someone with 450 appearances at only 28 can feel this way about the game he loved........... FORMER Athletic defender Scott McNiven admits he has fallen out of love with football after finding himself on the scrapheap at the age of 28. McNiven, who was released by Chester City last summer, is currently playing for non-league Guiseley as he contemplates having to make a living outside football. “I find it incredible that I can’t find a club having played 480 professional matches and, at the age of 28, I feel I still have a lot more years in me. “I am feeling disillusioned with football,” explained McNiven. The former Scotland under-21 international has had a difficult period as less than three years ago he waged a battle against cancer. He is still having six-monthly checks and won’t be given the all-clear for a further three years. “It seems as though I have had a hurdle to overcome every year, and being unable to find a club has topped things off,” he said. McNiven’s plight shows how precarious the life of a footballer is as last season his career appeared in good shape when he made 41 league appearances out of a possible 46 for Chester City. But a change of manager signalled a change of fortune after Mark Wright took charge and his contract was not renewed. He received one offer from Torquay but rejected it because it was not a viable proposition from a financial viewpoint, especially as he had new commitments following last summer’s marriage to Adelle. McNiven has had spells this season with Nationwide Conference club Morecambe and Fleetwood which did not work out and he now finds himself at Guiseley who, like Fleetwood, are in the UniBond League premier division. It must seem a million miles away from his days at Athletic where he made his first-team debut at the age of 16 in what is the equivalent of today’s Coca-Cola Championship. McNiven played for Scotland under-21s at the age of 17 and a glittering career appeared to beckon. Sadly, it did not take off and McNiven, whose twin brother David is currently on loan at Conference club Stafford Rangers from Morecambe, found himself a journeyman playing for Oxford, Mansfield and Chester.
