Torquay United fan offers his life savings to beloved club amid coronavirus crisis, manager Gary Johnson tells talkSPORT
A loyal Torquay United fan offered his life savings to the club during the coronavirus pandemic, manager Gary Johnson has revealed to talkSPORT.
All football in England has been suspended until April 30 at the earliest due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with various clubs either reducing salaries or placing staff on furlough leave to cut costs amid the crisis.
There are real fears for teams lower down the pyramid who rely on matchday revenue to survive, as the longer the postponement of football endures, the more money they will be missing out on.
Before too long, there will surely come a time people will be out of jobs, and, as Tony Cascarino warned on talkSPORT, many clubs could end up going bust because of coronavirus.
One elderly Torquay fan has no intention of seeing his beloved side go out of business, however, offering his life savings to the National League side should they need the money.
“It was a real lump in the throat moment,” Gulls manager Johnson told talkSPORT's Sports Breakfast. “We’ve been ringing round the mature supporters who are season ticket holders.
“We’ve had ten people a day to call for the last couple of weeks, which has been humbling as well as taxing.
“With one particular chap, I said: ‘Hi, it’s Gary Johnson from the football club’.
“And he said: ‘Gary! I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve got my life savings – I’ve got a couple of hundred pounds in the bank – and if you need that, it’s there for you’.
“I was like: ‘No, no… it’s not that type of call! We are just asking how you are and have you got help and that’.
“And he said: ‘But it is there mate, if you want it’.
“I replied saying we really appreciate it, but we don’t need it just yet; ‘don’t worry about that and look after yourself and so on and so forth.’.
“That was unbelievable.”
The National League remains only suspended for now despite the Football Association making the decision last week to immediately end the 2019/20 season for all clubs at Steps 3 to 6 in the non-league pyramid.
The entire campaign has been declared null and void, though this process has angered many of the affected clubs who sent a joint letter to the FA earlier this week questioning their decision.
Johnson has sympathy for those affected clubs and hopes all the seasons can finish sometime later this year - though he admits there is little optimism in football that the campaigns can be ended.
“We all wish and hope the season could be finished, but I don’t think any of us think it will be," added the boss. "But that is our hope, that the coronavirus will clear up very quickly and maybe we could play in June or something to make sure we can finish the season.
“It’s a difficult one for everybody, and especially for the teams below us where their seasons have been cancelled.
“But it’s a waiting game at the minute because we haven’t heard details or instructions from our governing bodies just yet – I don’t think they know just yet.
“And the longer it goes on the more precarious it gets for players who will be out of contract at the end of April at our level; they’ve all got rented accommodation or mortgages and it’s going to be very difficult for them.
“At the moment our club has not said what it’s going to do regarding furlough payments or people taking reductions; we are waiting to see what help is out there and what the governing bodies come back with.”