However, in February 1987, after 24 league games in which he scored 3 times, he was sold to Swindon Town for £25,000 with United desperately short of players and with no money to spend, Mark Gardiner and Charlie Henry (on loan) coming in the opposite direction.
After an impressive start to his Villa Park career, including scoring the winning penalty in a UEFA Cup tie against Inter Milan, he lost his place at left-back to Shaun Teale (normally a central defender) when Brian Little was appointed manager, and moved further out of the first team picture after the signing of Alan Wright from Blackburn Rovers.
However, he fell out with the manager Steve McMahon, and other than a loan spell at Blackpool and more time out with injuries, mainly just saw action on the training ground until a free transfer move to Brighton & Hove Albion in March 1999.
It appeared that King would return to the Football League with Kidderminster, but he moved to Bath City on a free transfer in July 2000,[2] as he wanted to remain part-time while running The Dolphin pub in Swindon.
On 10 January 2001, he finally made his Bath debut in the Dr Martens Cup, a 5–0 defeat against Newport County at Spytty Park, but this was his only first team appearance, as the following month he picked up another knee injury, playing with his children in the garden.