A deeply disappointed Paul Terry has spoken of his surprise and frustration at being suddenly released by Darlington last week.
And he has revealed that, being so settled in the North-East, he was considering moving to the area after finishing his playing career.
The Barking-born midfielder will not be at The Northern Echo Arena next season after manager Mark Cooper withdrew a verbal contract offer he had made a month ago.
Cooper explained that he would instead prefer to focus on bringing in a centre-back and a striker, leaving Terry looking for a new club.
The change of heart stunned Terry, and he said: “It came as a massive surprise. I know I was only verbally offered a contract, but I had taken the manager’s word for it, so when I found out the offer was gone I was really disappointed.
“The contract had been agreed more or less straight away, it was just a matter of going in to sign it.
“I went down to London for a week, when I came back up I thought I was going into the club last Monday or Tuesday to sign. Then I got told on the Friday that the offer had been taken away.
“I’d been looking for a place to rent with my girlfriend and I’d been really looking forward to next season. So to get hit with that news threw everything up into the air.”
An injury-ravaged year saw Terry miss 29 matches, but before sustaining a cruciate knee ligament problem in October he had been one of the squad’s most impressive players.
Having returned towards the end of the season to make nine appearances, the 32-year-old had been keen to remain part of a squad that he says will be pushing for promotion.
But that will now not be happening. He said: “I’m a little bit bitter and disappointed because I’d really enjoyed my time at Darlington. I was really settled in the North-East and wanted to stay.
“I’ve made no secret of the fact that it feels like my home up there. Even when I’m finished playing, I’ve felt as though I could stay in the area. With my girlfriend being from up that way as well, it just felt like home.
“It was great craic in the squad, they’re a great set of lads and they made it so easy for me to settle. You just want to be around those sorts of people and you’re lucky if you get that experience once in your career.
“I’m frustrated as well because the injury meant I didn’t get to show the fans fully what I can do.
“I started the season quite well, I thought. It’s for others to say how well I did, there’s always room for improvement. But I settled in really well and the injury came at the wrong time.
“I worked my nuts off to get back. I returned to training within five months and then played towards the end of the season.
“I wasn’t match-fit, but I wanted to keep myself ticking over during the summer so I could hit the ground running when we came back for pre-season and pay back the manager, the club and the fans for standing by me while I was injured.
“I wanted to help the club back into the Football League. I really believed we had a great chance of promotion and now I’m not going to part of that.
“This is football I suppose and you have to deal with things like this so I can’t be too bitter, as disappointing as it is.”
Now a free agent just like hundreds of fellow pros at this time of year, Terry is concerned that the timing of Cooper’s decision may have an adverse impact on his chances of finding a new club.
He said: “If it had happened at the end of the season it would have given me time to find a club, but now I’m a month behind everybody. Everyone else that has been released has had a bit of time to find a club and a lot of clubs have done a lot of business already so it’s going to be hard to find somewhere.
“But my agent is ringing around a few people and I believe in myself.”
Terry, on holiday in Dubai, reflected that he at least departed Darlington on a high having made an appearance in the FA Trophy final at Wembley.
He added: “The last couple of years I’ve had a bit of uncertainty in the summer as I haven’t had a club lined up for next season. Last year I didn’t go on holiday at all, I stayed at home to sort things out.
“So when I had agreed to stay at Darlington I thought, right, I’m going to go away on holiday to relax knowing that I’ve got a club to come back to, then I got that news last week!
“I’ll never forget Wembley, but there was a lot more for me to give the club. I’d like to thank the fans because they’ve been great.
“On Twitter I had a lot of good luck messages which I really appreciate.”
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