Updated Mar 24th 2020, 3:00 PM
BEFORE THE CORONAVIRUS outbreak, life had been going well for Eoin Doyle.
With 25 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions, the Irish striker had been enjoying arguably the best season of his career, while his Swindon Town side looked on course for promotion from League Two, behind leaders Crewe Alexandra on goal difference only and with a game in hand.
But of course, there are more important things than football, as Doyle acknowledges.
It’s been nearly two weeks since his last training session, while the stress of the situation has been exacerbated by the fact that his family have been forced into self-isolation, after wife Ciara displayed some symptoms of Covid-19.
“She could possibly have got them from me,” Doyle tells The42. “I was a bit run down myself, but nothing had really shown — no coughs or anything major like that.
“I’d get the sweats in the night and a bit of a sore throat, but you’re hearing now that everything is a symptom as well. So I think everyone thinks they have it — it’s a bit of a unique time.
“Over here is a nightmare as well, because Ciara rings up and all they say is ‘just don’t leave the house for seven days’. She can’t get a test, so it’s just tough.”
The lack of sport and his family’s well-being are not the only matters of concern for Doyle.
The Dubliner is also running a business with fellow footballer Danny Ventre, who he played with at Sligo Rovers between 2009 and 2011.
Situated in The Park Community Centre, Ballycullen, Dublin, Lily’s according to its website “enables working parents to avail of high quality and affordable childcare”.
The idea had been a couple of years in the making and was launched last September. Though not living in Dublin, Doyle checks in daily with those running it closer to home and is involved in managing the payroll among other activities.
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“Obviously, regarding staff, we agreed to pay them up until the original closure date, which was 29 March. Everyone knows it’s going to get extended, so the likelihood is we’ll have to temporarily let the staff go.
“We’ll come to some agreement with them and give them what we can. But for the business to survive, it depends on whether the parents we have keep their jobs. So obviously if one of the parents loses their jobs, you’d imagine childcare would be the first thing to go. So that’d be our biggest worry when the schools do re-open. Because when the schools re-open, we’ll re-open. It’s testing times for us.
“But please God, when all the dust settles, economically, it’s not as bad as what people might think, and it survives.
“We obviously want to grow it. From this last couple of weeks, myself and Ciara are even more adamant that we are going to be moving home as soon as possible. The long-term focus would definitely be to move home and get my hands on it and try grow it at a quicker rate maybe, which can’t really happen with me being over here.
“It’s a good business and we feel like we’re doing good things for the community as well in the sense that we’re providing childcare for the family. Where we opened is where I grew up as well, so it’s nice for me to get back and see people.”
Doyle runs his childcare business with former Sligo team-mate Danny Ventre.
Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO
At 32, Doyle is closer to the end of his football career than the beginning, while the last few weeks have only served to highlight how precarious sport and indeed employment of any form can be.