Michael Eisner urges Portsmouth fans to respect government directives as he sends message of support to club

The Blues chairman reached out to fans via Twitter from his home in Los Angeles – on the same night Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced drastic new measures in the UK to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

He admitted it was disappointing there was no football on the agenda during these unprecedented times.

Four members of the Pompey squad tested positive for coronavirus at the weekend, while football in England is suspended until the end of April at the earliest.

But Eisner said, while football will return in the future, there was more important things at present.

And he advised supporters to take government directives seriously.

He said: ‘I’m very disappointed, as I know everybody is, that’s there’s no football being played in Portsmouth.

‘But, you know what, everybody’s health is much more important than football. Although, we will be playing playing again, for sure.

‘I’m sequestered here in Los Angeles. I’m alone in the gym – as many of our athletes are alone in gyms in Portsmouth – waiting this out, thinking about you, thinking about the team and everybody in Portsmouth.

‘Our management, our players are there to be supportive of all our fans and will continue to be so through our PITC, through anything we can do to help.

‘We do hope that you will listen to the government directives. Protect yourself, keep your distance. Sequester yourself as necessary and hope and pray that this passes soon.

‘The need for us now is to protect those who are vulnerable.

‘To protect theirselves and to protect those.’

Andy Cannon, Sean Raggett, James Bolton and Haji Mnoga were the four Pompey players to test positive for coronavirus, following testing last week.

They remain in self-isolation, while the rest of the squad and coaching staff stay away from the club.

Eisner said the four in question were young athletes in good shape, with the ability to see this through.

But he added not everyone fell into that category as he pledged to continue supporting the club in whatever way he could.

‘We do have three or four athletes who have already tested positive,’ he said.

‘Luckily, they’re young and in very good shape and will pass through this easily.

‘But not true for everybody that is stricken, so my message really to you is that the ownership is behind you.

‘We are going to support this club no matter what happens.

‘We’ll be back on the pitch at some point supporting the club.’

The Tornante chairman concluded his video message by praising the club’s management for their handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Blues, led by chief executive Mark Catlin, closed the training ground down immediately after learning Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had tested positive for coronavirus.

Pompey had played with Gunners the week previous in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Fratton Park.

Eisner said: ‘I just wanted to kind of reach out to everybody from Los Angeles, from the US, which is also having the same kind of difficulty to you in Portsmouth.

‘I can’t say “Play Up Pompey” right now because they’re not playing, but they will be soon.

‘So I wish everybody well on the south coast, I wish all our fans well, I wish our management well, which by the way is a fantastic management and is handling this in the most appropriate way.

‘So you have my wishes, my family’s wishes ‘