Seven Years Ago: QPR at Their Nadir...Takeover Efforts and Ground Move Talk...Crouch Departs...Chelsea Shock!...First Division 3 Game Since 1967

-
Seven Years ago, QPR had just been relegated; the club were in Administration; and the Chairman had walked out. Players had been released. The future looked extremely worrying and frightening (Meanwhile ex-manager, Gerry Francis, was rather strangely back in charge at Bristol Rovers and signing QPR players (like watching a film in reverse: Bristol Rovers, QPR, Spurs, QPR, Bristol Rovers - Francis at Bristol Rovers)

Peter Crouch had just been sold to Portmsouth (and seven years later, once again, Crouch joins Portsmouth!) Crouch to Portsmouth

BBC - July 4, 2001 Portsmouth sign £1.5m Crouch
First Division Portsmouth have beaten off competition from Charlton and Middlesbrough to sign giant striker Peter Crouch.
The 6ft 6in striker scored 14 goals for QPR last season despite the club being relegated from Division One. He said: "I'm delighted to sign for Pompey and their fans are still fresh in my mind from playing down here so recently.
"I also remember them from when they visited us when they did not stop.
"Add Graham Rix and Harry Redknapp and it did not take a lot of persuading that this is the place to be."
"I'm absolutely excited by the prospects and I am determined to succeed at Pompey."
The 20-year-old marksman joined QPR from Tottenham for £60,000 almost exactly a year ago after playing for England at youth and Under-18 level. Portsmouth have paid £1.5m for him. ." BBC

Other Players Departing QPR in July 2001:
- Peter Crouch to Portsmouth
- Jermaine Darlington to Wimbledon
- Paul Murray joined Southampton
- Karl Ready to Motherwell
- Lee Harper to Walsall
- Michel Ngonge went to Kilmarnock
- Alvin Bubb and Ross Weare to Gerry Francis' Bristol Rovers
- Leonne Jeanne to Cardiff
- Tony Scully to Cambridge


Joining QPR in July 2001: Steve Palmer and Chris Day, and Leroy Griffiths and off the field: The crucial signing of Kenny Jackett as Holloway's assistant.

Complete list of Players transferred in July 2001

And in the Takeover World

BBC - July 29, 2001 - QPR boss Ian Holloway opposes ground move
QPR manager Ian Holloway has spoken out against prospective owner Andrew Ellis' plans to relocate the club to Heathrow.
Holloway said: "You can't suddenly tell someone that they have got to drive 20 miles to support their team - it just doesn't work.
"I'm very proud of this place. This is our tribe, we are strong together and this is where we live.
"I like this cave we are in and I want to keep living in it. That's as blunt as it has got to be," he added. BBC


BBC - Thursday, 26 July, 2001, Council opposes QPR move
QPR owner Chris Wright has indicated that he is prepared to snub a consortium takeover bid and sell the club to Andrew Ellis.
Ellis plans to relocate the club to Heathrow and a consortium of wealthy Rangers fans have tabled an offer in the hope of preventing the move.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council are also set to oppose plans to move the club to Heathrow.
The overwhelming majority of QPR fans say that the club is associated with the ground
Hammersmith mayor Andrew Slaughter
A motion to back QPR fans in their opposition to the move was unanimously supported at a council meeting on Wednesday.
Councillor Wesley Harcourt claimed: "We can make it very difficult for the ground to be sold at a profit."
Mayor Andrew Slaughter added: "There appears to be two bids - the Ellis bid to move QPR to Heathrow and create a kind of Chelsea-type village, while the other bid is committed to keeping QPR at Loftus Road.
"The overwhelming majority of QPR fans say that the club is associated with the ground.
"We aim to see QPR survive and thrive at Loftus Road."
But The Sun quote Wright as saying: "It would be in the best long term interests of the club to move."
Wright is in exclusive talks with Ellis in an attempt to give him the best possible chance of putting a bid together. He has until 6 August to complete the deal. BBC


BBC - Wednesday, 1 August, 2001 - Ellis pulls out of QPR bid
Former Queens Park Rangers director Andrew Ellis has withdrawn his bid for control of the west London club.
The move paves the way for a fans' consortium to ease the troubled club out of administration.
Estate agent Ellis had been granted a three-week lock-out period to prove he had the cash to back up his proposal.
The only other bid tabled so far comes from the fans' consortium headed by Maurice Fitzgerald, who have pledged to keep the club at Loftus Road.
A club statement read: "Andrew Ellis has withdrawn his bid to buy QPR and the period of exclusivity granted to him no longer exists.
"With regards to other bids, the club has received the outline of a possible deal from the consortium led by Maurice Fitzgerald, which the club are also looking at."
Deeply unpopular
The Ellis bid had been deeply unpopular with fans because it proposed moving the club from Loftus Road to a new site near Heathrow, 16 miles away.
Fitzgerald's bid is apparently backed by a major investment company and private investors.
The bid is centred on around keeping the club at Loftus Road, with current manager Ian Holloway remaining in charge. BBC


By the end of the month, On the bright side (and perhaps at the time, a false dawn!)

Saturday, 28 July, 2001, Rangers rock sluggish Chelsea - QPR 3-1 Chelsea Rangers deservedly got the better of their west London rivals as stunning strikes from Karl Connolly and Gavin Peacock capped an impressive fightback.
Chelsea hardly looked a £50m outfit as they laboured in the heat, but they did catch Rangers out with the opening goal on nine minutes.
Gianfranco Zola's defence-splitting pass to Jesper Gronkjaer on the left saw the Dane bear down on goal before curling the ball home for a fine opener.
The home side responded in style when an inch-perfect pass from Connolly was controlled first time by Leroy Griffiths, who rifled a left-foot shot across Ed de Goey and into the far corner.
Hasselbaink wasted a great chance for Chelsea
A complete miskick from Rangers goalkeeper Chris Day gifted Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink a chance, but the striker volleyed wide from only six yards.
Day made up for the error with a string of fine saves in the second-half, including point-blank stops from Mario Stanic twice and Eidur Gudjohnsen.
But Rangers finished the stronger and Connolly fired them in front when he hammered an unstoppable shot past a bemused Mark Bosnich from the edge of the box.
Then Peacock's marvellous finish after a one-two with Andy Thomson rounded off a great afternoon for Rangers.BBC
Teams: QPR (4-4-2): Day; Forbes, Palmer, Ben Aska, Bruce; Bonnot (Cochrane, 51min), Perry, Peacock, Connolly (Walsh, 90); Thomson, Griffiths (Koejoe, 73).
Chelsea (3-4-3): De Goey (Bosnich, h-t); Gallas, Desailly (Bogarde, 66), Babayaro (Harley, h-t); Melchiot, Lampard, Morris (Jokanovic, h-t), Le Saux; Zola (Gudjohnsen, h-t), Hasselbaink (Forssell, 65), Gronkjaer (Stanic, h-t).

Also See: "Griffiths makes Chelsea pay the price as he moves from rags to riches"



Earlier that month: BBC - Saturday, 14 July, 2001, Celtic cruise past QPR - QPR 0-2 Celtic
Henrik Larsson was back in the old routine as Celtic cruised to victory against QPR at Loftus Road.
The Swedish striker - the Golden Shoe winner with 53 goals in Celtic's treble winning season - was on target after only 63 seconds.
Larsson's goal established Celtic's platform for victory and substitute Lubomir Moravcik, on in the second half for Paul Lambert, added another to seal the win for Martin O'Neill's side.
Celtic and QPR enjoyed a low key work out in the West London sunshine, with the Second Division side even having 12 players on the pitch during one period of rapid substitutions.
But Celtic were unconvincing for long periods as QPR, relegated from the First Division last season, enjoyed plenty of possession.
Larsson opened the scoring when he latched on to a pass from Alan Thompson to beat QPR's debutant keeperm Chris Day...
QPR: Day; Bignot, Forbes, Palmer, Bruce; Connolly, Peacock, Bonnot, Barr (Koejoe 46); Wardley, Thomson (Griffiths 46).
CELTIC:Gould (Kharine 46); Mjallby (Johnson 67), Boyd (Healy 46), Tebily (Wieghorst 76); Kolkka (Petta 61), Thompson (Berkovic 77), Lennon (Burchill 77), Lambert (Moravcik 61), McNamara (Agathe 46); Sutton (Crainey 76), Larsson (Maloney 77).
ATT: 17,337. BBC


[And then in August 2001, QPR's first game back in the old Third Division (albeit with a new name) since they left it in 1967 (along with their Championship and League Cup trophies - QPR's last Division 3 game: May 13, 1967 - Oxford 2 QPR 1 (Marsh for QPR) with Springett, Hazell, Hunt, Sibley, Langley, Keen, Sanderson, Lazarus, R. Morgan, Allen, Marsh)

BBC - Saturday, 11 August, 2001, QPR 1-0 Stoke
Andy Thomson's 23rd-minute strike was enough to give QPR a 1-0 win over promotion candidates Stoke City on their return to Division Two.
Rangers - in their first game in the third tier of the league since 1967 - got off to the start manager Ian Holloway would have wanted.
Thomson struck a sweet shot from the edge of the penalty area following Stuart Wardley's pass, to leave Gavin Ward helpless in the Stoke goal.
Rangers dominated the game and could well have added to their tally against a Stoke side who had four players booked.
Thomson, Marcus Bignot and Steve Palmer all went close but in the end Holloway had to settle for the 1-0 victory.
QPR: Day, Forbes, Ben Askar, Palmer, Bruce, Perry, Bignot, Bonnot, Connolly, Thomson, Wardley. Subs: Bull, Rose, Griffiths, Warren, Koejoe.
Stoke: Ward, Thomas, Handyside, Shtaniuk, Clarke, Gudjonsson, Vandeurzen, O'Connor, Hoekstra, Thorne, Cooke. Subs: Cutler, Iwelumo, Thordarson, Rowson, Henry. BBC