Former Gillingham defender Simon King has told KSN it has been the support of the club’s fans that means he leaves with special memories.

The 29 year old was released by The Gills on Monday, five years after joining the club for £200,000 from Barnet.

The manner of his departure made headlines as he revealed that he had found out on twitter that he was no longer wanted by the club he calls “my club”.

Having missed almost three years with an ankle injury he sustained in the pre-season game against Bromley in the summer of 2009, King was starting to look back to his best after just four games in the 2010/11 campaign and nine games for Gillingham in the last season.

Despite missing so much football, King believes he is close to being able to play week in, week out for a new side:

“I really do feel like I’ve got a lot to offer and I’ve shown that I can play back to back games.”

“I’ve never been out of contract though and have always had an offer on the table before being out of contract, so this is unchartered territory for me and I’ll have to spend the next few weeks thinking over what’s just happened.”

“I’ll then go away for a few weeks in June and have some time thinking about my future.”

“When I get back, I guess I’ll have to start working hard and seeing what options are available to me. I know it’s not going to be easy as there are a lot of players out of work now, but I am determined to find myself another club in League Two.”

“I am at that age where defenders start to come into their own and I’d like to think I’ve got at least a few more years in me. The injuries are behind me now and I’d like to go and prove that to someone that will give me a chance.”

With the future uncertain for King, the past is clear and the central defender told KSN how he leaves Priestfield with some special memories:

“The fans are the best and have been brilliant with me, especially when I was injured. They have always been supportive of what I’ve done and it helped a lot when I wasn’t playing. The fans have been incredible in my time in Gillingham and I’d like to thank them for that.”

“Other special memories have to be the game at Wembley and playing Villa as I grew up being a fan of theirs. We showed that day what a good side we were and gave them a real run for their money.”

“We had some really good players in that side and I was proud to be able to play them on TV.”

“Wembley has to be the highlight of my career though. To walk out in front of all of our fans and to go on and win will be something that I take to my grave. They’re the kind of memories that you dream about getting as a professional footballer.”

“It was good to go up the way we did and it put the 7-0 defeat to Shrewsbury to bed. Looking back, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Winning at Wembley has to be the pinnacle of my career and to get man of the match that day topped it off.”

Off the pitch, King was not only a favourite amongst the fans, but fellow players and the media warmed to him too and it’ll be some of the friendships he made around the club that he’ll miss the most:

“I’ve got some good friends at the club. The likes of Garry Richards, Joe Martin, Chris Whelpdale and Charlie Lee will all be missed as we travelled in together this year.”

“Winning the Player of the Year was a highlight for me as it was voted for by the fans, which is nice to know the fans are behind me.”

When King looks back at the past five seasons, he knows it will have been eventful enough to tell his grandchildren about:

“We didn’t have the best of seasons in my first year with the club as we got relegated, but I knew we’d bounce straight back.”

“The injury obviously puts a cloud over my time at Gillingham, but I feel they are my club.”

It was former manager Andy Hessenthaler that recommended King to then Gills boss Ronnie Jepson and the defender was thankful of his support:

“I had a short spell with Hess at Barnet and he put all of us to shame as went box to box at the tender age of 41. He had a hand in putting in a good word to the Chairman and I’ve got to be thankful for doing that for me.”

“I just wish I could have played a bit more for him this year.”

Hessenthaler paid the price himself for a season that saw the club finish eighth for the second year in a row and King admits it’s difficult for him to comment on the one time manager losing his job and moving into a Director of Football role:

“Andy will admit himself that we shouldn’t have missed out on promotion like we did. If you look at the squad we had and the budget we had, we should have been promotion.”

“The Chairman obviously felt we needed someone fresh in charge, but I have nothing but respect for Hess as he has always been good to me and I wish him all the best.”

For many Gillingham fans, there will be few better number 5’s to have worn the blue shirt at Priestfield. Players like King don’t come along too often and those that follow him will have big boots to fill.