FORMER Morton goalkeeper Sam Ramsbottom has revealed that he has considered walking away from football after falling through the cracks in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

The 24-year-old Scouser left Cappielow back in July after not being offered a new deal by then gaffer David Hopkin after making 15 appearances in all competitions.

The shot stopper admitted that the last six months of have been the toughest of his career after seeing potential contracts ripped up due clubs' budgets being cut through the economic impact caused by the pandemic.

He told the Tele: “I’ve never known anything like this, it’s definitely been one of, if not the worst time to be a free agent.

“I know the level that I can play at and when it’s out of your control, it’s hard to deal with, you’re having to get used to it day by day and having to look for normal 9-5 work to keep your head above the water.

“I look on my phone and see the fixtures being played and I get jealous of the people being able to play, especially when my boots and gloves are sitting there essentially picking up dust.

“You’re sometimes sitting in a dark room and you can’t sleep and you’re thinking, 'oh God, is this my career?' Especially when you sit and look at other people the same age as you and what they have achieved.

“I won’t lie, there have been times where I’ve considered just walking away. I’d be wrong if I said otherwise, but you need to think that you’re only half a season or 12 months away from getting something decent.

“You’re kind of caught in two minds about it, and it’s horrible to think about that at 24 but other things in life sort of take centre stage and sometimes you need to think of doing something else.

“Covid has just derailed everything for me really. Obviously I was expecting from what Hoppy had said at the back end of the season that new contracts were going to be offered to all the lads.

“When the first lockdown came into play and everything’s taken a hit I’ve been one of the ones left without a contract.

“I'd spoken to my agent to see what could be available, but it very quickly turned from days into weeks.”

The ex-Tranmere Rovers 'keeper had been training with League One side Falkirk before receiving offers from abroad that had been blocked due to the pandemic.

He said: “It’s well documented that I was in at Falkirk for around five weeks, but I also had a couple of interesting offers from further afield.

“Everything was going swimmingly at Falkirk and then all of a sudden they’d said they’d budgeted for three 'keepers and now with what’s happened with money they could only have two, so originally they’d wanted to bring me in and then said that the money wasn’t there for me.

“I'd been to Germany for a club over there, they’d offered me a contract and said that it’s there for me to sign but then they’ve gone into lockdown in October and continued into the new year.

“It’s looking like they’ll be in lockdown until April, which isn’t great because I’ve now got the prospect of potentially going over a calendar year without football, which for someone who wants to do this for a living, isn’t ideal.”

Ramsbottom admitted that he regrets that the Ton faithful weren’t able to see him at his best.

He added: “I do have regrets about my time at Morton. I’d dealt with a couple of personal issues in and around the time of signing, which meant I wasn’t in the best possible shape or frame of mind coming into things and I was playing catch-up.

“I felt as if I was starting to hit a bit of form before the Hibs game, but some performances I felt flew a bit under the radar.

“It is what it is, sometimes that’s just how things work. I loved my time at the club and I wish I had the chance to play more.

“It was a great experience for me, especially the second time I came into the team, I thought I was starting to get to a level I know I could reach, but I’ve come away from the situation knowing that I’ve left no stone unturned, despite what some people think.”