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Full name | Queens Park Rangers Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | The Super-Hoops, The Hoops, R's | ||
Founded | 1882 | ||
Ground | Loftus Road (Capacity: 19,100) |
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Owner | QPR Holdings, Ltd. | ||
Chairman | Ishan Saksena | ||
Manager | Neil Warnock | ||
League | The Championship | ||
2009–10 | The Championship, 13th | ||
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Queens Park Rangers Football Club (pronounced /ˌkwiːnz ˌpɑrk ˈreɪndʒərz/) (usually referred to as QPR, also known as the Rangers, the Rs or the Hoops) are an English professional football club, based in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. They currently play in the Football League Championship, and their honours include winning the League Cup in 1967, and being runners-up in the old First Division in 1975–76 and 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. Luton Town are also deeply hated and referred to by most QPR fans as 'The Pikeys'. Games between the two clubs have seen violence between the two sets of supporters since the late 1970s and are usually heavily policed. However following Luton's descent into non-league football it may be some time before hostilities are resumed. In 2007, QPR were taken over by Italian tycoon Flavio Briatore. Other major shareholders include Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
The current chairman of the club is Indian businessman Ishan Saksena, and the manager is former Sheffield United and Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock, who has also played for teams such as Hartlepool United and Scunthorpe United in a very successful footballing career spanning nearly fifty years.
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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).[1] 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). QPR were one of the best sides in West London in 1992-1994, better than locals big names such as Chelsea and Fulham.
Prior to the start of the 1959-60 season saw the arrival of arguably the club's greatest ever manager,[2] 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 and Morocco. 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 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. 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.[3] 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[4] and, in August 2007, the death of promising teenager and first-team player Ray Jones in a car crash.[5] 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.[6] On 14 May 2008 Iain Dowie was announced as the manager to begin the campaign to return Rangers to the top flight.[7][8] However, on 24 October 2008 Iain Dowie was sacked after just fifteen games in charge of the club.[9]
On Wednesday, 19 November 2008, QPR named former Portugal midfielder Paulo Sousa as their new first team coach.[10] However, on 9 April 2009, His contract was terminated after he allegedly divulged confidential information without authority.[11] 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 3rd June 2009 Jim Magilton was named as new manager of Queens Park Rangers. Rangers 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 16th 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.
Rangers have had a somewhat nomadic existence, having played in nearly 20 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). Along with having the title of most home grounds in football league history:[12] In the modern era the success of QPR can be epitomised by the aggressive marketing strategy in the mid 1980's.Andy Ransom was appointed as a marketing supremo and single-handedly changed the economic fortunes of the club with an unparallelled successful advertising and sponsorship campaign that allowed the various managers to re-invest in new and exciting players
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, 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.[13] 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.[14] While Gianni Paladini remains chairman of the football club, Alejandro Agag, as chairman of QPR Holdings (the parent company) was the de facto chairman,[13] until he was replaced by Flavio Briatore in early February 2008.[15] 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.[15]
Despite QPR's perilous financial condition, 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.[6] 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 had not 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 was expected that the ABC loan would be discharged in June 2008 on its maturity and that the debt owed to Antonio Caliendo would be paid off "in early 2008" in line with a funding strategy which Ecclestone has publicly stated would not result in the wealthy owners simply bankrolling the club.[6] In fact the ABC loan was discharged on or around 31 July 2008.[16] Mittal's investment is thought to be primarily motivated by his son-in-law's interests and that Mittal himself will remain a silent investor while Briatore, Ecclestone and Bhatia work 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 have also pledged to refurbish Loftus Road and use their experience in Formula One to increase sponsorship revenues.[13] On 25 March 2008, QPR confirmed that, from the 2008–09 season and for five seasons, their kits will be supplied by Lotto Sport Italia as part of a number of new partnerships formed by Flavio Briatore.[17] 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).[18]
In May 2008, billionaire Vijay Mallya was linked with buying into the club, as part of the Ecclestone, Briatore and Mittal consortium.[19] 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.[20] Further sponsorship packages were also announced including Abbey Financial Services and Lotto Sport Italia.[21]
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.[22][23] 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.[24]
The BBC TV series Bottom featured the character Edward 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, she 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 January 17, 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.
Musicians Nick Midson (formerly of Threshold), Ian Gillan, of Deep Purple, Mick Jones, of punk band The Clash, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Robert Smith of The Cure, and 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. Andrew Ridgeley of pop band Wham was featured in a Queen's Park Rangers kit in the video for their song Edge of Heaven. The club's former logo briefly appears in the video for get cape. Wear cape. Fly's video for the song I spy.[25]
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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Position | Name | Nationality |
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Manager | Neil Warnock | ![]() |
Assistant Manager | Mick Jones | ![]() |
First Team Coach | Keith Curle | ![]() |
Reserve Team Manager | Ronnie Jepson | ![]() |
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Carl Serrant | ![]() |
Goalkeeping Coach | David Rouse | ![]() |
Chief Scout | Kevin Randall | ![]() |
Head Physio | Nigel Cox | ![]() |
Assistant Physio | Sangi Patel | ![]() |
Centre of Excellence Manager | Steve Gallen | ![]() |
Centre of Excellence Assistant Manager | Marc Bircham | ![]() |
Position | Name | Nationality |
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Chairman/Managing Director | Ishan Saksena | ![]() |
Vice-Chairman | Amit Bhatia | ![]() |
Deputy Managing Director | Ali Russell | ![]() |
Director | Flavio Briatore | ![]() |
Director | Bernie Ecclestone | ![]() |
Director | Gianni Paladini | ![]() |
Stadium Director | John MacDonald | ![]() |
Finance Director | Rebecca Caplehorn | ![]() |
Name | Nat | From | To | G | W | D | L | Win % |
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James Cowan | ![]() |
August 1907 | May 1913 | 296 | 128 | 85 | 83 | 43.2 |
James Howie | ![]() |
August 1913 | April 1920 | 236 | 85 | 48 | 103 | 36.0 |
Ned Liddell | ![]() |
April 1920 | May 1925 | 177 | 71 | 42 | 64 | 40.1 |
Robert Hewison | ![]() |
August 1925 | May 1931 | 219 | 80 | 53 | 86 | 36.5 |
Archie Mitchell | ![]() |
November 1931 | May 1933 | 79 | 32 | 18 | 29 | 40.5 |
Mick O'Brien | ![]() |
May 1933 | April 1935 | 84 | 40 | 16 | 28 | 47.6 |
Billy Birrell | ![]() |
April 1935 | May 1939 | 184 | 85 | 42 | 57 | 46.2 |
Ted Vizard | ![]() |
May 1939 | April 1944 | 186 | 95 | 29 | 62 | 51.1 |
Dave Mangnall | ![]() |
April 1944 | May 1952 | 280 | 112 | 74 | 94 | 40.0 |
Jack Taylor | ![]() |
June 1952 | May 1959 | 341 | 118 | 89 | 134 | 34.6 |
Alec Stock | ![]() |
August 1959 | June 1968 | 439 | 206 | 104 | 129 | 46.9 |
Bill Dodgin | ![]() |
June 1968 | November 1968 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12.5 |
Tommy Docherty | ![]() |
November 1968 | November 1968 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.0 |
Les Allen | ![]() |
December 1969 | January 1970 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.0 |
Gordon Jago | ![]() |
January 1971 | October 1974 | 161 | 71 | 55 | 35 | 44.1 |
Dave Sexton | ![]() |
October 1974 | July 1977 | 130 | 57 | 32 | 41 | 43.8 |
Frank Sibley | ![]() |
July 1977 | July 1978 | 45 | 9 | 17 | 19 | 20.0 |
Steve Burtenshaw | ![]() |
July 1978 | May 1979 | 41 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 14.6 |
Tommy Docherty | ![]() |
May 1979 | October 1980 | 51 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 39.2 |
Terry Venables | ![]() |
October 1980 | May 1984 | 166 | 84 | 33 | 49 | 50.6 |
Alan Mullery | ![]() |
June 1984 | December 1984 | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 42.3 |
Frank Sibley (Caretaker) | ![]() |
December 1984 | June 1985 | 28 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 28.6 |
Jim Smith | ![]() |
June 1985 | December 1988 | 167 | 67 | 38 | 62 | 40.1 |
Trevor Francis | ![]() |
December 1988 | November 1989 | 93 | 31 | 30 | 32 | 33.3 |
Don Howe | ![]() |
November 1989 | May 1991 | 75 | 27 | 21 | 27 | 36.0 |
Gerry Francis | ![]() |
May 1991 | November 1994 | 158 | 59 | 47 | 52 | 37.3 |
Ray Wilkins | ![]() |
November 1994 | September 1996 | 80 | 31 | 13 | 36 | 38.8 |
Stewart Houston | ![]() |
September 1996 | November 1997 | 63 | 25 | 15 | 23 | 39.7 |
John Hollins (Caretaker) | ![]() |
November 1997 | December 1997 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25.0 |
Ray Harford | ![]() |
December 1997 | September 1998 | 41 | 5 | 18 | 18 | 12.2 |
Iain Dowie (Caretaker) | ![]() |
September 1998 | October 1998 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.0 |
Gerry Francis | ![]() |
October 1998 | February 2001 | 125 | 36 | 42 | 47 | 28.8 |
Ian Holloway | ![]() |
February 2001 | February 2006 | 252 | 100 | 71 | 81 | 39.7 |
Gary Waddock | ![]() |
February 2006 | September 2006 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 17.4 |
John Gregory | ![]() |
September 2006 | October 2007 | 48 | 13 | 12 | 23 | 27.1 |
Mick Harford (Caretaker) | ![]() |
October 2007 | October 2007 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 40.2 |
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 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 41.2 |
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