Paul Buttner talks to Damien Richardson about why he has left Shamrock Rovers

Damien Richardson has decided to quit football altogether after 35 years in the game following his release as manager by Shamrock Rovers on Wednesday. But the 54-year-old Dubliner leaves the game with no regrets.

He said he was surprised, rather than disappointed, at Rovers' refusal to nurture a full-time set-up which was his ambition. With his part-time contract up next month, Richardson put a proposal to the club on Tuesday saying the only way he wanted to remain as manager was if he went full-time. "I felt it had to be done," said Richardson. "It's a backward step for them not to go down the route of a full-time set-up.

"That's all I was interested in. They came back and said they felt they couldn't go down that road. So we've parted amicably," added the former Shelbourne manager, who believes the chief reason for the club's action was purely financial.

"I'm very happy my contract hasn't been renewed, for the simple reason if they don't want to go down the full-time direction and have the club run in a proper footballing way then I want no part in it anyway.

"The league as a whole has to go down a more professional route if it is to progress and for me it's a contradiction not to have a full-time manager of Shamrock Rovers."

Richardson is not about to have a change of heart on this.

"At my age I cannot afford to get involved in something that I don't really believe in," he said. "My enthusiasm has been dented by all that's happened in League of Ireland football this season. If the club had come back and said they agreed with me I would still have had a big decision to make."

While accepting the club's finances are tight as they prepare to move to their new ground in Tallaght, Richardson says he didn't price himself out of a job.

"I didn't ask for anything exorbitant. I know what the general financial package is in the league and I wasn't expensive. While I feel a club like Shamrock Rovers has to step into a full-time set-up as Bohemians and Shelbourne have done, I am mindful of the fact that money is very, very tight. You can't spend money you haven't got.

"If I had been 10 or 15 years younger there was no risk. But with Rovers not being able to go in that direction I felt there was no safeguard for me. I needed control over my own future. When you don't have that in professional football you're in a very difficult situation. That's a lesson I've learned. I now have to get myself a job outside the mainstream of football. Enough is enough."

Former Rovers manager Dermot Keely, who recently resigned as boss of Shelbourne, and Roddy Collins, who was sacked by Carlisle United a fortnight ago, are already being touted as possible replacements.