Everything about Queens Park Rangers F C totally explained
Gianni Paladini |
manager =
Iain Dowie |
mgrtitle = First-Team Coach |
league =
The Championship |
season =
2007-08 |
position = The Championship, 14th |
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Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an
English football club, based in
Shepherds Bush in the
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in
West London. The club's first team currently plays in the
Football League Championship. In August 2007 QPR was bought by
Formula One tycoons,
Bernie Ecclestone and
Flavio Briatore, who sold a 20% stake to the family of steel magnate
Lakshmi Mittal in December of that year.
The club is commonly referred to as "QPR" or often just "Rangers" by fans. Other nicknames include the "Hoops" or the "Superhoops" (after the team's kit of blue and white hooped shirts), or the "Rs". QPR are not to be confused with the
Scottish clubs,
Rangers or
Queen's Park.
History
» For the most recently completed season see Queens Park Rangers F.C. season 2007-08
For the upcoming season see Queens Park Rangers F.C. season 2008-09
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 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 in
Loftus Road in
1917 (although the team briefly played at
White City between 1931-3 and
1962-63 in the hope of attracting larger crowds).
QPR were promoted as champions of Division 3 South in the 1947/48 season.
Dave Mangnall was the manager as Rangers enjoyed 4 seasons in the Second division, being relegated in 1951-52.
Tony Ingham was signed from Leeds United and went on to make most ever league appearances for QPR (519).
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-60s of
Jim Gregory 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,
March 4,
1967, beating
West Bromwich Albion 3-2, (coming back from a two goal deficit). 40 years on, it's still the only major trophy that QPR have won. The final 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 4 years in Division 2.
Terry Venables joined from Spurs at the beginning of the 69/70 season and
Rodney Marsh was sold to Manchester City. During this time, new QPR heroes emerged including
Phil Parkes,
Don Givens,
Dave Thomas and
Stanley 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 a single point with a squad containing 5 England internationals and internationals from the
home nations and
Morocco. After completing their 42-game season, QPR sat at the top of the league, 1 point ahead of
Liverpool who went on to defeat
Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the title. 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 FC on penalties. Following Sexton's depature in 1977 the club eventually slipped into the Second Division.
In 1980
Terry Venables took over as manager and 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
1982-83 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. 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 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 which began in 1992. Francis oversaw one of QPR's most famous victories, the 4-1 win at Old Trafford in front of live TV on New Years Day 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 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's struggled in 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. 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 thirty 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 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
2005-2006 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 footballer
Kiyan Prince on
18 May 2006 and, just over a year later, the death of promising teenager and 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 1 businessmen
Flavio Briatore and
Bernie Ecclestone (see
Investment below). During the
2007–08 season, Rangers competed in the
Football League Championship (see also:
Queens Park Rangers F.C. season 2007-08).
John Gregory's reign as manager came to an end in November 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 07/08 season. Further investment followed in early 2008 as the club looked to push for promotion to the
Premier League within 4 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.
Investment
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 £14m takeover in August 2007. In spending £690,000 to acquire a 69 per cent majority stake in the club, Ecclestone spent £150,000 on his 15 per cent, while Briatore bought 54 per cent for £540,000 through a British Virgin Islands registered company, Sarita Capital. In addition Briatore and Ecclestone are 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 per cent of shareholders turned down the offer of 1p a share.
Four months later, on 20 December 2007, it was announced that the family of billionaire
Lakshmi Mittal had purchased a 20 per cent shareholding in the club from Briatore. The purchase price of the 20 per cent stake was just £200,000. As part of the investment Lakshmi Mittal's son-in-law took a place on the board of directors. While Gianni Paladini remains chairman of the football club, Alejandro Agag, as chairman of QPR Holdings (the parent company) was the
de facto chairman, 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. However, to date no significant further funds are believed to have been made available to the club other than those injected as part of the purchase of its share capital. Indeed it was reported in January 2008 that the investors hadn't discharged the £10 million loan from ABC Corporation together with its £1 million annual interest burden—despite the club's prospective annual turnover of between £10 million and £15 million a year. Furthermore around £2 million was still owed to a former director and major shareholder, Antonio Caliendo, who waived £4.5 million of loans when Briatore and Ecclestone bought the club. It is expected that the ABC loan will be discharged in June 2008 on its maturity and that the debt owed to Antonio Caliendo will be paid off in early 2008 in line with a funding strategy which Ecclestone has publicly stated won't result in the wealthy owners simply bankrolling the club. The investment potential of the club's new backers resulted in a number of wildly speculative storylines in the football press throughout the 2007-2008 season including rumoured signings of former
World Player of the Year winners Luis 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.
Rivals
The club's traditional
local rivals are
Chelsea,
Fulham and traditionally
Brentford (although in recent years Rangers' supporters' interest in this rivalry has waned). Recently minor rivalries with
Luton Town and
Watford have begun.
Welford's Fields (1886-1888)
London Scottish F.C.'s Ground (1888-1889)
Brondesbury(1888-1889)
Home Farm (1888-1889)
Kensal Green (1888-1889)
Gun Club (1888-1889)
Wormwood Scrubs (1888-1889)
Killburn Cricket Ground (1888-1889)
Kensal Rise Athletic Ground (1899-1901)
Latimer Road (1901-1904)
Notting Hill (1901-1904)
Royal Agricultural Society showgrounds (1904-1907)
Park Royal (1904-1907)
Park Royal Ground (1907-1917)
Loftus Road (1917-1931)
White City Stadium (1931-1933)
Loftus Road (1933-1962)
White City Stadium (1962-1963)
Loftus Road (1963- present)
Managers past and present
Notable players, past and present
» Emboldened players have represented their respective countries at full international level
Argentina
Gino Padula
Osvaldo Ardiles
Australia
Ned Zelic
Barbados
Gregory Goodridge
Canada
Marc Bircham
Czechoslovakia
Luděk Mikloško
Jan Stejskal
Denmark
Marc Nygaard
England
Bert Addinall
Bradley Allen
Clive Allen
Les Allen
Martin Allen
Reg Allen
Peter Angell
Dennis Bailey
Gary Bannister
David Bardsley
Simon Barker
James Birch
Stan Bowles
Tim Breacker
Harry Brown
Frank Clarke
Dave Clement
John W. Collins
Peter Crouch
Tony Currie
Ian Dawes
Danny Dichio
Ray Drinkwater
Mark Falco
Terry Fenwick
Les Ferdinand
Wayne Fereday
Mike Fillery
Mike Flanagan
Gerry Francis
Trevor Francis
Paul Furlong
Kevin Gallen
Ian Gillard
George Goddard
Paul Goddard
John Gregory
Mark Hateley
Cyril Hatton
Bob Hazell
Tony Hazell
John Hollins
Ian Holloway
Peter Hucker
Ron Hunt
Andy Impey
Tony Ingham
Ray Jones
Mike Keen
Pat Kerrins
Andy King
Jim Langley
Mark Lazarus
Mick Leach
Sammy Lee
Evelyn Lintott
Michael Mancienne
Rodney Marsh
Gary Micklewhite
Ian Morgan
Roger Morgan
David Needham
Warren Neill
Paul Parker
Phil Parkes
Darren Peacock
Gavin Peacock
Gary Penrice
George Petchey
George Powell
Peter Reid
Glenn Roeder
Matthew Rose
Keith Rutter
Keith Sanderson
Kenny Sansom
David Seaman
Don Shanks
Ernie Shepherd
Frank Sibley
Trevor Sinclair
Andy Sinton
William Conway Smith
Nigel Spackman
Peter Springett
Ron Springett
Simon Stainrod
Dave Thomas
Andy Tillson
Terry Venables
David Webb
Steve Wicks
Alan Wilks
Ray Wilkins
Clive Wilson
Chris Woods
Pat Woods
Finland
Antti Heinola
Sampsa Timoska
Ghana
Patrick Agyemang
Hungary
Ákos Buzsáky
Jamaica
Richard Langley
Danny Maddix
Damion Stewart
Nigeria
Dominic Iorfa
Danny Shittu
Northern Ireland
Colin Clarke
Iain Dowie
Tommy Doherty
Billy Hamilton
Steve Lomas
Alan McDonald
David McCreery
Terry McFlynn
Steve Morrow
Keith Rowland
Ian Stewart
Pakistan
Zesh Rehman
Republic of Ireland
John Byrne
Don Givens
Terry Mancini
Paul McGee
Gary Waddock
Dick Whittaker
Martin Rowlands
Scotland
Frank McLintock
Don Masson
Nigel Quashie
John Spencer
USA
Juergen Sommer
Roy Wegerle
Wales
Daniel Nardiello
Brian Bedford
Leighton James
Robbie James
Tony Roberts
Vinnie Jones
Current squad
» As of 13 May 2008.
*Players in bold have been capped by their country, except B or C matches.
Supporters' clubs
In common with many long-established football clubs in England, QPR has a network of loyal supporters' associations. The principal supporters' association is the QPR LSA. Other supporters groups exist throughout the UK and around the world including the USA
, New Zealand, Serbia, Sweden, Australia and Hungary. QPR also has a supporters' football team: Accrington Stanley Bowles who play matches against similar supporters' sides from other English clubs.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Queens Park Rangers F C'.
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