Vince Hilaire

Vincent Mark Hilaire (born 10 October 1959)[2] is a retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Leeds United, Stoke City and Exeter City.[3] He was one of the first established black players in English football.[4]

Vince Hilaire
Personal information
Full name Vincent Mark Hilaire
Date of birth (1959-10-10) 10 October 1959
Place of birth Forest Hill, London, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1984 Crystal Palace 255 (29)
1982 → San Jose Earthquakes (loan) 22 (1)
1984 Luton Town 6 (0)
1984–1988 Portsmouth 146 (25)
1988–1989 Leeds United 44 (6)
1989–1990 → Stoke City (loan) 5 (1)
1990–1991 Stoke City 10 (2)
1991–1992 Exeter City 33 (4)
1992–1993 Waterlooville 27 (3)
Total 548 (71)
National team
1979–1982 England U21 9 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Hilaire began his career with Crystal Palace as a 17-year-old in a 3–2 defeat at Lincoln City in March 1977[2] and rose to prominence with the side prophesied to be the "Team of the Eighties" after winning the Second Division championship title in 1978–79. He made over 255 league appearances for Crystal Palace, scoring 29 goals,[2] and was Supporters 'Player of The Year' in 1979 and 1980.[5] He also played one summer season in the NASL with the San Jose Earthquakes in 1982.[6]

He joined Luton Town in July 1984 but made only six appearance before being transferred to Portsmouth a few months later in November 1984, where he made 146 appearances, scoring 25 goals.[2] He moved to Leeds United in the summer of 1988, playing 51 games and scoring seven goals, then moved on to Stoke City in November 1989 on loan, joining them on a permanent transfer in November 1990.[2] He later joined Exeter City in 1991 where he made 33 appearances, scoring four goals, in the 1991–92 season. He joined Southern League side Waterlooville in the summer of 1992, as joint player-manager along with his ex-Palace teammate Billy Gilbert, but he left the club and retired from football before the end of the season, leaving Gilbert as sole player-manager. He won international caps for England Youth, B and U21,[5] and although he was a regular contender for senior international honours, he never quite made the full England squad.

He was a professional footballer at a time when racism was rife in English football. He said about a match at Vale Park in 1976, "After about 20 minutes, the manager, then Terry Venables, told me to go and have a warm-up. I came out of the dug-out, and I started jogging around the touchline. I couldn't believe the abuse that was coming at me... animal noises and all the names you think of calling a black person. Any name under the sun. And it frightened me a bit, so I couldn't wait to get back in the dug-out. And I thought, 'Well, if this is the sort of reception I'm going to get, then I don't really want to know'".[7]

Personal life

Hilaire was name checked in the 1989 single by electronic band The Beloved in their Top 20 single "Hello".[8]

His autobiography, Vince, was released in early 2018, co-written with Tom Masalona.[9]

Career statistics

Source:[10]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crystal Palace 1976–77 Third Division 3000000030
1977–78 Second Division 302002000322
1978–79 Second Division 316204000376
1979–80 First Division 425313100487
1980–81 First Division 314002000334
1981–82 Second Division 365523000447
1982–83 Second Division 425405100516
1983–84 Second Division 402302200454
Total 255291732140029336
San Jose Earthquakes (loan) 1982 NASL 221———221
Luton Town 1984–85 First Division 6000300090
Portsmouth 1984–85 Second Division 267200000287
1985–86 Second Division 418207020528
1986–87 Second Division 4182030425010
1987–88 First Division 382402000442
Total 146251001206217427
Leeds United 1988–89 Second Division 426203120497
1989–90 Second Division 2000000020
Total 446203120517
Stoke City 1989–90 Second Division 5100000051
1990–91 Third Division 102100010122
Total 153100010173
Exeter City 1991–92 Third Division 334400030404
Career Total 5216834339512260678
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Full Members Cup, Football League Trophy.

References
  1. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  2. "Vince Hilaire". sportingheroes.net. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. "Vince Hilaire". Crystal Palace FC official website. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  4. Oliver, Brian; Vulliamy, Ed (3 August 2003). "Up Pompey". The Observer. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  5. "Vince Hilaire". Active Hospitality & Events. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  6. "NASL All-time Player Register". NASL. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  7. Atkin, Ronald (8 October 2006). "Kick racism out of football: Very Best of role models". The Independent. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  8. "Vince Hilaire, Hello Hello". Football and Music. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  9. Fifield, Dominic (19 March 2018). "Vince Hilaire: 'Banana throwing and monkey noises were almost normal'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. Vince Hilaire at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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