TILBURY captain Sam West admits it was “not my decision to leave the club” after he was released last Thursday.

West, who has made more than 150 appearances for the club since joining in August 2010 and scored seven goals for the club, released a statement on the club website in which he said “it is sad it has come to this.”

Here is his statement in full.

"I am extremely gutted to be leaving the club, after many years, over 150 appearances and being the club captain I am sad that it has come to this and I am now being released.

“I would like to thank the chairman and the fans for their support over the years. The obvious highlight of my time was the fantastic play-off season under Paul Vaughan.

“I have had to miss two games recently due to family and work commitments but I would just like to emphasise this is not my decision to be leaving the club!

“I was looking forward to being captain of the club and a big part of 2015 but unfortunately this will now not be the case. If circumstances change I wouldn't think twice about rejoining the club in the future."

West, 26, has also played for Witham Town, Billericay Town, Brentwood Town and Ilford.

Tilbury manager Gary Henty was full of praise for West, whom he described as a “great servant” to the club.

“Unfortunately for Sam in recent weeks he hasn't been able to attend matches and the players that have stepped in to his place have been performing fantastically well, winning five out of six games and keeping five clean sheets. Therefore he has slipped down the pecking order.

“As a management team we felt that it was unfair to string a player of Sam's ability along if opportunities to play may be limited in the weeks ahead, so we decided to release him to find first team football elsewhere.

“We did this with the best interests of the player at heart and also knowing that our own club has enough strength in depth to cope.

“It was a very tough decision, the hardest I've had to make to date. Also Sam has had a change in profession recently and was finding it hard to commit to a lot of the training sessions of late.

“We wish Sam the very best for the future.”