The transfer window can be a worrying time for a footballer because there’s so much uncertainty.

You might see your manager quoted on television saying that he plans to bring a couple of new signings. That usually means a couple of departures, so five or six players will be wondering whether that will be them.

A club would tell your agent rather than you, though if you asked a manager directly he’d likely tell you. I had a call at one agent to say my club was prepared to sell me - and I saw the manager the next morning in training and he acted as if nothing had happened.

Or, you might be one of the players hoping for a move to a bigger club with a higher paid contract. So, you call your agent to see what he knows or what he’s heard.

Sometimes they’ll reveal that one of your team mates is moving before you or even the manager knows, because a deal may have been sanctioned over his head by the chairman. That can lead to a breakdown of trust between chairman and manager.

Other times, I’ve sat there thinking: ‘My life could go anywhere here. I’ve just bought a new home and my kids are settled at school. My wife has finally settled and I might have to tell her that we’re moving 200 miles away next week, the first six weeks of which I’ll be there living in a hotel and she won’t be.’

That’s one reason why footballers don’t move their families around with them all the time. Another reason is that contracts have changed, with one and two-year deals being the norm below the Premier League when it used to be three and four-years.

If you have a four-year deal then you will be inclined to move your family – four years is a good chunk of time and it’s worth the hassle of putting your kids through a change of school. The club usually helps with the move. If you get a one-year deal then it’s not fair to uproot them.

So families stay put and most top level players rent or buy a flat in the city where they work. That’s more practical, but it leaves hours of time to kill and boredom kicks in. I’ve seen it happen many times.

At one club, four or five of the players would head off to the nearest brothel most days after training. They called it ‘The £50’ because the prostitutes would charge £50 regardless of the status or requirements of their clients.

It became so routine that the players got to know the girls well and ended up going there merely for a cup of tea. After an hour there they would spend another couple of hours in the bookmakers – just to socialize rather than because they were addicted to gambling.

I know one player – a star – who used to drive to a nearby seaside resort and spend the afternoon putting £1 coins in the slot machines. Winning barely mattered, killing time did.

Because you are free in the afternoon, you end up meeting other people who are free in the afternoon – and they are usually the wrong sort, people who work in or own nightclubs, people who like to hang around with footballers.

Away from their partners or families, too many players start seeing other girls. Footballers know it’s not right, but they have to abstain from drinking, smoking, drugs if they are going to succeed. Many feel they should be allowed one vice – women.

Thirty years ago players would kill time by heading to the pub, especially if they were given a day off midweek. That has changed. You can’t go in the pub on an all day session now, fill yourself with poison and expect everything to be 100% the next day.

There are more innocent pursuits. While a player visiting a museum or theatre would be considered an oddball, they might get away with going to see a film. More likely are extended sessions playing computer games.

A lot of the single lads play FIFA or Call of Duty at one flat or another, whiling away the hours – it’s usually football or war. There’s always the internet but Facebook is a no, no as there’s too much potential for trouble. Twitter is more private, but full of idiots talking nonsense and it can come back to bite your backside if you react to their bait.

Other players go shopping, compulsively buying designer clothes or cars they don’t need. I once spent £600 on a Gucci jacket that I stopped wearing after a month.

At the local BMW franchise they can talk cars with salesmen eager for their money. If the franchise has a fit girl on reception then it makes it a more appealing place because they have the challenge of trying to chat her up – it’s the competitive spirit you see.

Some of the busiest car showrooms are in areas where there are a lot of footballers, like Wilmslow in Cheshire or Chigwell in Essex. Selling to footballers is easy because they are rich and some are not the brightest the sales staff will come across.

Boredom is always the enemy lurking around the corner, that’s why players spend so much time together. Though in the last few days of August one subject dominates – who is going where in the last few days of the window.

