Every year, published statistics reveal the rising number of professional footballers who are out of work or between clubs.
Behind the figures are real individuals, like Tony Warner.
Whatever constitutes the average unemployed player, Warner does not seem to be it. He is a goalkeeper with 20 years' experience, most of it gained in the top rung of the Football League.
His enthusiasm is undiminished and his physical condition excellent at the age of 36. As free transfers go, he carries a certain appeal.
But for five months, Warner's phone has been virtually silent. However many offers he anticipated after leaving Charlton Athletic at the end of last season, the reality fell short of his estimate. To maintain his fitness he has been training with Liverpool, waiting for a door open elsewhere.
One opened at Elland Road this week when Leeds United invited Warner to play in Tuesday night's reserve fixture against Sc**thorpe United. The prospect of a game – any game – was something of a relief but the true incentive for him was the possibility of permanent employment at a club who are dangerously short of fit keepers.
"I haven't really got an answer for why I'm in this position," Warner said. "I am surprised at the lack of offers. I genuinely thought that someone, somewhere would want to give me a go. Throughout the league, you assume that a few clubs would see you out of contract and think about taking a chance on you. With me, it's not really a case of taking a chance.
"I'm wouldn't be saying to people 'you've got to sign me on without seeing me.' If a club wanted me to go in on trial for a week or two weeks then I'd go anywhere but it just doesn't seem to have happened. I don't know why.
"It might be down to budgets because they seem to have been slashed everywhere. Sometimes it's maybe a case of managers assuming you'd price yourself out of the market without actually speaking to you. It's been a strange time for me, something I'm not used to."
Warner has compiled a lengthy list of employers and appearances during a career which began at Anfield in the early 1990s. He played for no fewer than 13 sides before joining Charlton, Leeds among them, and is on the threshold of his 300th league outing. Thirteen of those were made while on loan at Elland Road from Fulham in 2006.
A new keeper ought not to have been on Simon Grayson's mind so early in the season but injuries affecting that specific area of his squad have created something bordering on a crisis.
Leeds signed Jason Brown on loan from Blackburn Rovers at the start of September after Kasper Schmeichel, Grayson's first-choice, damaged a tendon in his foot. Earlier this month, Brown was unexpectedly left as the only available candidate for Saturday's game at Middlesbrough when Shane Higgs pulled a hamstring during Leeds' 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town.
Without another signing or the recall of Alan Martin from his loan at Barrow, Grayson would be compelled to travel to the Riverside this weekend without a substitute keeper. United's manager might have been tempted to take that risk were it not for the fact that fortune has scarcely smiled on him with regards to injury this season.
Leeds registered Warner specifically for Tuesday's reserve game, which Leeds lost 1-0 through no fault of his, and he linked up with Grayson's squad for training this morning. It was anticipated that United would attempt to agree a deal making Warner available for their game on Teesside.
"They've had some bad injuries here, with Higgs and Schmeichel," said Warner. "I think that leaves them with only Jason Brown. I got a phone call from my agent telling me to come in on Monday, play the game on Tuesday and take it from there.
"It's quite hard these days to get into clubs just to keep yourself fit – not to try and get a deal or anything like that but just to keep yourself in shape. But it's important to do that so you're ready when opportunities like this come about.
"Roy Hodgson was kind enough to let me go to Liverpool and do some work there, and I've been very thankful for that. I've put a lot of hard work in over the last couple of months. If something does happen (with Leeds) I should be ready to step into the breach.
"I haven't had a deal since the summer so if I was to get one here then great. If not, I'll hopefully get one somewhere else. I can't second-guess at the moment because nothing at all has come up in the last three months.
"I wouldn't discount anything but I am grateful to Leeds for making the phone call and giving me their time. I was told to come into training (this morning) but beyond that I don't know what will happen. I'd be more than happy if something came about here."
Hull City were the last club to give Warner a first-team appearance, during a Carling Cup game against Southend United in August of last year.
His most recent outing in a league fixture came with Leicester City five months earlier. It was hardly surprising that Warner was itching to play in Tuesday's reserve game.
"Training on Monday and knowing that I had a game to come was great," he said. "That hasn't happened for ages.
"It gives you something to focus on and something to prepare for. It's a nice change to working day after day without anything ahead of you. I won't ever get used to that."