Because the former Oldham Athletic midfielder-cum-striker is just one name among 500 others on a list sent out from the Manchester headquarters of the Professional Footballers' Association a few days ago to every club within these shores.
And every footballer on that depressingly-long list had one thing in common. They are all currently unemployed. There were no multi-million pound deals on offer when their contracts expired at the end of June.
There were no contracts of any description on offer. All those players on that list were considered to be surplus to requirements by their various clubs. They were jettisoned.
Cut loose and left to fend for themselves and try to seek new employers in an industry which is shrinking by the year.
Career
So, like so many others on that out-of-work list, Eyre sits by the phone at his home in Hull praying for the call that might extend his career as a professional footballer.
It's the only job he's ever had since leaving school in Hull as a 16-year-old. He knows time isn't on his side. He will be 31 in October and he's got a wife and two young children to support. And he dreads the very real possibility that his phone will never ring.
"Of course I'm worried about my future," he said. "This is the first time I've been out of work since leaving school.
"I don't know how to do anything else other than play football but I've got to face up to the possibility that I might not be able to find another club willing to take me on."
Eyre began his career with Oldham and had played for Scunthorpe United and his home town club Hull City before returning for a second spell at Boundary Park four years ago.
His immediate future with the Latics, he felt, was secure. But all that changed when manager Brian Talbot left the club last season to be replaced by Ronnie Moore.
"Brian rated me and while he was in charge at Boundary Park, I was a regular in the first-team," he explains. "But I was taken ill with a blood disorder and I still wasn't fit to play when Ronnie Moore took over.
"I got back into full training and I was pushing hard for a recall to the first time when I suffered quite a serious injury to one of the discs in my back and I never did get to play a first-team game under Moore.
"But I still believe that the way I was treated by Oldham was abysmal. I was told that I wasn't being retained on transfer deadline day and by the time I was given that news I was left with three hours to find myself a new club.
"I had given the club good service in two spells at Boundary Park and I thought I deserved a bit more consideration than that.
"The biggest problem I've got right now is proving to a new club that I'm actually fit to play professional football because I've still not recovered completely from that disc injury.
"I'm running again and I'm playing cricket but it is difficult on your own to get yourself back to the fitness levels you need to play football professionally.
"When you are training on your own, you tend to stop when you start to hurt. You need other players around you to push you through that barrier just like you push them. And you need a coach on hand barking at you to make sure you don't slacken off.
Training
"I approached my old club Scunthorpe to see if I could train with them but they turned me down but I'm due to spend a couple of weeks training with Darlington, which is very important because before I do anything else I've got to get myself fit.
"I genuinely believe I've still got two or three good years left in me but whether I'll get the chance to prove it is out of my hands. You can't just walk into a club and demand that they take you on. Little worries start creeping into your mind when you find yourself in a situation like this.
"In footballing terms I'm getting on a bit and there's an awful lot of younger players out there looking for a new club. Would a club looking for my sort of player prefer a 20-year-old rather than a 30-year-old.
"Another worry is that I've got no other strings to my bow. I'm a footballer first and last. I don't know how to do anything else. I've not even got my coaching badges so the prospects of me staying in the game are bleak unless I can find a club this summer willing to take me on.
"All I can do is to get myself fit and then hope that the phone rings. If it doesn't then I've no idea what the future holds for me. I know there are a lot of footballers in the same boat as me right now but believe me, that doesn't make it any easier for me to get to sleep at night right now." Tweet
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i wish john all the best ,and thank him for his days at latics ,i hope he finds a club soon ,because the club that takes him on will see a quality player and a hard worker , and the club youngsters will benifit from as they WILL LEARN how to be a real player and he can teach them new skills in football ,SO TO ALL THE TEAM'S IN THE NORTH AND AROUND THE COUNTRY GET HIM ON YOUR BOOKS YOU WILL BENIFIT FROM HIM...
I've got no sympathy really, players have plenty of time to learn other 'trades' for when the inevitable comes along. Players are on good money in general and instead of driving swanky cars and drinking in B#5 a bottle wine bars they should be thinking about investing their wages into their future just like joe public has to do. It's a bit of a bummer really, when they have to start looking in the job pages like the rest of us! On the other side of the coin, players like Ferdinand, Gerrard, el al, are taking more than their fair share of the pie and maybe there would be a bit more money to go round if they were on 'sensible' wages!
Awwww, shame. Welcome to the real world pal. Are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy? For pete's sake mate, you're 30, healthy and fit. Go out and get a job - there's hundreds of them out there. The same goes for all the other pampered prima donnas on the list. No-one has the right to be paid for playing sport, so go and do something else.
A genuine nice guy one of the best. Sad to see him go but i realise times had changed & it happens in football. Id hate the pressures of a footballer after the glamour & glitz goes. Met JE he is a lovely man.
I dont support Oldham, and know nothing of John Eyre. The man has been lucky enough to play full time football , most people would give their right arm to of had the opportunity. If you are over 30 and never planned for life after football, you are naive. There are thousands of other jobs in the UK, and John like most others will find one.