Queens Park Rangers Football Club (also known as QPR) is a
professional association football club based
in White City, London, that currently plays in the Championship,
the second tier of English football. Their
honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, as well as the
Second Division in 1983 and the Championship
in 2011. QPR were also triumphant in the 2013–14 Championship
playoffs and were winners of the Third
Division South in 1947–48 and the Third Division in 1966–67. They
were runners-up in the First Division
in 1975–76, and reached the final of the 1982 FA Cup.
Queens Park Rangers were founded in 1886 after the merger of
Christchurch Rangers and St. Judes Institute.
In the early years after the club's formation in its original home
of Queen's Park, London, they played their
home games at many different grounds, until finally the club
settled into its current location at Loftus Road.
Owing to their proximity to other west London clubs, QPR maintain
long-standing rivalries with several other
clubs in the area. The most notable of these are Chelsea, Fulham
and Brentford, of whom they contest what
are known as West London Derbies.
Loftus Road Stadium is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush,
London, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, the ground became the first stadium in British
professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf
installed, which remained until 1988.Rugby union team London Wasps
shared the ground with QPR between 1996
and 2002 and Premier League football club Fulham shared it from
2002 to 2004 while Craven Cottage was closed
for reconstruction. Other users of the stadium have included the
Jamaican and Australian national football teams.
In 1985, Barry McGuigan defeated Eusebio Pedroza for the World
Boxing Association featherweight championship
at the stadium.
Loftus Road has a capacity of 18,439.The four stands are the
Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road
Stand and the School End, the Upper Tier of which is used by away
supporters who are allocated the lower tier only
for cup matches.Because of the size of the stadium, supporters
find themselves close to the pitch compared to other
stadiums. All four of the modern stands meet with no gaps, giving
an overall impression of a tightly enclosed stadium.
The upper tier of the School End is the stand reserved for away
supporters, and all the stands have two tiers
with the exception of the Ellerslie Road Stand.
The South Africa Road stand is the biggest of the four stands at
the stadium. It is a two tier stand which includes
The Paddocks and contains a row of executive boxes separating The
Paddocks and the upper tier. It also houses
the dugouts, changing rooms, suites, tunnel, offices, club shop,
box office and press conference rooms. The Paddocks
area is the cheapest in the ground, whereas the upper tier is the
most expensive. The new exclusive W12 and C
Clubs are located here.
The Loft is a two tier stand built in 1981 behind the goal and
traditionally where most members and season ticket
holders sit. This is the third most expensive stand to sit in. QPR
generally opt to attack this end in the second half
because it is believed to be good luck. The police crowd
observation box is located in this stand and it is home to
the members' bar in the ground, The Blue and White Bar. A new
colour scoreboard is located at this end, installed
in Summer 2008, on the advertising boards between the upper and
lower tiers.
The Ellerslie Road stand, rebuilt in 1972, is constantly renamed
and sponsored, but QPR fans refer to it as the Ellerslie
Road Stand. It is a single tiered stand and is the smallest in
height, but not in noise and capacity. It is also the only
stand not to be painted in blue and white hoops, instead it has
"QPR" painted across it. It is home to the famous
"R Block" where, along with the Loft's Q and P blocks sit QPR's
partisan following. Most of the noise is generated
from this stand, in addition to the Loft. This stand is a
favourite of some fans because of the view and atmosphere.
This is the second most expensive stand. It is also home to the
commentary and television camera gantry.
At the west end of the stadium is the School End which has been
all seated since 1990 since the Taylor Report.
The Upper Tier Has 1,700 seats which are allocated to away
supporters for league matches. The Lower Tier is
where the home supporters are located. The away supporters will
also get the Lower Tier for FA Cup fixtures
and League Cup fixtures to meet requirements.
WELCOME TO LOFTUS ROAD
1880s–1970s
The club was formed in 1886, when a team known as St Jude's
(formed in 1884) merged with Christchurch Rangers
(formed in 1882).The resulting team was called Queen's Park
Rangers, because most of the players came from
the Queen's Park area of north-west London. QPR became a
professional team in 1889, and played their home
games in nearly 20 different stadia (a league record), before
permanently settling at Loftus Road in 1917, although
the team would briefly attempt to attract larger crowds by playing
at the White City Stadium for two short spells:
1931 to 1933, and the 1962–63 season.
QPR were promoted as champions of Division 3 South in the 1947–48
season. Dave Mangnall was the manager as
the club participated in four seasons of the Second Division,
being relegated in 1951–52. Tony Ingham was signed
from Leeds United and went on to make the most ever league
appearances for QPR (519). Arguably the club's
greatest ever manager,Alec Stock, arrived prior to the start of
the 1959–60 season. 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, together with Jim
Gregory who arrived as chairman in the mid-1960s, helped to
achieve a total transformation of the club and 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, 4 March 1967, beating West Bromwich Albion 3–2,
coming back from a two-goal deficit. It is still the only
major trophy that QPR have won. It was also the first League Cup
final to be held at Wembley Stadium. After winning
promotion in 1968 to the top flight for the first time in their
history, Rangers were relegated after just one season and
spent the next four years in Division Two. Terry Venables joined
from Spurs at the beginning of the 1969–70 season
and Rodney Marsh was sold to Manchester City. During this time,
new QPR heroes emerged including Phil Parkes, Don
Givens, Dave Thomas and Stan Bowles. These new signings were in
addition to home-grown talent such as Dave Clement,
Ian Gillard, Mick Leach and Gerry Francis.
In 1974 Dave Sexton joined as manager and, in 1975–76 led QPR to
the runners-up spot in the First Division, missing
out on the championship by one point with a squad containing seven
England internationals and internationals from
the home nations. After completing their 42-game season, QPR sat
at the top of the league, one point ahead of Liverpool
who went on to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the title.
Wolves were relegated to the Second Division
that same season. The late 1970s also saw some cup success with
Rangers reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup
and in their first entry into European football reached the
quarter finals of the UEFA Cup losing to AEK Athens on penalties.
Following Sexton's departure in 1977 the club eventually slipped
into the Second Division in 1979.
1980s–1990s
In 1980 Terry Venables took over as manager and in 1981
the club installed a 'plastic pitch'. In 1982 QPR, still playing
in the Second Division, reached the FA Cup Final for the only time
in the club's history, facing holders Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham won 1–0 in a replay. The following season QPR went on to
win the Second Division championship and returned
to English football's top division. After a respectable
fifth-place finish, and UEFA Cup qualification, the following
year,
Venables departed to become manager of Barcelona. In 1988 the club
had a new chairman, Richard Thompson.
who at 24 was the Premier League's youngest ever chairman. Over
the next seven years, various managers came and
went from Loftus Road and the club spent many seasons finishing
mid table but avoided relegation. The most successful
season during this period was the 1987–88 season in which QPR
finished fifth, missing out on a UEFA Cup campaign
due to the ban on English clubs in European competition as a
result of the Heysel Stadium disaster. They were also
runners up in the 1986 League Cup, losing to Oxford United.
Gerry Francis, a key player in the 1970s QPR side who had proved
himself as a successful manager with Bristol Rovers,
was appointed 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,
finishing fifth, as top London club, in the 1992–93
inaugural season. Francis oversaw one of QPR's most famous
victories, the 4–1 win at Old Trafford in front of live TV
on New Year's Day 1992. Midway through the 1994–95 season Francis
resigned and very quickly became 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.
QPR struggled throughout the following season and were relegated
at the end of the 1995–96 season. QPR then competed
in Division 1 until 2001 under a succession of managers. Gerry
Francis returned in 1998; however, the 2000–2001 season
proved to be a disaster, and Francis resigned in early 2001.
2000–present
Charismatic former player Ian Holloway became manager but was
unable to stop Rangers from being relegated to England's
third tier for the first time for more than 30 years. Following
the 2003–2004 season QPR returned to Division 1 and struggled
for consistent form over the next two campaigns before Holloway
was suspended amidst rumours of his impending departure
for Leicester City. A poor series of results and lack of progress
at the club saw Holloway's successors Gary Waddock and later
John Gregory – both former players – fail to hold on to the
manager's job.
During this same period, QPR became embroiled in financial and
boardroom controversy. Although the club had floated
on the Alternative Investment Market in 1991, in 2001 it entered
administration . A period of financial hardship followed
and the club left administration after receiving a £10m
high-interest emergency loan which continued to burden the club.
Scandals involving the directors, shareholders and others emerged
in 2005–06 season and included allegations of blackmail
and threats of violence against the club's chairman Gianni
Paladini. In an unrelated incident QPR were further rocked by
the murder of youth team player Kiyan Prince on 18 May 2006 and,
in August 2007, the death of teenager and promising
first-team player Ray Jones in a car crash.
Following this low point in the club's history as Rangers also
faced mounting financial pressure, in the same month it was
announced that the club had been bought by wealthy Formula One
businessmen Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone.
During the 2007–08 season, Rangers competed in the Football League
Championship . John Gregory's reign as manager
came to an end in October 2007 after a string of poor results left
QPR at the bottom of the Championship and he was
replaced by Luigi De Canio until the end of the 2007–08 season.
Further investment followed in early 2008 as the club
looked to push for promotion to the Premier League within four
years, on the back of greater financial stability.
On 14 May 2008 Iain Dowie was announced as the manager to begin
the campaign to return Rangers to the top flight.
However, on 24 October 2008 Iain Dowie was sacked after just 15
games in charge of the club.
On 19 November 2008, QPR named former Portugal midfielder Paulo
Sousa as their new first team coach. However,
on 9 April 2009, his contract was terminated after he allegedly
divulged confidential information without authority.
On the same day as Sousa's sacking, player/coach Gareth Ainsworth
was appointed as player/caretaker manager for
a second time. In June 2009 Jim Magilton was named as new manager
of QPR. Despite leading QPR to a good start
to the 2009–10 season, a loss of form combined with an
alleged head-butting incident with Hungarian midfielder
Ákos Buzsáky saw the club further embroiled in controversy.
Magilton left the club by mutual consent on 16 December
2009, along with his assistant John Gorman. They were replaced by
Paul Hart and Mick Harford on the next day.
Less than a month and only five games after becoming manager at
QPR, Paul Hart parted with the club on 14
January 2010; the reasons for his leaving the club were unstated.
On 30 April 2011, QPR secured promotion to the Premier League by
winning the Championship with a 2–0 win over Watford.
A subsequent FA investigation involving QPR's acquisition of
Alejandro Faurlín threatened to deduct points from the side and
put their promotion into jeopardy. The investigation concluded on
7 May 2011, with QPR found to be at fault in two of the s
even charges, and received a £875,000 fine. However, there were no
points deducted by the FA, and QPR's promotion to
the Premier League was secured.In January 2012, club chairman Tony
Fernandes appointed Mark Hughes as team manager
36 hours after the previous incumbent Neil Warnock was sacked.
Following a tough start to his Loftus Road career and after
a run of five straight home wins, Hughes and QPR escaped
relegation despite a dramatic 3–2 defeat at Manchester City on
the last day of the season.
On 23 November 2012, Mark Hughes was sacked on the back of a poor
start to the 2012–13 season,having amassed only
four points in 12 games and with the club languishing at the
bottom of the Premier League despite significant financial
investment in new players in the 11 months of Hughes' tenure. A
day later, Harry Redknapp was confirmed as the new
manager. On 28 April 2013, in a 0–0 draw against fellow relegation
rivals Reading, and with three games of the season
to play, QPR were relegated from the Premier League down to the
Championship after two seasons in the top flight.
During the 2013–14 season, QPR finished fourth in the
Championship, and qualified for the play-offs where they defeated
Wigan Athletic in the semi-finals. In the final against favourites
Derby County on 24 May 2014, QPR won 1–0 with a goal
scored by Bobby Zamora in the 90th minute to return to the Premier
League.
Following promotion to the Premier League, QPR endured a difficult
2014–2015 campaign. Their initial manager, Harry Redknapp,
resigned in February after poor results and mutual frustration
with the board. He was replaced by Chris Ramsey. The team finished
the season last, amassing only 30 points, and were relegated back
to the Championship after only one season. After a poor start
to the Championship, Chris Ramsey was sacked in November 2015 and
former manager Neil Warnock returned to the hot seat
in interim charge. On 4 December 2015, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was
appointed the club's new manager on a rolling contract.
Hasselbaink was sacked on 5 November 2016, just 11 months after
being in charge. Then six days later QPR reappointed Ian
Holloway who was in charge 10 years previously.
British music, media and sport entrepreneur Chris Wright bought
QPR in 1996, eventually relinquishing his majority
shareholding in 2001 having ploughed £20 million into Loftus Road
over the previous five years; the club struggled
financially and went into administration that same year. Following
lengthy negotiations in December 2004, Wright a
greed to sell his remaining 15% stake; 50% of the money paid to
him was given back to QPR, which was significant
amount of cash to the club.
After a number of years of financial difficulties which included a
period in financial administration, QPR was bought
by Formula One tycoons and multi-millionaires Bernie Ecclestone
and Flavio Briatore in a £14 million takeover in
August 2007. In spending £690,000 to acquire a 69% majority stake
in the club from a Monaco-based consortium
led by Italian football agent, Antonio Caliendo, Ecclestone spent
£150,000 on his 15%, while Briatore bought 54%
for £540,000 through a British Virgin Islands registered company,
Sarita Capital. In addition, Briatore and Ecclestone
were believed to have promised £5 million in convertible loan
facilities to help buy players and have covered £13 million
of debt, in a total commitment to the club of around £20 million.
At the time of purchase, the remaining 31% of
shareholders turned down the offer of 1p a share.
On 20 December 2007, it was announced that the family of
billionaire Lakshmi Mittal had purchased a 20% shareholding
in the club from Flavio Briatore. The purchase price of the 20%
stake was just £200,000. As part of the investment Lakshmi
Mittal's son-in-law Amit Bhatia took a place on the board of
directors. While Gianni Paladini remained chairman of the
football club, Alejandro Agag, as chairman of QPR Holdings (the
parent company) was the de facto chairman, until he
was replaced by Flavio Briatore in early February 2008. Agag moved
into the role of managing director, supported by
a deputy managing director, Ali Russell, who moved from Hearts in
the Scottish Premier League.
Despite QPR's perilous financial condition in 2007–08, the
combined personal wealth of the club's new owners – which
included the then world's eighth richest man, Lakshmi Mittal –
sparked speculation that QPR would receive significant
further investment from their new benefactors, drawing parallels
with their wealthy West London neighbours Chelsea
and Fulham. However, no significant further funds were made
available to the club other than those injected as part
of the purchase of its share capital, and much of the subsequent
player transfer activity involved loan acquisitions or
free transfers. Indeed, it was reported in January 2008 that the
investors had not discharged the £10 million loan
from ABC Corporation – secured on the club's stadium – together
with its £1 million annual interest burden—despite
the club's prospective annual turnover of between £10 million and
£15 million.
Furthermore, around £2 million was still owed to former director
and major shareholder, Antonio Caliendo, who waived
£4.5 million of loans when Briatore and Ecclestone bought the
club. It was expected that the ABC loan would be discharged
in June 2008 on its maturity and that the debt owed to Caliendo
would be paid off "in early 2008" in line with a funding
strategy which Ecclestone publicly stated would not result in the
wealthy owners simply bankrolling the club. In fact, the
ABC loan was discharged on or around 31 July 2008.
Mittal's investment is thought to be primarily motivated by his
son-in-law's interests and it was assumed that Mittal himself
would remain a silent investor while Briatore, Ecclestone and
Bhatia worked together to implement the strategy of slowly
building the club up ahead of a push for promotion to the Premier
League in 2009. The new owners also pledged to refurbish
Loftus Road and use their experience in Formula One to increase
sponsorship revenues. On 25 March 2008, QPR confirmed
that, from the 2008–09 season and for five seasons, their kits
would be supplied by Lotto Sport Italia as part of a number
of new partnerships formed by Flavio Briatore.The investment
potential of the club's new backers resulted in a number
of wildly speculative storylines in the football press throughout
the 2007–08 season, including rumoured signings of former
World Player of the Year winners Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane,
the latter as a possible manager.
In May 2008, billionaire Vijay Mallya was linked with buying into
the club, as part of the Ecclestone, Briatore and Mittal
consortium. Following the termination of the club's sponsorship
deals with Car Giant, Le Coq Sportif and Sellotape at the
end of the 2007–08 season, in early July 2008 it was expected to
be announced that Gulf Air would be the new shirt sponsors
for three years. Further sponsorship packages were also announced,
including Abbey Financial Services and Lotto Sport Italia.
On 12 September 2011, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia announced
sponsorship of QPR’s shirts for the two seasons, with the
sponsorship costing some £6.2 million.
Flavio Briatore's future as QPR chairman came into question in
September 2009 after he left the Renault F1 team in the midst
of race fixing allegations. The Football League board discussed
the matter on 8 October 2009 and declared that they would
be awaiting a response from Briatore to various questions before
commenting further. Meanwhile, the club continued to make
losses (£18.8m in 2008–09 and £13.7m 2009–10). Briatore sold his
62% share to Ecclestone in December 2010, with the
Italian possibly retaining a right of first refusal should
Ecclestone sell, and initially stepped back from the day-to-day
running
of the business in favour of Amit Bhatia and Ishan Saksena, the
company chairman and managing director respectively.
However, his involvement gradually returned, and conflicts between
Briatore on the one hand and Bhatia and Saksena
on the other resulted in both Bhatia and Saksena leaving QPR in
May 2011.
On 18 August 2011, Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes was
unveiled as the majority shareholder after having bought
out Ecclestone's then-66% stake in the club for a rumoured fee of
around ₤35 million, while the Mittal Family retained their
33% stake. Amit Bhatia was restored to his position as
vice-chairman. Phillip Beard was announced as the new chief
executive
of the club and Gianni Paladini removed as club chairman. Briatore
and Ecclestone were no longer involved with the club,
with no board representation or other financial ties. Bhatia also
explained in the takeover announcement that the loan,
representing the refinanced ABC Corporation debt secured using the
stadium as collateral, had now been "bought off"
by the new regime -that is, refinanced by new debt. It is thought
that the current debt is represented by a shareholder
loan to the club and is non-interest-bearing. Despite the club's
fortunes in attracting investors, it continues to be mired
in controversy from previous ownership regimes and has been
subject to proceedings from former investors Carlos Dunga
and Antonio Caliendo.The club also has a variety of other sponsors
and partners, which include Smarkets (primary), Dryworld
(technical), Carlsberg, SKYEX, Land-Fx, BT, Metro Bank, Infiniti
& BMI.
- Biggest home defeat: 0–6 vs Newcastle United,
13 September 2016
- Highest attendance 35,353: vs Leeds United 27
April 1974 Division 1
- Highest all seated attendance 19,002: vs Man
City, 6 November 1999 Division 1
- Biggest win 13–0: vs Tavistock 18 July 2011
Pre-season
- Highest league win 9–2: vs Tranmere Rovers 3
Dec 1960 Division 3
- Highest league loss 1–8: vs Manchester United
19 March 1969 Division 1
- Most capped player: Alan McDonald: 52 Northern
Ireland
- Most league appearances: Tony Ingham: 519
1950–63
- Oldest player: Ray Wilkins: 39 years 352 days.
1 Sep 1996 Division 1
- Youngest player Frank Sibley: 15 years 275
days
- Most league goals in a season: George Goddard,
37, Division 3 South, 1929–30.
- Most goals in a season: Rodney Marsh, 44 (30
League, 3 FA Cup, 11 League Cup) 1966–67
- Most league goals in total aggregate: George
Goddard, 174, 1926–34.
- Most goals in total aggregate: George Goddard,
186, 1926–34
- Record transfer fee received: £12 million from
Anzhi Makhachkala for Christopher Samba, July 2013.
- Record transfer fee paid: £12.5 million to
Anzhi Makhachkala for Christopher Samba, January 2013.
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QPR win the Trofeo Bortolotti