Forget Fulham or Premiership relegation...12 Years ago Today, QPR went into Administration.
Twelve Years Ago, Today, the Nightmare Began:
"QPR Enter Administration" -
April 2, 2001 - QPR Official Statement - RANGERS IN ADMINISTRATION
The Board of Loftus Road PLC regrets to inform shareholders and supporters that after consultation with its advisors it has decided that the best course of action to help ensure the Group's longer term survival, is to put the holding company, Loftus Road PLC, and its wholly owned subsidiary The Queens Park Rangers Football and Athletic Club Ltd (QPR), into administration.
This decision has not been taken lightly and is a direct result of the losses incurred by the Group, currently running at �570,000 per month, over a sustained period of time.
The main objective of the Board is not only to ensure the continued operation of QPR and Wasps as professional sports teams in the short term, but to maximise their opportunity for a more prosperous future.
Chris Wright will be honouring his prior commitment to the Group and providing whatever financial support is necessary to ensure the continued running of the Clubs until a long term successor can be found or, initially, until at least the end of October 2001.
Chris Wright said :"It is a very sad day for everyone involved in Loftus Road. The last six months have been a real struggle financially and although my intention was to secure a sale to the right buyer before having to take this decision, it has not been forthcoming. I will continue to fund the day to day running of the Group until the end of the season and help to find a purchaser for QPR and Wasps.
Hopefully the day to day impact on the operation of QPR and Wasps as professional sports teams will be negligible, at least in the short term, and will in fact make the longer term more viable. My support for both Clubs remains undiminished and my greatest wish would be for the right individual with ready funds, energy and ideas to step in and secure their future as soon as possible." QPR Official
BBC, 2 April, 2001 - QPR put into administration
Troubled Queens Park Rangers plight worsened when the club were put into administration on Monday.
A statement on the club's website read: "The decision has not been taken lightly and is a direct result of the losses incurred by the Group, currently running at £570,000 per month, over a sustained period of time."
The club is owned by Loftus Road plc and shares in the company have been suspended.
This move comes after chairman Chris Wright failed to find a buyer for the club.
Hopefully the day to day impact on the operation of QPR and Wasps as professional sports teams will be negligible
Wright was believed to be in discussions with former director Andrew Ellis, but those talks seem to have broken down.
QPR share their Loftus Road ground with Wasps and Wright says he will continue to finance the day-to-day running of the club until the end of the season.
The London club's problems could further deteriorate if they lose their battle against relegation.
Wright said: "It is a very sad day for everyone involved in Loftus Road.
"The last six months have been a real struggle financially and although my intention was to secure a sale to the right buyer before having to take this decision, it has not been forthcoming.
"I will continue to fund the day to day running of the Group until the end of the season and help to find a purchaser for QPR and Wasps.
"Hopefully the day to day impact on the operation of QPR and Wasps as professional sports teams will be negligible, at least in the short term, and will in fact make the longer term more viable." BBC
INDEPENDENT/Nick Harris - QPR go into administration
Tuesday, 3 April 2001
Queen's Park Rangers went into administration last night after the struggling First Division club's parent company announced its losses are running at £575,000 a month. "This decision [to put QPR into administration] has not been taken lightly and is a direct result of the losses incurred by the group," a statement from Loftus Road plc, which also owns Wasps rugby club, said last night.
Queen's Park Rangers went into administration last night after the struggling First Division club's parent company announced its losses are running at £575,000 a month. "This decision [to put QPR into administration] has not been taken lightly and is a direct result of the losses incurred by the group," a statement from Loftus Road plc, which also owns Wasps rugby club, said last night.
Wasps have not been put in administration because a takeover by an unnamed buyer is understood to be imminent. It has been reported that a former director of QPR, Andrew Ellis, is considering a
takeover of the football club but negotiations are understood to be in their infancy.
Chris Wright, who stepped down as QPR chairman earlier this year, seems destined to lose the majority of the £20m investment he has put into the football club. He said last night, however, that he would continue to fund both QPR and Wasps until October or until buyers for them are found, whichever comes sooner. "Hopefully the day-to-day impact on the operation of QPR and Wasps as professional sports teams will be negligible, at least in the short term, and will in fact make the longer term more viable," he said.
BBC - Tuesday, 3 April, 2001 - Rangers safe, say administrators
The newly-appointed administrators of Queens Park Rangers have insisted the First Division club's future is not under threat.
Ray Hocking and Simon Michaels, of BDO Stoy Hayward Business Recovery Services, have been appointed joint administrators to holding company Loftus Road plc and their wholly-owned subsidiary QPR.
The administration was applied for by directors of Loftus Road plc as the best course of action for their long-term survival. The company have amassed debts of up to £11m.
"I don't see it as an existence-threatening position. I see it as a necessary step to ensure in the future there will be a Queens Park Rangers," said Hocking.
"Our priority is to secure a buyer for the company and the club and to ensure that creditors receive their monies."
There's no panic to dispose of this in the next few days or the next few weeks
Ray Hocking, QPR administrator
Chris Wright, majority shareholder and chairman of Loftus Road plc, will continue to fund the club and Hocking confirmed that rugby union club Wasps - another subsidiary of Loftus Road plc - has not been put into administration.
Hocking insisted he was in no rush to find a buyer for the company and the club and said: "It could take a couple of weeks and it could take a season or more. It really does depend on who comes along.
"We will wait until we get the right offer. There's no panic to dispose of this in the next few days or the next few weeks. We are looking at a long-term survival programme here, not a quick fix."
Hocking also stressed the club's assets were worth more than their liabilities. "The club owns its ground and its training ground and they are worth considerable sums of money," he said.
I think it's fair to say that the atmosphere among the players is pretty good
David Davies, chief executive of Loftus Road plc
"Any offers that include those have got to be considerable. We have got to be looking well above the £15-20m mark."
David Davies, the newly-appointed chief executive of Loftus Road plc, said the players, currently battling against relegation, remained positive.
"I think it's fair to say that the atmosphere among the players is pretty good," he said. " I see it as the beginning of a new era for QPR. BBC
TELEGRAPH
QPR kicks into administration as Man Utd tops profit league
By Benjamin Wootliff 03 Apr 2001
IT was a game of two halves yesterday as Manchester United announced record profits while its former Premier League rival Queens Park Rangers was put into administration...
By contrast, West London's Queens Park Rangers was heading to the biggest drop of all when holding company Loftus Road, which also owns the Wasps rugby club, admitted that it had run out of money, and had its share listing cancelled ahead of calling in administrators.
Chairman Chris Wright, who had been effectively bankrolling Loftus Road, said: "Although my intention was to secure a sale to the right buyer before having to take this decision, it has not been forthcoming."
Earlier, the club refused to comment on rumours that former director and property investor Andrew Ellis had offered £9m to buy the club and move QPR to a new West London site near Heathrow Airport, while redeveloping the existing ground.
QPR's plight knocked the shares of rival Nottingham Forest, which tumbled 4.5 to 12p...."
