Vincent has had two spells with Walsall in his career

Walsall have agreed to let defender Jamie Vincent leave the club because of family reasons.

The 35-year-old had signed contract acceptance forms with the Saddlers but asked to be released to be nearer his wife and children in Berkshire.

"It was a very hard decision to make. Being away from my family for most of the week last season was hard," Vincent told the Walsall website.

"I'd like to thank the manager and the chairman, they have been superb."

Vincent travelled up from his family home last season and stopped in the West Midlands for four night a week.

606: DEBATE This now leaves us with no left back on the books so hutch better start signing players quickly or we wont have a team saddlersfan

"The more we have talked about it as a family, the more I have realised I joust couldn't do that again.

"If I was single or lived closer, I'd have never contemplated moving on," he said.

"Last season Matty Richards kindly let me use his spare room so without him it would've been more difficult, so I'd like to thank him for that."

Walsall boss Chris Hutchings said: "We wish Jamie all the best. He's an excellent professional and , as much as we wanted him to stay, it wouldn't have been right for player or the club to stand in his way."

Vincent signed for the Saddlers permanently in August 2009 and previously played 12 times during a loan spell from Portsmouth from December 2003 to January 2004.

"It's a great bunch of lads at Walsall and, in that sense, I'm gutted to going. However, I've got to think of what's best for my family and I'm hoping to get something sorted with a team nearer to home in the coming days," he said.

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