Fleetwood Town boss: Protect our football clubs and communities

The EFL and its members are growing increasingly concerned surrounding the current situation of behind-closed-doors games and the knock-on effect that has financially.

Although people have been allowed to go and sit in closed rooms such as cinemas to watch football matches, fans remain unable to watch their teams inside stadiums for the time being.

Barton said: “In many ways, for many people, for many clubs, it’s a matter of life and death.

“Football clubs rely upon the people that come through the turnstiles, they’re nothing without those people.

“At Premier League level, because of the salaries and the TV revenue, they become a little immune to reality.

“The reality of it is that this country has got a very strong football pyramid that it must scrap to protect.

“It’s absolutely vital to the local communities. Some of the last bastions of community hubs are football clubs, as well as other things like cafes, bars, restaurants, all things that people probably didn’t realise how important they were until this pandemic.”

The Highbury head coach wants to see normal practice resumed before it is too late, but doesn’t want it to come at a human cost.

“The sooner we return to normality the better,” he said.

“We have to protect the vulnerable for sure but I think there are ways to do it without some of the measures.

“We’re not the only ones. I’ve seen the musicians and the cultural aspects of the country, which I think is incredibly important, but if we’re not careful we could damage our local communities way beyond repair.

“If we do that we might not be able to turn the clock back.

“For me, it’s a worrying time. Society as we know it is changing and it’s changing rapidly, it’s being accelerated by decisions made in government.

“If we’re not careful there might not be an opportunity to return to normality after the pandemic because a lot of football clubs are at breaking point.”