Clint Hill: The standard-bearer who earned his place in QPR history

To describe Clint Hill’s six years at QPR as eventful, and to say he can leave with his head held high, would be putting it mildly.

Hill didn’t achieve hero status because he was blessed with the skill of some other players who have graced Loftus Road, or because a mis-hit clearance dropped to him at Wembley. His status was hard-earned and is fully deserved.

He won huge respect for his honesty and professionalism. The level of that respect was perhaps skewed by the fact that others, and the club in general, tended to fall so dramatically short of those standards during his time at Rangers. For that reason he came to be seen as a standard-bearer.

But Hill’s attributes would have shone through in any era, and he can be compared favourably with dependable Rangers stalwarts who made their mark during happier times for the club.

For many, Alan McDonald tops that list by some distance. Hill, though, deserves to be regarded alongside Simon Barker, Gareth Ainsworth and others whose commitment to the cause made them hard to replace.

Honesty

In an era of spin, cliches and excuses, Hill’s straight-talking set him apart. Never was this more evident than in October 2012 when, having struggled at left-back in a game at West Brom, he declared that he was no longer cut out for the position and that his future had to be in the centre of defence. His assessment of QPR’s big spending and subsequent relegations were just as cutting.

Resilience

Despite that, Hill made plenty of appearances at left-back – many highly impressive ones at that – during the following years, largely because younger models failed to do the job effectively.

Resilience has always been a trait of Hill. He was signed largely as a squad player, written off after promotion in 2011 and in subsequent seasons, yet there was a Player Of The Year accolade and a Wembley triumph as he soldiered on.

Selflessness

That day at Wembley summed Hill up like no other. With QPR down to 10 men and Harry Redknapp about to make a substitution, Hill urged the manager to take him off and move Armand Traore to left-back so that Rangers could retain an attacking threat.

What made the gesture all the more remarkable was that Hill’s previous Wembley appearance, for Tranmere in the League Cup final 14 years earlier, ended prematurely when he was sent off.

Yet Hill was still prepared to come off for the sake of the team and had also done so in the semi-final, when, with Rangers 1-0 down against Wigan, he suggested that Yun Suk-Young would offer more of an attacking impetus on the left.

Hill’s humility was highlighted by the disbelieving expression on his face – a look that said ‘is this really happening to me?’ – as he became only the second man to lead a QPR team up the Wembley steps to collect a trophy.

Ability

Because Hill wore his humility on his sleeve, in many ways his reputation as an honest, no-nonsense defender does him an injustice. He’s certainly no Clive Wilson or Glenn Roeder, but Hill’s technical ability has always been vastly underrated. He has a very decent left foot, and that, allied with his excellent reading of the game, make him more than the consummate professional he’ll be mostly remembered as. He could play a bit too.