Former West Brom and Walsall midfielder Sam Mantom on pandemic impact on football, part-time and promotion

However, his Scunthorpe side would lose out to Rotherham in the League One play-off final, with the Millers going on to win promotion.

Mantom left the Irons that summer and less two years later he was in a difficult situation alongside scores of other professional footballers. He was out of contract at Southend and without a club in the middle of the global pandemic, facing the reality of leaving the full time game.

The 31-year-old, who now lives back in the West Midlands combines working with playing, and has helped Rushall Olympic achieve promotion to the National League North in his first season.

Speaking on the latest guest episode of the Baggies Broadcast podcast, Mantom, who signed for Albion as a youngster from Walsall for £20,000, has revealed how he could have gone down a very different path.

However the midfielder, who graduated from Albion's academy alongside the likes of Romaine Sawyers and Saido Berahino said he doesn't dwell on how his professional career came to an abrupt halt.

He said: "I lost in the four play-offs, how unlucky can you get.

"I look back and think if we go up there, I would have been playing Championship football, you never know what path you could have been on then.

"I do look back and think what might have been, but at the same time it is part of life.

"It is a period of time where things could have been different, I could still be playing League One football.

"I was out of contract in July 2020, so straight away you go on furlough but at that time we weren't even being paid at Southend, so even then you're thinking, what am I going to do here.

"It isn't good when you've still got bills to pay.

"I was on a decent enough contract for that level, and all of a sudden they just got rid of everyone.

"Then it was trialling with teams that summer, but clubs had no budget and they said they were just having to play their kids, it was a tricky time.

"It was very, very difficult, your income is completely gone. I knew some lads who worked and played part time but I didn't want to do that I wanted to stay full time.

"I was getting offers but they were ones where you think teams, 'are taking the mickey?' Some of these are League One clubs too.

"That was the case for so many players, no one could get a club.

"If you were in contract at that time, you were okay, but I still speak to boys now who were in the same position as me, and life hits hard when you are out of contract."

Mantom, living in Southend, soon had to make a choice. He decided to go part time while working with a friend, and signed for Hemel Hempsted Town following a short stint with Rushall Olympic.

Despite the fact the Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the end of his career, Mantom doesn't put all the blame on that, but rather the timing.

"I don't want to blame it on Covid, but it obviously had a massive factor and the fact I was out of contract at the wrong time," he added.

"If I had another year at Southend, playing league football, who knows what would have happened after that.

"It is something I think about every now and then, but it happened, it is what it is, there is no good moping about it."

Last summer, Mantom returned to the West Midlands and re-signed for Rushall.

He has played an integral part in their success this season, as they won promotion to the National League North for the first time in their history, while also winning the Staffordshire Senior Cup and Walsall Senior Cup.

Mantom, who made his Albion senior debut back in 2010, has enjoyed his first foray into non-league football - and has even brought along a former former fans with him.

He explained: "I spoke to Liam McDonald at Rushall and it was something I wanted to be a part of, my goal was to play every game at this level, and it is a good level.

"With it being local to Walsall and having played there, you get a few Walsall fans who pop over every now and then.

"It has been great, it is serious football and we are a very, very good team."

Mantom discusses his early days at West Brom, linking up with former Baggies at Walsall and much more on this week's episode of the Baggies Broadcast. It will be available from Wednesday on Spotify, Apple and Soundcloud.