WINSFORD professional footballer Danny Fox has paid tribute to the town’s frontline workers ‘putting their lives on the line’ in the pandemic.

The Wigan Athletic defender has found himself with plenty of spare time in recent weeks as football has ground to a halt due to the coronavirus.

But the former Nottingham Forest man has played his part in the battle against Covid-19 – donating 100 face masks to each of St Luke’s Hospice, Hazelmere care facility and Winsford Grange care home.

Danny told the Guardian: “People’s health and safety is most important. Football is secondary and it will be until we find a vaccine or a safe way to get back.

“Until then, I think football needs to take a backwards step.

“The real heroes are the doctors, nurses and the people working on the frontline, every single one of them – in care homes, hospices. They are the true heroes.”

Danny wanted to get involved when he saw former Forest teammate Dexter Blackstock, who now runs a pharmaceutical company, had begun buying personal protective equipment (PPE) to donate to the frontline workers who depend on it.

Dexter teamed up with Blackburn Rovers midfielder Bradley Johnson for a website called donatetonhs.com – to raise funds for PPE and donate it to frontline health and social care workers.

Danny, who began his career at Everton, got the contact details for Winsford’s care homes off his mum Deana – herself a frontline worker – and began to see how he could help out in his hometown.

He said: “I got all the numbers off mum for care homes and hospices in Winsford and rang them in person asking if they were in need of PPE.

“Nearly every single one needed PPE. I spoke to Dexter and he sent over 300 masks.”

Danny donated 100 to Hazelmere, where his nan is looked after, and 100 to Winsford Grange, where his mum used to work.

Northwich Guardian:

The third 100 was donated to St Luke’s Hospice which had cared for the grandma of Nicky Maynard, Danny’s best mate and fellow professional footballer.

“When I got to St Luke’s they had just been counting the PPE masks that they had left,” said Danny.

“They have all got my number. I said ‘when you need any more masks get in touch, I will talk to Dexter and go from there’.

“They were all really happy, but it was only a small gesture on my part. They are all putting their lives on the line.”

Danny’s family are hard at work in the lockdown – his mum works with people with disabilities, while his sister takes calls for Cheshire Police at the Clemonds Hey headquarters in Winsford.

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But the Scotland international has been finding ways to keep active ahead of football’s eventual return.

Danny added: “With football it’s all regimented – you are told when to be in, when you can leave, what you can and can’t eat.

“We know what we are going to do every day until the season finishes more or less, so for it to come to a halt so quickly was a bit of a shock to the system.

“I am staying fit, doing runs at home, going on bike rides. But the decision to stop football was a no-brainer.”