The life ‘Out of Contract’

In the summer of 2016, 844 professional footballers in England found themselves out of contract.

Just 154 signed new deals, but for the majority of the 690 who were released, it was the start of a long and stressful summer. There are exceptions, like Hal Robson-Kanu, who took a gamble when deciding to sit out his contract at Reading.

After a season which saw Robson-Kanu start fewer than half of his side’s games in an underwhelming Championship campaign, he held his nerve to focus on representing Wales at Euro 2016. A starring role, including a stunning goal against Belgium in the last eight, led to offers from far and wide before he eventually agreed a move to West Brom on Deadline Day.

But that is a rarity. Whatever level of football you’re playing at, the reality for an out-of-contract player is far removed from the glitz and glamour that most would associate with life as a professional footballer.

In the lower divisions, players are lucky to negotiate any more than a two-year deal. A high turnover of managers means an inevitably high turnover of players too. Laying down roots is nigh on impossible for most players and it’s often even tougher for their partners, constantly taken away from their family and friends with their own careers to consider too.

Former Watford striker Marvin Sordell spent three years living away from his girlfriend after joining Bolton, then of the Premier League, in 2012. She finally moved to Manchester from London last year as Sordell began the season with Championship side Burnley. Within weeks of the season kicking off, the 25-year-old was released, resulting in a move to Colchester leaving his partner in the north having started a new job while he headed south.

Having been let go by Colchester at the end of last season, Sordell admits his next move will be the most crucial of his career having gone from playing in the Premier League and representing Team GB at the 2012 Olympics to suffering relegation from League One in just four years.

Speaking to us in June, Sordell said: “There are times when you wake up and you’re just not enjoying it as much. You can go from very very low to very very high, back to very very low in such a short space of time. I’ve moved so many times it’s hard to settle into somewhere and get to know your team mates and the way you’re playing. It’d be nice to find a home and settle into football really.”

A move to Coventry City materialised later in the summer and although his team have made a bad start to the Sky Bet League One season, recent form suggests Sordell is already benefiting from being reunited with his now fiance, who has transferred jobs yet again from Manchester to Birmingham to join him. In that respect, Sordell is one of the more fortunate out-of-contract players. More than 200 still found themselves without a club when the transfer window closed at the end of August.

One of those players, former Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe midfielder Michael Collins, can relate to Sordell’s comments on highs and lows. He began last season at Oxford United, out of the first team picture he joined their League Two rivals York City on loan only for his manager to leave just a few weeks later.

Oxford allowed him to terminate his contract in January to join League One side Oldham – just 25 miles from his Halifax home. But on the morning the deal was due to be done, he returned from the gym to discover their manager David Dunn had been sacked and the move was off. Having left Oxford to move back closer to his family, an exciting opportunity arose. The only snag – it was more than 5,000 miles away from home in India.

“It was back to the drawing board, then I took a phone call from Ashley Westwood [manager of Bengaluru FC] and decided it was a bit of fate. Having spoken to my girlfriend she understood it would be very difficult but said ‘You may never get this opportunity to do something like this again in your career’ and I jumped at it.”

The 30-year-old would spend the next five months with the Bangalore-based side, a long time to part from your fiance and 18-month-old daughter. We began our documentary filming with Michael in April and witnessed the team …

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