Carl Serrant says his short stint with Bradford Park Avenue has been soured by the club's attitude to his departure.
Last week, Avenue manager Carl Shutt slammed the former skipper claiming he had left the club in the lurch. He said: "Carl has let us down. he hasn't been in touch with anybody at the club."
But today, Serrant revealed that officials knew at the end of last season that he was leaving.
And the cultured midfielder stresses the comments will not sully the memory of his comeback season.
The former Oldham Athletic defender was invalided out of the professional
game shortly after making a dream move to Premiership giants Newcastle United.
He had two years away from football before joining Avenue for pre-season training last year.
"I haven't snubbed the club or gone back on any agreements, they were all aware that I was leaving within two weeks of last season finishing," said Serrant, who is training with former Avenue manager Trevor Storton following his appointment with Conference North rivals Droylsden.
"Basically I walked into the club off the street because they are my local team and I wanted to give it a go at a decent level again. I didn't even know if I could still do it and I made no promises and Avenue didn't give me any special treatment.
"Fortunately it went well, I felt I could play because the knee was fine and
they took me on.
"As the season progressed I got fitter and played in over 50 games, more than I had for many a season. But it wasn't the best of times, we struggled to get results, Trevor left, other things happened but it all ended on a high when we won promotion to the new league through the play-offs."
During that time long-serving skipper Wayne Benn left and Serrant was handed
the captain's role.
When Storton quit Serrant even had a three-game stint as player-manager.
Serrant's efforts have not gone unnoticed and Avenue secretary Steve Burnett
was the first to say that a season with a player of his undoubted abilities was a boon to the club.
However, he also admitted that there had been a lack of communication on the club's part.
"At the end of last season Carl did say that he would be leaving, we said we
didn't want to lose him.
"We asked him to think about it for a while and it was just left like that," said Burnett. "He had a verbal agreement with Trevor that he would be free to leave at the
end of the season and it was overlooked after we changed manager. It was just one of those things."
Serrant added: "I enjoyed my time at Avenue and was proud to be involved
in what we eventually achieved.
"I wish Carl Shutt and everyone at the club more success in the future."
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