Simon King admits he was surprised and shocked to have been released by Gillingham Football Club.

The 29 year old defender was out of contract at Priestfield this summer after his three year contract came to an end, but told KSN how he was disappointed by the manner in which he found out:

“I’ve been there for five years and in this day and age, that’s quite a long time to spend at a football club. I feel really attached to The Gills and made some great friends there.”

“I have got a lot of good memories from having been there, so it’s disappointing to be released. It’s quite a sad day for me.”

“It was very disappointing to find out on twitter as I’ve been at the club for five years. It would have been nice for the club to have rung me as I had my meetings with Andy Hessenthaler and the Chairman and I was under the impression that there would be some sort of contract there for me.”

“I got the impression there might be a pay as you play deal there, which was fair enough and I was looking forward to discussing future options with them.”

“I was still waiting to hear from them and then I got some tweets from my followers wishing me all the luck and thanking me for everything I’d done, so being surprised I looked on the website and saw there was a statement saying that me, Garry Richards and Jo Kuffour had been released.”

“It would have been nice to get a phone call from someone at the club, and I am disappointed with that, but I want to look back at The Gills and see that I’ve had a real special time.”

“I’ve got some great memories and in some ways they outweigh the injuries.”

It was the injury King sustained in the pre-season game against Bromley in the summer of 2009 that restricted him to just a handful of games in the past three years, but he believes that is well behind him now and was disappointed he didn’t get to play more over the past season:

“That’s the biggest disappointment for me. Although I have got really happy memories from the season before my injury, this season was a big year for me. I had proved to myself that I got over my injury nightmare and I was capable of playing on a Saturday and then a Tuesday.”

“I think I played four games with ten days and I was proud of myself for doing that. That answered a lot of questions in my head that I could still do it.”

“I played about eight games and really started to feel good in myself. Unfortunately, there was a lot of competition and Andy Frampton being captain limited the amount of games I could play and the manager put him back in when he was fit.”

“It was disappointing and hard to take, but that’s football for you. On the plus side, I’m glad I have got over those injuries and for the majority of the season I was fit.”

“I think when I played I did well and did myself justice. Going to Plymouth (on loan) was a good learning curve for me as I’ve never been out on loan.”

“It was a good experience for me and got me away from The Gills for a couple of months, gave me a fresh start and gave me some confidence. It was a good time down there and I played some football which was much needed.”

That spell at Plymouth gave King the necessary time out in the middle to get himself back in Gills contention and the 29 year old believes he took his chance when he got back in the side:

“After something like six defeats I got a chance and we got some good wins against sides like Torquay and Cheltenham when I got back in the side.”

“The manager decided to go back to Andy Frampton when he was fit and I don’t mind admitting it was disappointing not to get more games in the end, but I think I played well when given the chance.

Despite being released, King hasn’t given up hope of still playing for the club and is hopeful that the new manager may decide to keep him after all:

“I’d like to think that new manager might come in and give me a chance for another year. That might happen and if it did I’d be delighted as I’d loved to stay.”

“I feel like I’ve got a bit of a point to prove and they stuck by me through my injury and I’d like to pay them back with some performances and help them get out of League Two.”

“The fans have always been fantastic with me and I’d love to repay them too. I’d jump at the chance to stay at Gillingham and you never know what’s around the corner in football.”

“Being awarded the Player of the Year was one of the highlights for me, along with winning at Wembley and playing against Villa, but for me I’ll always remember how great the Gillingham fans are.”

Check out KSN in the next few days for more of our exclusive interview with Simon King as he tells us all about his great memories of his time at Gillingham Football Club.