| Full name | Queens Park Rangers Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | QPR, Hoops, Super Hoops, Rs | |||
| Founded | 1882 | |||
| Ground | Loftus Road Shepherd's Bush London (Capacity: 18,360[1]) |
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| Owner | QPR Holdings, Ltd. | |||
| Chairman | Tony Fernandes | |||
| Manager | Neil Warnock | |||
| League | Premier League | |||
| 2010–11 | The Championship, 1st (Promoted) |
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| Website | Club home page | |||
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| Current season | ||||
Queens Park Rangers Football Club (usually referred to as QPR) is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football, the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years. Other honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, being runners-up in the old First Division in 1975–76 and reaching the final of the FA Cup in 1982.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club were founded in 1882, and their traditional colours are blue and white. In the early years after the club's formation in their original home of Queen's Park, games were played at many different grounds until finally the club settled into their 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, with whom they contest what are known as West London Derbies.
The club has been managed by Neil Warnock since March 2010 and the current chairman of the club is Tony Fernandes who owns air Asia.
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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 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).[2] QPR were promoted as champions of Division 3 South in the 1947–48 season. Dave Mangnall was the manager as Rangers enjoyed four 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,[3] 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, 4 March 1967, beating West Bromwich Albion 3–2, (coming back from a two goal deficit). 42 years on, it is 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 four years in Division 2. 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 a single 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.
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 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 5th, 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 Years 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'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.[4] 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 footballer Kiyan Prince on 18 May 2006[5] and, in August 2007, the death of promising teenager and first-team player Ray Jones in a car crash.[6] 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 (see Ownership and finances 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 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.[7] On 14 May 2008 Iain Dowie was announced as the manager to begin the campaign to return Rangers to the top flight.[8][9] However, on 24 October 2008 Iain Dowie was sacked after just fifteen games in charge of the club.[10]
On Wednesday, 19 November 2008, QPR named former Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa as their new first team coach.[11] However, on 9 April 2009, His contract was terminated after he allegedly divulged confidential information without authority.[12] On the same day as Sousa's sacking as QPR Manager, Player/Coach Gareth Ainsworth was appointed as Player/Caretaker Manager of QPR for a second time. On the 3 June 2009 Jim Magilton was named as new manager of Queens Park Rangers. Rangers then current Chairman Briatore said: "We had an incredibly high number of applicants, but Jim was the stand-out candidate for the role". However, despite leading QPR to a good start to the 2009/2010 season, a loss of form combined with an alleged head-butting incident with Hungarian midfielder Akos Buszaky saw the club further embroiled in controversy. Jim Magilton left the club by mutual consent on the 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 5 games after becoming manager at QPR, Paul Hart parted with the club on 14 January 2010. The reasons for his leaving the club are unstated at this time.
On 1 March 2010 Neil Warnock was appointed Manager on a three and a half year contract.
On 30 April 2011, QPR secured promotion to the Premier League with a 2–0 win over Watford FC.[13] 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 the 7 May 2011, with QPR found to be at fault in two of the seven 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.[14]
Rangers have had a somewhat nomadic existence, having played in 16 different locations throughout northwest London since their formation. The several grounds before 1886 are unknown but were probably in the Queens Park area (the first being The Queens Park itself). QPR hold the title of having had the most home grounds in football league history:[15]
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 per cent majority stake in the club from a Monaco-based consortium led by Italian football agent, Antonio Caliendo, 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.[16] 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 Amit Bhatia took a place on the board of directors.[17] While Gianni Paladini remains chairman of the football club, Alejandro Agag, as chairman of QPR Holdings (the parent company) was the de facto chairman,[16] until he was replaced by Flavio Briatore in early February 2008.[18] 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.[18]
Despite QPR's perilous financial condition in 2007/2008, the combined personal wealth of the club's new owners (which included the world's then 8th richest man Lakshmi Mittal) sparked speculation that QPR would receive significant further investment from their new benefactors drawing parallels to their wealthy West London neighbours Chelsea and Fulham.[19] 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 a year. 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.[19] In fact the ABC loan was discharged on or around 31 July 2008.[20] Mittal's investment is thought to be primarily motivated by his son-in-law's interests and 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.[16] 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.[21] 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).[22]
In May 2008, billionaire Vijay Mallya was linked with buying into the club, as part of the Ecclestone, Briatore and Mittal consortium.[23] 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 3 years.[24] Further sponsorship packages were also announced including Abbey Financial Services and Lotto Sport Italia.[25]. In 12 September 2011, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia announced its sponsorship of QPR’s home and away match and “third” jerseys for the two seasons with sponsorship cost some RM30mil (£6.2mil).[26]
Flavio Briatore's future as QPR chairman came under question in September 2009 after he left the Renault F1 team in the midst of race fixing allegations.[27][28] 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.[29] Meanwhile, the club continued to make losses (£18.8m in 2008-09 and £13.7m 2009-10). Briatore sold his (62%) shares 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 (company chairman and managing director). However his involvement gradually returned and conflicts between Briatore and Bhatia/Saksena resulted in both Bhatia and Saksena leaving QPR in May 2011. During QPR's successful Championship-winning season in 2010/11, Ecclestone made numerous public statements about his willingness to sell his stake in the club, hoping to cash in on their promotion to the Premier League.[30] 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.[31] Phillip Beard was announced as the new Chief Executive of the club and Gianni Paladini removed as club chairman. Briatore and Ecclestone are no longer involved with the club. They have 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) has now been "bought off" by the new regime (that is, refinanced by new debt). It is though that the current debt is represented by a shareholders' loan to the club and is non-interest bearing.[32] 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.[33][34]
The BBC TV series Bottom featured the character Edward A. Hitler (played by Adrian Edmondson) as a supporter of the team. In the show, he once asked the barman of his local (called "The Lamb and Flag,") if it was true he had a trial with the team. Dick Head, the landlord replied that he was decked by Les Ferdinand for kicking the ball in his own net. He was expecting to get applause from his team mates, as he was unaware he had scored an own goal. Also, in the BBC sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, Holly the computer makes a gag about QPR's away fixtures. Kryten, upon seeing a group of people frozen by time, comments "I've never seen such a thing! A group of people who show all the normal life signs, but seem totally incapable of movement!" to which Holly quips, "Never seen QPR play away then?!". Reference was also made to QPR in the BBC series Tucker. In the 17 January 1978 episode of M*A*S*H "Tea and Empathy" a group of soldiers are lying around reading letters from home and a conversation develops around football. One of the characters says "You're barmy mate, it's Queens Park Rangers all the way". The comedy detective series Boys From The Bush included the character Reg Toomer, an ardent QPR fan. Although set in Melbourne, the series ended in Hammersmith and included a scene inside Loftus Road. The BBC sitcom My Family features lead character Ben Harper (played by Robert Lindsay) as a QPR fan. In one episode he is seen watching a game on TV dressed in blue and white chanting "come on, you hoops!"
Musicians Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode and Recoil, Nick Midson (formerly of Threshold), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Mick Jones of punk band The Clash, the highly influential Big Audio Dynamite and latterly Carbon/Silicon, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Robert Smith of The Cure, Pete Doherty, of The Libertines and Babyshambles, as well as Matador Records founder Gerard Cosloy, are all fans of the club. Doherty used to run a club fanzine, "All Quiet On The Western Avenue", and has made reference to them in his music and videos. Musician and comedian Bill Bailey is also a fan of Queens Park Rangers as is London Wasps & England rugby union player Dom Waldouck. Up and coming comedian Seann Walsh is also a fan. The composers Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars and John Tilbury are all QPR fans and were regulars at Loftus Road in the late 60s and early 70s. Paul Cassidy of six-piano ensemble Piano Circus is a fan of QPR and also deputy chairman of the Glasgow branch of the Queens Park Rangers Supporters Association.
Andrew Ridgeley of pop band Wham! was featured in a QPR kit in the video for "The Edge of Heaven". The club's former logo briefly appears in the video for Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly's video for "I-Spy".[35]
Queens Park Rangers have a large contingent of supporters, often ex-pat, in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Iran, South Africa, Sweden, Serbia, St Lucia and the United States of America. QPR has also attracted significant support from the Irish community since the 1960s owing to Loftus Road being the nearest league ground to the Irish enclaves of West and North-West London. In Norway QPR's fanbase date back to when QPR was aired often enough on the NRK Tippekampen (Saturday afternoon main matches 1969–1995 co-aired in Norway, Sweden and Denmark) and from their UEFA Cup visit to Brann (Bergen). Since Tony Fernandes purchase of QPR, the football club attracted many new Malaysian supporters.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Queens Park Rangers Fans were asked for a vote for their all time strongest squad in 2008.
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| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| First Team Manager | Neil Warnock | English |
| Assistant Manager | Mick Jones | English |
| First Team Coach | Keith Curle | English |
| Reserve Team Manager | Ronnie Jepson | English |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Carl Serrant | English |
| Goalkeeping Coach | David Rouse | English |
| Chief Scout | Kevin Randall | English |
| Head Physio | Nigel Cox | English |
| Assistant Physio | Sangi Patel | English |
| Kit Man | Gary Doyle | English |
| Youth Development Manager | Steve Gallen | Irish |
| Youth Development Assistant Manager | Marc Bircham | Canadian |
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Tony Fernandes | Malaysian |
| Vice-Chairman | Amit Bhatia | Indian |
| Managing Director | Philip Beard | English |
| Director | Kamarudin Bin Meranun | Malaysian |
| Director | Ruben Emir Gnanalingam | Malaysian |
The last ten managers of QPR:
| Name | Nat | From | To | G | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luigi De Canio | October 2007 | May 2008 | 35 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 34.3 | |
| Iain Dowie | May 2008 | October 2008 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 53.3 | |
| Gareth Ainsworth (Caretaker) | October 2008 | November 2008 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 28.6 | |
| Paulo Sousa | November 2008 | April 2009 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 26.9 | |
| Gareth Ainsworth (Caretaker) | April 2009 | June 2009 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20.0 | |
| Jim Magilton | June 2009 | December 2009 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 37.5 | |
| Steve Gallen & Marc Bircham (Caretaker) | & | December 2009 | December 2009 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Hart | December 2009 | January 2010 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 20.0 | |
| Mick Harford (Caretaker) | January 2010 | March 2010 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 14.3 | |
| Neil Warnock | March 2010 | Present | 81 | 33 | 26 | 22 | 40.7 |
| Seasons | Kit Manufacturers[38] | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1974-1975 | Admiral until early 1975, Umbro | |
| 1975-1976 | Umbro | |
| 1976-1989 | Adidas | none (1976-1983), Guiness (1983-August 1986), Blue*Star (August 1986-1987), Holland and Fly KLM (till 1989) |
| 1989-1991 | Influence | Holland and Fly KLM (1989-August1990, December 1990-1991) Influence Leisure (August-December 1990) |
| January 1991-1992 | Brooks | Brooks |
| 1992-1995 | Clubhouse | Classic FM (1992-1993), CSF (1993-1994), Compaq (1994-1995) |
| 1995-1997 | View From | Compaq (till 1996) Ericcson (till 1997) |
| 1997-2008 | Le Coq Sportif | Ericcson (1997-2001), JD Sports (2001-2003), Binatone (2003-2006), Cargiant.co.uk (till 2008) |
| 2008- | Lotto | GulfAir.com (2008-2011), Malaysia Airlines Home, Air Asia Away/ Alternate (2011-) |
Note: the leagues and divisions of English football have changed somewhat over time, so here they are grouped into their relative levels on the English football league system at the time they were won to allow easy comparison of the achievement
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