Mike Brown says the manner of his Harlequins departure left him in tears as his 17-year stay at Twickenham Stoop nears its end.

The former England full-back will join Newcastle Falcons in the summer following a Quins career which has seen him score 98 tries in a club record 348 appearances.

Brown insists he ‘will always love the club’ but feels negotiations around his future could have been dealt with more sensitively.

"I was completely open with the club,” the 35-year-old told MailOnline. "I always wanted to stay and I wanted to finish my career at Quins. I love this club. I will always love this club, irrespective of how things have ended.

"I chased the club for weeks about a new contract and, when they finally brought me in for a meeting, it lasted four minutes.

"I’m 35, with a family to support and I’ve been with Harlequins since I was 18. There was no 'thanks for your efforts, we’ll help you with your future'.

"It was one of the worst feelings of my life.

"When you’re pushed to the side and dismissed, you feel like you’re worthless. I went straight to my car, past Scott Baldwin, who could tell I was distraught. I just sat in the car and cried."

Brown’s frustrations around his upcoming exit will do nothing to stop him aiming to go out on a high and he told the Quins website he feels the squad ‘can do something special’ this year.

The Quarters currently sit fourth in the Premiership and have realistic ambitions of making the play-offs for the first time since 2013/14.

Their attentions are now solely on domestic duties following Sunday’s heavy 57-21 defeat at home to Ulster in the European Challenge Cup last 16.

Quins put out a youthful, much-changed side and were no match for their Irish opponents, who ran in eight tries during a dominant display.

Three converted tries and a penalty put Ulster 24-0 up inside half an hour before Quins got on the board through captain Tom Lawday as the hosts capitalised on Jordi Murphy’s yellow card.

Michael Lowry’s excellent try restored Ulster’s comfortable cushion before the break and it remained largely one-way traffic in the second half.

Rob Herring and Billy Burns crossed to put the result beyond doubt before Jack Kenningham crashed over for Quins’ second try.

Ulster’s half-century was brought up by Alby Mathewson and Sean Reidy but the hosts at least had the final word through replacement Jordan Els, who dotted down late on.

Quins, who gave debuts to lock Matas Jurevicius and scrum-half Jack Stafford in the second half, now have a blank weekend before returning to action at home to Worcester Warriors on April 17.