The PFA list is made up of 122 FA Barclaycard Premier League players while the other 464 are from the Nationwide Leagues One, Two and Three. The big names include are Keith Gillespie, Hakan Suker, Ian Taylor, Alan Wright, Les Ferdinand and Blades target Kevin Davies.
However this list does include a lot of unknown players from lower leagues such as Youth Training System players. This will hit local players in the Yorkshire region as well, Bradford City has decided to released 10 while York City has released 8. Meanwhile Sheffield United have released 18 (only a few of these are first team members) as Neil Warnock wants to reduce his squad to make way for more players.
PFA chairman, Gordon Taylor believes that a estimated 200 players will not be able to find another club and will be forced to quit the sport they love. "We could lose as many as a third of the 586," Quoted Taylor. "Our job is to try and get them all fixed up - but I'd be pleased if two-thirds stayed.
"People are quick to talk about salaries but not as eager to look at the other side of it - the insecurity of the profession. "The majority of players are on one or two year contracts, particularly in the Football League, so are very insecure and vulnerable. There is a great deal of uncertainty in a lot of households."