in the middle of a global pandemic? Completed it, mate.

Spireites boss John Pemberton summed the whole bizarre day up when he said in his post-match interview: “It is like something out of a stupid film isn’t it? You just can’t quite believe it.”

But we can believe it. Because it is football, and we bloody love it.