TOMMY Widdrington has committed to Ryman Premier outfit Salisbury City for the rest of the season, but whether he stays in non-league football remains to be seen.

The tough-tackling midfielder, who made 81 starts for Saints in the early 90s before joining Grimsby for £300,000, has revealed that he is still in demand in the Football League.

He said: "I've been offered a couple of contracts from Football League clubs, but the draw of coming to Salisbury was Nick (manager Nick Holmes) and Mitch (reserve boss Mitch Blake), who I know from my Southampton days.

"I'll be with Salisbury until the end of the season and then we'll talk about whether it goes further. Hopefully I can help them out of trouble and the club can build on that."

Until just under a fortnight ago Widdrington was playing for another ex-Saint, Martin Foyle, at Coca-Cola League One outfit Port Vale.

He admitted: "People may think it strange that one day I was playing for Port Vale at Swindon and a few days later I was playing for Salisbury, but it would be silly not to listen to what people have to say and the plans Nick and the club have here at Salisbury are very exciting."

For the moment the likeable Geordie is still living up in Stoke but, some nine years after leaving The Dell, his south coast links remain strong.

He met his wife, Candice, as a mere 14-year-old when he was on trial with Saints.

He said: "I've got ties in Southampton. My wife's family are from the city.

"Whether I stay down here depends on circumstances. I've got an offer on the table to go back into league football, but I'll wait and see what happens at Salisbury.

"Coaching interests me and, without wanting to tread on anyone's toes here, I should think I'll have a bit of a say and an input into that this season.

"I must admit, though, it's strange training two nights a week instead of five days!"

As another former Saint, Eastleigh's David Hughes, would be the first to testify, refereeing standards take a bit of getting used to for ex-pros dropping into the non-league game.

Widdrington had his first taste of that on his home debut last Saturday, when he was red-carded for a second bookable offence in the 2-1 home win over Hampton & Richmond Borough.

He confessed: "The ref spoilt the game and that's hard for me to take. I didn't make a tackle worthy of a booking - let alone a sending off."