THERE are plenty of examples in Worcester City’s squad of players trying to make a name for themselves in non-league football having been shunned in the professional game.

Danny Glover, Aaron Williams and Graham Hutchison were on the respective books at Port Vale, Walsall and Birmingham City earlier in their fledgling careers.

Others, such as Ellis Deeney, Danny Williams and Ethan Moore, were all promising youngsters at Aston Villa — Deeney captained their youth team to the FA Youth Cup final — but were later released.

It is a reminder of the harsh realities for players who dream of making a living from the sport they love.

With Richard Taundry it’s a slightly different story. He is a defensive midfielder with more than 150 appearances for Legaue One Walsall under his belt and yet he was thrown on to the football scrapheap by the Saddlers during the summer.

As if to prove the point of how tough it is to prosper in the game, the 24-year-old failed to find another club, despite his agent speaking to a couple, and found himself playing for Pelsall Villa in the Midland Combination to keep himself in shape.

Just after the news of Taundry’s arrival at Worcester broke, I asked manager Carl Heeley whether he was surprised to see him without a club.

The answer was simple: No he wasn’t. Not because Taundry isn’t capable but because the Professional Footballers’ Association list of players out of contract stretches to 13 pages on their website.

“It’s a tough profession to be in.” Taundry said. “It’s lovely when you’re at the top but when you’re not it’s a very tough and fickle game.

“It’s something you have to deal with and carry on.

“I was at Pelsall but from the beginning I spoke to them and said I wasn’t in it for the long term, I was just trying to keep fit although I put everything in as I would any other game.

“They understood that and were brilliant but it got to the point where I needed to start looking to get something more out of the game.

“I was playing with Aaron Williams at Walsall and he said it was a good set-up at Worcester and then the manager got in touch with me and we sorted something out from there.”

Taundry continued: “When the opportunity came it was perfect for me. It keeps me fit and gets me back in the game.”