Coronavirus Kent: Dover Athletic centre-back Will De Havilland calls for a united approach to dealing with Covid-19 - but has sympathy with football's governing bodies
06:00, 19 March 2020
Will De Havilland thinks all levels of English football should have a united approach to dealing with the coronavirus outbreak – but he has sympathy with their governing bodies.
The Premier League, Football League and Isthmian League suspended matches due to coronavirus fears before the weekend.
But six of the 12 National League fixtures went ahead on Saturday, as Dover drew 1-1 with Chesterfield at Crabble.
“I think all football should be together,” said the Whites centre-half, speaking after the game.
“It should be a joint decision, no matter what the level.
"It’s a bit odd to say some leagues are playing and some aren’t.
“It has to be a joint decision because it’s a problem that is affecting the whole country.”
Asked what the build-up to the match had been like, he replied: “It was very strange.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So it’s just very odd.
“I do feel sorry for the governing bodies who have to make a decision on what has to be done because no-one really knows what to do because this has never happened before.
“But it was quite hard, as players as well, not knowing if our league was going to be on.
“We, obviously, saw the Premier League, Championship, League 1 and League 2 were all off so we were assuming our (game) would be off.
“But obviously, we got the call to say it was on.
“So we just had to prep like we normally do.”
On the field, substitute Nassim L’Ghoul struck to earn Dover a point against 19th-placed Chesterfield after striker Tom Denton’s penalty had put the Spireites ahead.
De Havilland said Denton was difficult to keep quiet.
He said: “I don’t think there is a taller striker in the league so, when it comes to aerial balls, he is going to be quite good.
“I think that was their game plan – get it up to him and play off the bits.
“But I thought we dominated the game, really.
“We probably deserved to get a win but, after what happened (with Chesterfield scoring first), a point is probably okay.”
De Havilland was Dover’s skipper in the second half after captain Kevin Lokko was substituted at half-time following a collision.
The result left Whites 12th, four points outside the play-off places, as the National League suspended all their games until April 3 at the earliest.
“There are eight games left, a run will take us into the play-offs,” he said.
“We know that. That’s our goal.”
