“MAYBE they just didn’t fancy me and didn’t think I was worth the money.”

After four seasons at Swindon Town, Simon Ferry has played his last game in the red of the Robins.

Yesterday the club announced that four regular first-team starters would be leaving the County Ground in the summer, with Ferry perhaps the highest profile of all.

While Tommy Miller, Raffa De Vita and Joe Devera have all made crucial contributions to the Town cause over the past couple of campaigns, Ferry has become a fans’ favourite.

The Scot arrived in Wiltshire in 2009 without a professional game to his name but, on loan from Celtic, he quickly settled into a central midfield role alongside Jonathan Douglas which catapulted the Robins to the League One play-off final.

A relegation, a promotion, a play-off campaign and 175 appearances later, Ferry’s up and down Town experience has come to an end.

Swindon declined the opportunity to take up a one-year option on the 25-year-old, which he would have been unable to reject, preferring instead to release him.

The Advertiser understands Ferry’s wages for 2013/14, under the terms of the option, would have risen to around £2,800 a week, and with budget cuts in mind could have been a factor in the club’s decision to let him go.

However, there may well have been other influences. Ferry has a young son and, with the family home still in Scotland, a move closer to his roots may be enticing.

Equally, he has had to make do with being played out of his favoured position and may have been keen for a new challenge.

Regardless, now Ferry is a free agent he is likely to be snapped up quickly by a host of willing suitors.

As reported by the Adver in March, MK Dons are big admirers of the hard-working playmaker and a move to stadium:mk could yet be on the cards.

For Ferry, however, it is the end of an era.

Speaking exclusively to the Advertiser, he tried to explain why he had been allowed to leave the County Ground.

He said: “I think two nights ago my agent phoned and gave me the idea I was not going to be at Swindon any more.

“I was just told that I had to go in. I went in with the manager and he basically said the same thing. He said ‘we’ve spoken with your agent, you know the situation and we’re going to let you go and you can try to get a new club’.

“Obviously the club is going in a new direction. There’s a new board and a new manager and they want to do things their own way. I don’t know if it’s anything to do with money but I know my wages went up.

“Maybe they just didn’t fancy me and didn’t think I was worth the money. I don’t know. Perhaps the manager wants to get his own players in or the board want to get their own players in. It happens in football.

“Maybe it’s time for us to move on. I’ve been there for four years now and with the new manager and new board I just felt like maybe they wanted to get their own team in, which is fair enough.

“I obviously would have considered playing because it’s a great club and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here. If a good club wants to keep you you’d need to seriously consider it.

“It’s just been one of those things. I’ve been told to find a new club so that’s what I’m going to do.

“You’ve printed that there’s been a bit of interest and that’s all it’s really been, a few whispers here and there.

“Obviously clubs were waiting to see whether my option was going to be taken up or if it was going to be a free transfer so now they’ve seen I’m a free transfer hopefully I’ll have a few offers.”

Looking back on a whirlwind four years at Town, Ferry said: “I really have enjoyed it and I can’t thank the club enough for the things they’ve done for me. I came in having not played a game and got to the play-off final.

“I’ve loved my time here. Obviously I had one bad season with the relegation which was a bad year.

“It seems the last two years a lot has been happening and no one has been certain about their futures, no matter who you are.”

And there was one final message for the fans as well.

“I hope they can see that even if I was having a bad game I always do my best. I really do love playing football and try to play with a smile on my face,” he said.

“I appreciate so much the support I have had from the fans.”