In May of last year, Clint Hill was asked if he would take part in a testimonial game for his former Stoke City teammate Andy Wilkinson. Wilkinson had retired just three months earlier due to a head injury.
Having spent four-and-a-half years at the Britannia, Hill agreed to play. The two selections taking to the pitch that day were managed by Stoke boss Mark Hughes and Wilkinson.
Speaking on QPR podcast 'Open All R's', Hill - who was asked to be part of Hughes' team - told of how a member of Hughes' backroom team approached him in the tunnel before the game and told him that the Welshman did not want him in his squad for the match.
I get into the tunnel and one of the staff members comes up to me and goes, 'Clint, you were supposed to be in Mark Hughes' team, but he won't have you in his squad'. I've gone, 'You are kidding me!'
I've said 'wow' and burst out laughing and said, 'No problem mate, no problem at all'. He (Hughes) wouldn't even look at me, wouldn't even shake my hand or anything, and wouldn't even put me in his testimonial team.
Hill ended up playing for Wilkinson's team.
The 38-year-old - who played for Hughes at QPR back in 2012 - did not know specifically why Hughes would not acknowledge him prior to or during the game but he did believe it had a lot to do with the former Man Utd player's disastrous 11 months in charge at Loftus Road.
He's probably got a bit of animosity towards what happened at QPR. He made mistakes at that football club, definitely recruitment wise. I think he should stand up and accept that because I believe that he did make those mistakes and didn't handle the situation correctly. That's another story.
You can listen to Hill speak on the Open All R's podcast below.
Picture credit: Sportsfile
