Vincent Mark Hilaire (born 10 October 1959)[2] is an English retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Leeds United, Stoke City and Exeter City.
[4] 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 255 league appearances for Crystal Palace, scoring 29 goals,[2] and was Supporters 'Player of The Year' in 1979 and 1980.
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 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.