Duffy says football is secondary and will remain so for long time

Former Dundee boss Jim Duffy thought he had seen everything during his 41 years in football – but the 60-year-old reckons the impact of the coronavirus is a brand new experience for him.

Duffy started at Celtic in 1979 and was Scotland’s Player of the Year six years later despite playing in a Morton side relegated after conceding more than 100 goals, before joining Dundee where his playing career looked over at 28 due to a knee injury.

After a spell as Falkirk manager, Duffy returned to playing at Dens for a second time and went on to play for the Dark Blues again after starring for Partick Thistle.

After working as Simon Stainrod’s assistant, Duffy became Dundee’s manager before he took over at Hibs with a helicopter ride to Easter Road announcing his arrival.

A second colourful spell in charge at Dundee saw them reach a Scottish Cup Final and qualify for Europe before administration, with Duffy then spending two months as director of football at Hearts before being sacked by Vladimir Romanov.

Duffy, who has also managed Brechin, Clyde and Morton, said: “I thought the days of something coming out of the blue and surprising me were gone.

“Throughout my life I had felt major incidents like this would not happen here. Growing up really sad and hard-hitting events tended to happen in far-flung places so what is going on now is incredible.”

Duffy added: “We’re fortunate to live in a country where natural disasters don’t tend to happen and in my 60 years, I’ve never known a world event like this hitting Scotland. Football is secondary and it will remain secondary for a long time yet. I have no idea when we will be back training and playing but to be honest that is nothing compared to what other people are facing.”