Phil Parkinson has issued a message to Sunderland fans as the country continues to come to terms with the coronavirus pandemic.
With all football suspended for at least another month – and almost certainly longer – fans of all clubs have been left wondering when, and if, this season will finish.
And more broadly, other sporting events including the Olympics, the European Championships, Formula One races, and tennis tournaments, have been postponed.
But with the world combating a virus that has already killed tens of thousands of people, including hundreds in the UK, sport and football are low priority, as Black Cats boss Parkinson acknowledges.
“The most important thing is people’s health, not just the players and the immediate people who work at the football club, but my thoughts are with our supporters and people in general,” he said.
“We all want to come through this and get back to some kind of normality at some point, but at the moment football seems a bit of an irrelevance – that’s how it feels talking about football.
“We are in unprecedented times.
“Football is what unites us and of course it is important, but at the moment it feels like a very small part of a much bigger picture.
“I just want all our supporters to come through this so that we can get back to normality.”
