In our darkest hour after the
To manouver us even in with a chance of playing Championship football next year has been little short of amazing and on Friday night we see if the team can show the Roots Hall faithful what's surprised Birmingham and Stoke over the last week and take three points off a team that were in freefall until a 3-1 home win against equally out of form Burnley. With
Sing out loud;
I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.
The boys from the Bush, under new manager John Gregory, have made a few useful signings recently, the odd
The following team started v |
Tall centre forward Blackstock, signed from
The first match being back in the 1910 FA Cup when a home goaless draw was followed by a 2-3 defeat in the replay. It took a further 10 years, October 1920, before we played QPR in a Division 3 South meeting, another 0-2 defeat, where, barring the second world war, we played them every year until they started to move away from us in league terms from 1966. In that time we suffered 1-6 and 2-7 defeats, 1933 and 36 respectively, but on a glorious August afternoon in 1957 Croscan(2), McCrory(2), Hollis, McGuigan scored in a 6-0 victory. An honourable mention for a 5-4 away win on Jan. 11 1964. After that the biggest meeting was a midweek reserve match when Roots Hall was packed out, two thirds QPR fans, to see the icon Rodney Marsh return from a broken leg to score the winner in a one nil win for them. An incredible evening for anyone lucky enough to have been there.
Not before January 1997 did we meet again when we drew 2-2 in a pulsating FA Cup Third Round tie, (it WAS a penalty!), Guthrie and Brace scoring, ex-manager Dave Webb playing centre half for Rangers. (We lost the replay, yes, 0-2.) The other magic cup match was the LDV Semi-Final on Jan. 20 2004 where 5,824 saw the team struggling at the bottom of the league take apart there
History of the club
QPR was formed in 1882, when a team known as St Jude's merged with Christchurch Rangers. The resulting team was called Queens Park Rangers, because most of the players came from the Queens Park area which is in North-West London. QPR became a professional team in 1889 and played their home games in 14 different stadiums, a league record, before permanently settling in Loftus Road in 1917 (although the team briefly played at White City during the 1962-63 season in the hope of attracting larger crowds). This was in fact a second stint at White City, the previous spell was between 1931 to 1933.
Prior to the start of the 1959-60 season saw the arrival of arguably the club's greatest ever manager, Alec Stock. The 1960-61 season saw QPR achieve their biggest win to date - 9-2 vs Tranmere Rovers in a Division 3 match. In time, Stock, with the advent as Chairman in the mid-60's of Jim Gregory helped to totally transform the club as well as its surroundings.
In 1966-67, QPR won the Division Three championship and became the first Third Division club to win the League Cup on Saturday, March 4, 1967, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2, (coming back from a two goal deficit). This is the only time QPR have won a cup competition. The final was also the first League Cup Final to be held at Wembley Stadium.
In 1975-76 Dave Sexton led them to the runners-up spot in the First Division, missing out on the Championship by 1 point. After completing their 42 game season QPR sat at the top of the league 1 point ahead of Liverpool.
The 1980-81 season saw Terry Venables take over as manager. In 1981, the club installed a 'plastic pitch'. The technology was premature and this unpopular measure was reversed in April 1988. The first game on plastic was against Luton Town who won the game 2-1 and later became the second side to install an artificial pitch. That same season QPR reached the FA Cup Final for the only time in the club's history, facing holders and
Over the next seven years, various managers came and went from
Gerry Francis, a key player in the 1970s QPR side who had proved himself as a successful manager with Bristol Rovers, was appointed QPR manager in the summer of 1991. In the 1991-92 First Division campaign they finished mid-table in the league and were founder members of the new Premier League which began in 1992. They finished that season in fifth place, and in the following season Francis guided them to a ninth place finish. Midway through the 1994-95 season Francis departed to become manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Ray Wilkins was installed as player-manager. Wilkins led QPR to an eighth place finish in the Premiership. In July 1995 the club's top goalscorer, Les Ferdinand, was sold for a club record fee of £6 million to Newcastle United. The inability to replace Ferdinand was an important factor in QPR's relegation at the end of the 1995-96 season.
Wilkins was sacked after 3 games into the 1996-97 season and replaced by former Arsenal coach Stewart Houston. He lasted a little over 18 months before being sacked himself; his successor, Ray Harford, kept QPR clear of relegation but was himself dismissed after less than a year in charge, following the club's bad start to the 1998-99 season. Gerry Francis returned to become manager for the second time and, in 1999-2000, guided QPR to a tenth place finish.
At that point, however, financial problems set in and took their toll on the playing side. Francis was sacked in February 2001 with the side struggling near the foot of Division One. Ian Holloway, a former QPR midfielder, returned to Loftus Road as manager but was unable to save the club from relegation to Division Two, which put the club in English football's third tier for the first time in more than 30 years. QPR spent the 2001-02 season in financial administration which meant a ban from the transfer market, but Holloway consolidated the playing side and the club finished eighth in Division Two, just missing out on the playoffs. A year later, QPR qualified for the playoffs but lost 1-0 to Cardiff City in extra time of the final game. In 2003-04 they won promotion as Division Two runners-up and in 2004-05 consolidated their promotion by finishing 11th.
On 6 February 2006 Holloway was suspended as Queens Park Rangers manager. The ostensible reason given by the board was that the continual rumours linking Holloway to the vacant manager's job at Leicester City were causing disruption to the playing staff. He was replaced by Gary Waddock as caretaker manager (with former club captain Alan McDonald as his assistant). Gary Waddock had an awful spell as manager of the club and was sacked when QPR were 24th in the Championship.
In recent years QPR have been dogged with reports of potential administration, and are rumoured to be somewhere in the region of £18 million in debt. QPR had a difficult time in 2005-06 but managed to achieve survival by finishing 21st in the Championship. The club was also dogged by scandal during the 2005-2006 season involving the directors, shareholders and other interested parties in the club including allegations of blackmail and threats of violence against Gianni Paladini (who was allegedly held hostage at gunpoint during a match at
Gary Waddock brought in several new players in preparation for the 2006-2007 season, signing Jamaican international centre-back Damion Stewart from Bradford City and Cameroon midfielder Armel Tchakounte from Carshalton Athletic. On the 28th of June 2006, Gary Waddock was appointed full-time manager after Ian Holloway left to become manager of Plymouth Argyle. Nick Ward was also captured on the same day from A-League team Perth Glory.
In August 2006 Queens Park Rangers completed two high profile transfers. First to arrive was Fulham defender Zesh Rehman, who moved to
The new look side got off to a poor start to the season, culminating in a loss to League One side Port Vale F.C. in the Carling Cup in mid-September. As a result, Gary Waddock was demoted to first-team coach, with former QPR player and Aston Villa manager John Gregory replacing him.
Off the field, the pre-season contained glimpses of last season: Chairman Paladini was reported to be under threat and wearing a bullet-proof vest[2] The Chairman also launched a strong attack against some critics who he claimed were seeking to destroy the club. [3]
On 19 October 2006 Gary Waddock left the club, with Richard Hill brought in as Gregory's assistant manager.
QPR's form has marginally approved since Gregory's appointment, and by 2 January 2007 they were clear of the relegation zone in 20th place, opening up a gap of two places and four points with 22nd-placed
Gregory has set about cutting the large playing staff he inherited during the January transfer window. Ian Evatt, Scott Donnelly, Ugo Ukah, Matthew Rose, Matthew Hislop, Jonathan Munday and Egutu Oliseh all agreed mutual termination of their contracts, while Kevin Gallen and Sean Thomas have all gone out on loan. However, in the transfer window, Gregory has signed Finnish defender Sampsa Timoska, Derby's Adam Bolder and Danny Cullip from Nottingham Forest.
Honours
- Division Three (South) Champions 1947-48.
- Division Three Champions 1966-67.
- League Cup Winners 1967 v West Bromwich Albion - (As a 3rd Div. Side).
- Milk Cup (League Cup) Finalists 1986.
- Division Two Runners-up 1967-68, 1972-73.
- Division Two Champions 1982-83.
- Division One Runners-up 1975-76.
- FA Cup finalists 1982
- Nationwide Division Two Runners-up 2003-04.