Former Swindon Town striker Charlie Austin said that his enjoyment of football changed during his second stint with the club.

Austin just joined AFC Totton in the Southern League Premier South, moving into part-time football for the first time since he first joined Swindon in 2009.

Speaking to TalkSport Breakfast, Austin explained his decision to move to the South Coast club and said that he felt he no longer wanted the stress that came with playing in the lower leagues.

He said: “It came down to the family time, I wanted to spend time with my family, but when I went to Brisbane [Roar], I enjoyed that, but the last 18 months since I came back felt like, for me, football had changed.

“I was playing for Swindon in League Two and the problems that arose around the football club, I wasn’t really used to and the people that were there were very different to the people I was used to previously playing for other clubs.

“I was just thinking to myself, I don’t want this stress, I don’t need this agg[ravation], and I don’t need these politics that go on in these football clubs, arguing over irrelevant things.

“For me, I would rather play part-time, enjoy time with the family, join a football club that is trying to have a go, understand where they are, but see it for what it is.”

Austin always intended to continue playing after his departure from Swindon and added that whilst he maintains the buzz of wanting to play, he did not like other aspects that come with it.

He said: “I still want to play football, I just don’t want to be involved in the stupid politics that come around in the lower leagues now.

“That is what it came down to, I am listening to people talk regarding football and I am thinking ‘You lot don’t have a clue about football.’

“That is the problem, that is the way that football is going and it is not for me.

“When you score goals, it is the greatest feeling ever, you can’t replicate it and I still have that buzz and I still want to do that and you are still going to get that feeling no matter where you play.

“I still had the hunger, but do I still have the hunger to do it full-time? I am not sure. Do I still have the love for football? Absolutely.”