Sheffield United legend offers compassion and perspective over football's coronavirus shutdown

Football in England has been put on hold at least until April 3 after the Premier League and the EFL moved to suspend matches to prevent the spread of the virus.

However, the impact on society as a whole is much more challenging and it was announced on Sunday by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that it’s likely people over the age of 70 will be asked to self-isolate in the coming weeks.

Those in that age bracket will be given advice on Monday on social distancing but reortedly won’t yet be told to self-isolate.

The news struck a chord with former Sheffield United striker and Blades legend Brian Deane who said that his thoughts were with older members of our society and offered some perspective to those thinking too much about how the football season might play out.

He tweeted: “Not really thinking too much about football who goes up down etc, I’m thinking more about the older generation who are being told they’re gonna have to self isolate. It must be a worrying time for everyone with older relatives right now and even more so for those individuals.”