Flashback: Thirty-Five Years Ago Today - QPR and Especially Stan Bowles Celebrate Promotion

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Thirty-five years ago today (wow!), Gordon Jago's QPR team, with Parkes, Clement, Venables, Francis, Thomas, Bowles and Givens, completed their 1972-1973 promotion season with a 3-0 victory at FA Cup Winners Sunderland. 1972-1973 Results

In that final games at Sunderland, Stan Bowles has spoken and written about how he almost started a riot, by deliberately knocking over Sunderland's newly-won FA Cup with a long range shot.
As someone on Wikipedia has written "Bowles was often regarded as something of a character both on and off the pitch. One notable incident in his playing days involved the famous FA Cup trophy. Having won the FA Cup competition four days prior, Sunderland were parading the trophy at Roker Park on May 9, 1973 when they met QPR in the old Division 2. The trophy had been placed on a table at the side of the pitch when Bowles tore straight across the park and kicked the ball at it full speed, sending the Cup flying through the air.[1] The crowd predictably went ballistic, however Stan had the last laugh by scoring a brace in the match which ended in a pitch invasion. According to Bowles some of the QPR players had laid bets as to who could hit the trophy first." Wikipedia

Although For what it's worth: From the Guardian - November 2006
DID STAN BOWLES TAKE A POT SHOT AT THE FA CUP (2)?

Last week we delved into Stan Bowles's autobiography to discover that, apparently, he once booted a ball at the FA Cup trophy while it was being displayed pitchside at Sunderland during a game. But that's not the end of the story ...
Because reader Brian Halliday sent our article to a friend of his, one Gordon Jago MBE, the manager of QPR at the time of the incident, and who now resides in Dallas. Here's Gordon's view of the events: "The truth is that yes, the FA Cup was knocked off the table during the game against Sunderland, but not by Stan Bowles. It was Tony Hazell, the QPR defender.
"At some time during the game Tony cleared a ball and it knocked the cup flying. This incident really upset the home fans; so much so that the referee took both teams from the field to let tempers cool. The game was eventually restarted and we finished 3-0 winners. Stan had someone write a book for him and he tells the story about a bet and that he deliberately knocked the cup off the table. Fiction! I do not know if Tony or any of the other players have contacted Stan to correct him, but that story is typical of him and no doubt it helped to sell the book." Guardian


DIVISION TWO 1972/1973
Pos Name Pld W D L GF GA Pts
1 Burnley 42 24 14 4 72 35 62
2 Queens Park Rangers 42 24 13 5 81 37 61
3 Aston Villa 42 18 14 10 51 47 50
4 Middlesbrough 42 17 13 12 46 43 47
5 Bristol City 42 17 12 13 63 51 46
6 Sunderland 42 17 12 13 59 49 46
7 Blackpool 42 18 10 14 56 51 46
8 Oxford United 42 19 7 16 52 43 45
9 Fulham 42 16 12 14 58 49 44
10 Sheffield Wednesday 42 17 10 15 59 55 44
11 Millwall 42 16 10 16 55 47 42
12 Luton Town 42 15 11 16 44 53 41
13 Hull City 42 14 12 16 64 59 40
14 Nottingham Forest 42 14 12 16 47 52 40
15 Orient 42 12 12 18 49 53 36
16 Swindon Town 42 10 16 16 46 60 36
17 Portsmouth 42 12 11 19 42 59 35
18 Carlisle United 42 11 12 19 50 52 34
19 Preston North End 42 11 12 19 37 64 34
20 Cardiff City 42 11 11 20 43 58 33
21 Huddersfield Town 42 8 17 17 36 56 33
22 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 8 13 21 46 83 29
Table