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QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: CHRONOTECH RIGHT ON TIME
Queens Park Rangers Football Club are delighted to announce that leading producer and distributor of watches Chronotech will be QPR's Official Time Keeper next season.
Chronotech already boasts the ING Renault Formula One Team and Italian Serie A giants AC Milan among its current partners, and they have now joined forces with QPR, a Club which continues to grow as a team and as a brand.
The one-year deal, which both parties have the option to renew, is worth a six-figure sum and sees Chronotech join QPR's exclusive family of sponsors, alongside Gulf Air, Lotto and Santander.
QPR Holdings Chairman, Flavio Briatore, said: "We're absolutely delighted to have teamed up with another established, global brand such as Chronotech.
"They are world leaders in their industry, and renowned for their slick and modern approach to watch design.
"Their ethos on quality complements our desire to build an exciting and stylish future for this Football Club.
"It is another fantastic brand for QPR to be associated with, and I am very excited about what the future holds.
"This partnership once again underlines the intentions of the QPR Board to grow and develop this Football Club off the pitch as well as on it."
Chronotech, a brand exclusively distributed worldwide by Global Watch Industries, leader in the wrist watch market, turns ever more its attention to international markets.
This new sports partnership will allow Chronotech to increase its visibility and brand awareness in foreign markets.
Giovanni Fasciano, President of Global Watch Industries, said: "The partnership with ING Renault Formula One brought a lot of luck and has contributed to the success of Chronotech in Italy and the world.
"I have complete trust in Flavio Briatore, creator of the successes of ING Renault in Formula One.
"I am certain that his commitment to the football world will repay us sponsors with important results."
Chronotech is a brand of Global Watch Industries, the group that carries out directly the designs, the realisation, the marketing and distribution of a wide range of brand wrist watches sold under license such as GIVENCHY, GF FERRE', BLUMARINE, EXTE', BILLIONAIRE, SWEET YEARS, BACI & ABBRACCI and DIADORA.
Global Watch Industries is present within the wrist watch market on an international level in over 50 countries through key accounts and specialty stores." QPR
Richard Langley is trialing with Hereford and played for them last night against Southampton. There is some messageboard animosity towards Langley, but he did a lot for QPR and wish him well - especially given how bright the hopes for him were, when he first started.
Hereford Official Site:
"Team news ahead of tonight's clash against Championship side, Southampton...The Bulls name three new trialists in their starting XI. Jerry Ani, Richard Langley and Sam Oji....Richard Langley, ia a central midfielder who was released by Luton Town and rumoured to have had trials with MK Dons and Darlington. He has made 12 appearances for Jamaica, for who he qualifies to play for through his father..." Hereford Official Site. The two teams drew 0-0. Langley started and then was substituted. Report
Flashback Seven Years: QPR 3 Chelsea 1
And perhaps a reminder and an illustration how a great pre-season result doesn't really show how the team is going to do during the season.
July 2001 - QPR 3 Chelsea 1
The 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).
Guardian -Chris Taylor
Griffiths makes Chelsea pay the price as he moves from rags to riches
Chelsea's £25m summer spending spree may yet prove to be value for money, but it was Rangers' sole close-season purchase, a £40,000 buy from Hampton and Richmond, who stole the show as the millionaires from SW6 got a rude awakening in Shepherds Bush.
Leroy Griffiths made himself an instant hit with Rangers fans when he latched on to a through ball and, leaving the Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly trailing in his wake, lashed a fierce volley across Ed de Goey and into the far corner of the net. It was a moment of class from a young man who seemed totally unfazed by taking on one of the world's top defenders only a few weeks after turning out in the Rymans League.
"He's won the World Cup, been in the Champions League and that's where I want to be," said Griffiths. "You may be a World Cup winner but you're playing against someone totally different that you don't know anything about."
It was, as his manager Ian Holloway said, a wonderful goal from a player who has proved to be "a breath of fresh air". The victory will help boost confidence and blow away some of the gloom from last season's relegation to the Second Division, which has left continuing uncertainty over the cash-strapped club's future.
Pre-season games are a notoriously poor guide to the prospects for the coming campaign - witness Chelsea's Charity Shield victory over Manchester United last year - but there was little in this disjointed performance to suggest Claudio Ranieri's team would be capable of mounting a title challenge. In particular, Frank Lampard's anonymous display in midfield, where he was outshone by the Chelsea old boy Gavin Peacock, only served as a reminder that his predecessor as the Blues' costliest Englishman was Chris Sutton.
It had all looked so different early on. When Gronkjaer calmly netted in the 10th minute after Gianfranco Zola's defence-splitting pass had sprung the offside trap, it looked like the visitors would be able to take the game at a stroll on what was a swelteringly hot day. But with Chelsea making seven changes in the second half it was QPR who went ahead when Karl Connolly volleyed past Mark Bosnich. Shortly afterwards a slick passing move had the crowd chanting " ole " and ended with another good scoring chance.
Chelsea pushed forward in search of an equaliser with Eidur Gudjohnsen, the brightest of a lacklustre bunch, three times denied by the Hoops' goalkeeper Chris Day. He also made two fine saves from Mario Stanic, another second-half substitute, in a busy final 15 minutes.
Although Peacock's 88th-minute strike made for a slightly flattering scoreline, Chelsea could only envy the team spirit that Holloway has clearly instilled at Loftus Road.
Holloway knows that QPR still have a long way to go, although he might like to remind his charges that 25 years ago it was the QPR of Gerry Francis who were the high fliers, finishing second in the league, while Chelsea, newly relegated and massively in debt, were fielding a bargain-basement team led by a teenaged Ray Wilkins. It seemed appropriate, then, that the afternoon ended on a note of 70s nostalgia with a knot of fans scuffling in the centre circle after a pitch invasion.
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).
Referee : C Penton. Guardian
BBC - 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 QPR Report