STAN Collymore, the £7 million Aston Villa and England footballer, was cleared yesterday of hitting his former girlfriend in the face during a dispute over access to their baby son.

He admitted being involved in a "childish disagreement" with Michelle Green, 23, at her home but "categorically" denied losing his temper and knocking her to the floor. Magistrates in Cannock, Staffs, ruled that there was reasonable doubt and found him not guilty of common assault.

On Dec 23, Collymore pulled up in his Range Rover outside Miss Green`s home in Cannock to deliver a Christmas card to his 23-month-old son, Thomas, and make arrangements for access to him during the holiday period. The couple failed to agree on how long Collymore should see Thomas because Miss Green had made arrangements.

The court was told the situation escalated after she asked him not to go up and see his sleeping son, saying he would wake him. Collymore, 27, left the house after asking for his Christmas card to be returned, but he denied breaking back in and assaulting Miss Green.

Yet she told the court that Collymore kicked down the front door. She said: "The door swung open and I saw Stan standing in front of me . . . he hit me. I felt a blow to my face."

Joyce Hadley, her mother, told the court she received a hysterical phone call from her daughter. When she arrived, Collymore was still outside and was abusive towards her. Fifteen police officers and a dog handler later went to arrest the footballer at a friend`s house, where he was wrapping presents. But Pc Kiley Round said he found no damage to Miss Green`s door and no evidence that it had been forced. Miss Green`s GP, Dr Tim Berryman, said she visited him on Dec 23 with bruising to her lip and a tender jaw.

Collymore told magistrates that he considered his wife had been unreasonable about access to their son. He said: "There was no argument but there was a disagreement."

In a statement issued later by his agent, Paul Stretford, Collymore said: "I am extremely pleased to have been fully vindicated by the court in respect of this unfounded allegation, which I have strenuously denied from the outset. I now want to put the matter behind me and be able to concentrate fully on my football career and hopefully resume my relationship with my son Thomas."

Collymore thanked his legal team, agent and mother for their support. He said: "Finally, I would like to thank the many Aston Villa fans who have written to me with their support."

Collymore, who is currently linked with Ulrika Jonsson, the television personality, dated Miss Green during his on-off relationship with Lotta Farley, his ex-fiancée.

The £15,000-a-week star - nicknamed Stan the Man by his fans - admits to being a "mummy`s boy". His mother worked 14 hours a day as a cleaner to help care for him after his father left when he was young and he is devoted to her.

Collymore, who lives in Birmingham, became Britain`s most expensive player when he moved from Nottingham Forest to Liverpool in summer 1995 for £8.5 million.

Despite scoring 35 goals in two seasons, Liverpool manager Roy Evans soon lost patience with him after he missed training sessions and refused to play for the reserves. He alienated colleagues at Nottingham Forest to the point where they refused to celebrate with him after he scored.

In 1995, he was cleared of assaulting two men outside a nightclub in Cannock after claiming that he had been racially abused by one of them.

Not everyone sees Collymore as "difficult". Barry Fry, who was his manager at Southend United, said he "was a pleasure to work with".

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