I waited all night for a call.By: Cameron Bell (Daily Telegraph).   Â
A shattered Dwight Yorke says Sydney FC's decision to offload him to Sunderland has left him "gutted" and "completely devastated".
Yorke has labelled the past week as equal to the most heartbreaking period of his career, when he was off-loaded by Manchester United in 2002.
An emotional Yorke said he sat up until 5am on Friday, waiting for someone from Sydney FC to call and save his career with the club. But the call never came, forcing him to say goodbye to the city and club he loves.
"I sat by the phone until 5am Friday, just waiting for the call,'' Yorke said. "Just waiting for someone from Sydney FC to say they didn't want me to go, that they still wanted me.
"But that call never came. I'm very emotional about it. I'm absolutely gutted, to say the least. I'm devastated, just devastated.
"The thing is, the more I think about it, even if I got a call from someone at the last minute and they said 'Dwight, we don't want you to leave', then I think there and then I would have stayed. I definitely would have stayed.''
The letdown"The least Sydney could have done, if they had shown any interest at all or wanted me to stay, was offer me another year, but it never happened,'' Yorke said.
It wasn't my call. They had the ace card where they can say, 'yes, no, we want to keep him, he's not for sale'. They had my obligation to the club on a contract.
"But they played the ace card. They didn't have to play it, but they did. They didn't have to until it was due in 2007, they could have kept the card but they played it.
"I can't break my contract I have with Sydney unless Sydney wants me to do that. Sydney had all the power in controlling my decision.
"They've got 600 grand out of it - I came here for free and they've got 600 grand. If I was such a major product for the league, ie as a marquee player, you would have thought they would want to hang on to you as a prize asset.''
As of yesterday, Yorke had still not heard from the likes of Frank Lowy or from celebrity supporter and club director Anthony La Paglia.
He had not heard from anyone with any real power at the club apart from chairman Walter Bugno.
"Bugno called me to tell me the deal was complete and that's it,'' Yorke said. "That's the only person I've spoken to. There was no attempt to say, 'Dwight, we want you to stay' or 'Dwight, do you want to stay?' That's the most hurtful thing.
"I think I was doing a reasonable job. In all my life in football, if you are one of the major faces in a major team, they tell you they don't want you to go.
"But I never had that impression from anybody who makes the major decisions at the club. (Coach) Terry Butcher wants me to stay. The backroom staff want me to stay. The players want me to stay. But the guys who have the major say never called me and said they wanted me to stay.''
The rumour millThere are those who believe Sydney insiders instigated a campaign after their title win last season, suggesting Yorke wouldn't be back.
Yorke said those rumours were never addressed by the club and, again, he didn't get a phone call reassuring him all was sweet.
"Those rumours started at the end of last season and never really got sorted,'' he said. `During that time, I turned down a few clubs back in England - Premier League clubs - who were interested in me.
"I just didn't want to leave. If I wanted to stay away it would have been the perfect scenario to stay away. To kick up a stir. It would have been easier for the club if I stayed away and did not come back. But I came back because I wanted to.''
The moneyYorke wants people to know he isn't leaving because of money. If that was the case, he would have taken the $3.9million a season he was offered to play in Qatar before he settled on Sydney for less than a third of that.
While he will be well paid at Sunderland, he would have been happy to remain in Sydney for less.
"It's great because in the end I've got a great move back to the home of football and all that,'' Yorke said.
"But the money is irrelevant. If I wanted money I wouldn't have come to Sydney in the first place. I would have gone to Dubai or Qatar and made shitloads.''
The biggest regretYorke doesn't have a bad word to say about any of the football staff at Sydney FC, many of whom have become his close friends.
"If you have a chance to play football and live in an environment like Sydney you should jump at the occasion,'' he said.
"The backroom staff at Sydney FC have been brilliant. The physio Stan, the kit manager Joe, the goalkeeping coach Jimmy and reserve coach Cookie, fitness trainer Anthony. I just can't fault these guys. They havebeen absolutely wonderful to work with.
"It's so sad I've got to say goodbye to these guys in a few days. They have become personal friends.''
The realisationYorke admits he hasn't slept for the past two days. He has been too upset. He walked off The Lakes golf course last Friday having played with former pro Adam Wilcox. Asked how Yorke went, Wilcox said: "I think he had a bit on his mind.''
One of the first people he called to discuss his plight was friend and fellow Trinidadian Brian Lara.
"He's always the first person to help out in tough situations for me ... he couldn't believe what had happened, really,'' Yorke said.
"It is a crying shame how it ended. When things are going so well you hope for the fairytale ending but that just won't happen.
"The fact is I was looking forward to leading Sydney and looking forward to defending the championship. I can't believe I'm leaving. I really can't believe it.''
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