Colchester United will not be in action again until April 4 at the earliest

COLCHESTER United general manager Tim Waddington says the health of everyone has to be the main priority in the wake of the coronavirus.

All of the Premier League and EFL games have been postponed until April 3 at the earliest, in the wake of the pandemic.

It means the U's home games in League Two against Scunthorpe United and Crewe Alexandra, scheduled for today and next Tuesday, will now not go ahead as planned.

Colchester's games against Newport County and Mansfield Town are also off.

The U's have asked their supporters to be patient at 'this difficult time'.

Waddington told the U's website: “Of course it is regrettable that this decision had to be made, but it was the only real course of action that the EFL could take in ensuring the spread of COVID-19 can be delayed as well as contained as much as possible.

“We have been assured that the situation will be monitored very closely over the next three weeks, we will certainly be monitoring it ourselves, and decisions regarding matches will be made accordingly.

"It’s an unprecedented scenario for the sporting world, and everyone’s health needs to take priority.”

Colchester United say that currently their events, functions and all Conference and Banqueting bookings at the JobServe Community Stadium will still go ahead.

They are doing so in line with the Government guidelines announced after Thursday's COBRA meeting.

Speaking at their weekly pre-match press conference on Thursday prior to the decision to suspend all professional football, U's boss John McGreal said he would rather games be postponed than played behind close doors, in this unprecedented situation.

"I never played a competitive match behind closed doors," said the U's boss.

"In all my years in the game, I haven't come across anything like this.

"I'm no expert but if push came to shove, I'd rather postpone matches and get the crowds to the games.

"We finish in early April. There would be a little gap to push matches back, if needs be.

"As a player, I can't imagine it (playing behind closed doors) because I've never been in that situation.

"I've read comments from Premier League managers, saying they would rather postpone matches than play in empty stadiums, and we've seen what's happened in some of this week's Champions League and Europa League ties.

"In some ways, we're a bit different in League Two.

"But in other ways we're no different because we're still reliant on our fans.

"From a players' perspective, it must be soul-destroying and the fans pay to watch games of football.

"They spend their hard-earned cash and football is for them as much as it is clubs and players.

"There's no question about that and there's also the revenue side of things, in terms of gate receipts. That goes without saying."