THERE used to be an annual, lurid headline around this time of year that a few hundred Scottish footballers had been dumped "on the scrapheap".

In other words around 300-400 were being released and were facing the prospect of being pushed out of the game. An ominous, depressingly-high figure would be released by the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association and later its successor, PFA Scotland. Invariably the situation was described as being "the worst ever".

There will be no number released this year, no apocalyptic headline either, but it is the information that has disappeared rather than the problem. PFA Scotland has reluctantly decided not to publish a full list of currently out-of-contract players because not all clubs comply with its request for the details.

Some clubs, it would seem, would rather not advertise the availability of the players whose contracts are up. There is cynicism behind the secrecy because in many cases the decision is motivated by an attempt to save money. For most players in the final year of their deal, their contracts end when the season does (around May 5 for the Scottish League teams this season, May 19 for top-flight clubs). In previous, wealthier times the contracts would have continued until the end of June but club treasurers got wise to that. Now clubs can effectively gamble on players being "released" in the full knowledge that they wish to re-sign them for pre-season training, by which time they may have saved six, seven or eight weeks' wages. The players, often short of options, are left vulnerable and unpaid during their "holiday" period.

"We used to be the first port of call and clubs would give us their list of all the players who would be out of contract at the end of the season," said Stuart Lovell of PFA Scotland. "That would be right across the board, all four divisions. We were able to compile a very accurate list. Bit by bit that seems to have been eroded for whatever reason. In the last few years we've emailed clubs asking for a list of players who are out of contract and the result has been quite disappointing.

"Our feeling is that a semi-complete list isn't worth putting out. It's through no fault of the players, but it's almost like the players at a club which didn't respond are being punished because their availability isn't being publicised. We felt it would be lopsided and a little unfair if we pieced together a list of free transfers only from the clubs that responded.

"Maybe we're at a point where governing bodies have to recognise this. They will say it's our role but with more backing from them this wouldn't be too difficult to get up and running again. We would need a mandatory requirement on the clubs from the governing bodies for them to release the information to us."

All the same, it would seem that the usual number of up to 400, roughly a third of all senior players, have been or will be released this month. "We know the number is certainly not decreasing," said Lovell. "It's fairly obvious that clubs have been cost-cutting for a number of years and that either means paying players less or trimming the size of their squads, or in some cases both. We do need to respect the approach clubs are taking. Some of the carnage of the past few seasons – clubs going into administration and so on – could have been avoided if they had been more careful."

Even if the email inbox is slightly emptier than it would wish, PFA Scotland is now in by far its busiest period of the year. Players inundate the union with requests for help in finding another club, or in some cases another line of employment. The union recently held a "Careers Day", offering advice to its members about how to see a future after football, a point which is reached by some of them as late teenagers or young men in their 20s. The itinerary was sobering, with talks on "a career in the police force" or "a career in the oil and gas industry".

For some, the end of the dream is very real. "Our job is often to manage expectations," said Lovell. "Deep down you maybe know some of the guys are going to struggle to find a club, but you do your best."

That includes the Player Availability section on the PFA Scotland website, on which players such as Darren Dods, Andy Kirk and Andy Barrowman have chosen to advertise their services. Lovell's admiration for them is huge. "There are far more players out of contract than are on the website, but anyone on there is on there at their own request. These guys have a humility, they accept that whatever level they've played at in the past doesn't mean they're entitled to anything now. All credit to them for saying 'here I am, I'm ready to talk' and hopefully their cvs will help them.

"We talk about transferable skills. In my experience footballers have quite low self-esteem. People think of them being cocky or arrogant but I think that's a million miles from the truth. I find they often think of themselves 'I'm a footballer . . . but what else can I do'. But we stress to them that they have had the ability to work in a team, they've made sacrifices, they've shown discipline. Footballers don't tend to meet the stereotypes people tend to pin on them. We deal with players every day. We see a different side to them."

What's really shown up, at this time of year, is their vulnerability.