National League chairman Brian Barwick has been talking about the effects on football from the coronavirus outbreak.
"I think it is an appropriate time to remind everybody how important football is even in these times when quite frankly it has diminished in its importance and quite rightly so," said Barwick speaking on BBC Five Live.
"But when we get through the coronavirus issue we will be looking for things to brighten our lives up and football and sport are one of those things.
"Football plays a fundamental part in so many peoples lives, not just at the top end of the game but right through the pyramid.
"It has an important part to play in putting peoples lives back together again.
"At the moment the most important thing is saving peoples lives but ultimately it will be about brightening up peoples lives as well.
"And the return of football will be one of those elements for a lot of people
"At our level of the game, the National League, we have to look at all ways we can to retain our clubs.
"We have 68 clubs across our three divisions and we are concerned about making sure that when we come through this we have 68 left.
"It's going to be tough and it's going to be tight so any opportunities either the Government give us or the wider sporting injustry gives us or football itself gives us, we've got to take heed of and do the right thing.
"Our club range from professional to semi-professional clubs and in truth they are absolutely fundamental to the local communities they are in. They are part of the local community.
"A player can score a hat-trick on the pitch and you can have a drink with him half an hour after the end of the game. They connect with each other.
"My job is to try and retain as many of these clubs as healthily as possible during these very, very tough times which we are going through.
"Football is a family and a league like ourselves has to work in partnership with our clubs, our friends in the football family.
"We have to work out how to work with our broadcast and commercial colleagues when we're actually not broadcasting our sport so not filling commercial contracts."
Asked how football might be impacted when the situation settles down Barwick thought it was too soon to call it.
"We'll have to see where we are as weeks and weeks progress.
"As a National League we've tried to progress slowly. It's not who gets over the finishing line first or coming up with the best ideas, it's getting the best ideas and lining them up with the finish line.
"The game will have to change and there will be better brains than me to work out how it must change but it will change.
"The starting point for us is to try and protect our clubs, out league whilst fitting inside the football family.
"The FA have been brilliant with us.
"We're working hours and hours to try and protect our clubs and trying to make sure we have three divisions at the end of it."