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On
This Day in 1969: QPR beat Stoke 2-1 (Stoke with Gordon Banks in
goal). Spratley Clement Hazell Hunt Harris -Bridges Watson Sibley
I.Morgan - Leach Clarke Sub Wilks (Leach 2)
On
This Day in 1968, QPR played Jimmy Scoular's Cardiff, with Wilks in for
Rodney...And Cardiff, with John Toshack wearing #10...QPR were 3 points
clear at the top (p35, 49 points).Ipwsich and Blackpool with 46
points... Cardiff 6 away from bottom! (although Cardiff were in the
European Cup Winner Cup Semi Final) QPR won 1-0....
In the South East Counties League, QPR were top with 42 points. Chelsea 2nd with 39....
And in the programme: Announcement of the New Stand (later to be called South Africa Road Stand)
"We have decided after a lot of discussion and speculation, that our future is here and that we mean to stay."
Below: Report of Monday's meeting between the Club's Communications
Department and Representatives of various QPR Messageboards. Minutes of
the agreed upon-report was very graciously - and speedily - written up
by Neil Dejyothin. This report is being posted on the various QPR
Messageboards.
Profound thanks to QPR's Ian Taylor and Paul Morrisey for holding the meeting
There's much of interest in the meeting report. For me, the single most important sentence in the report was "Ian Taylor confirmed that QPR would own the stadium."
Ian
Taylor thanked everybody for attending and touched upon the previous
fan site meetings over the past year, re-iterating their usefulness and
that they were part of a wider effort by the club to improve
communication with supporters over all areas of the business.
Ian
Taylor stated that the meeting was to discuss items relating to the
media department, and that he and Paul Morrissey would not be able to
speak on behalf of other departments, but any feedback that did
overlap would be passed on where appropriate.
Ian Taylor confirmed there would be a formal meeting arranged with supporters with QPR Chairman Tony Fernandes.
Social Media
Owner's usage – on-going concerns about owner's social media output / false promises, etc
There were several concerns raised regarding the way Tony Fernandes uses Twitter to communicate with fans.
These included the following:
Statements
that promised a lot and then failed to deliver, which raises fans
expectations and then disappoints if they don't come to fruition. The
obvious example was the promise of a new club crest and fan
consultation by February, which then never materialised and has now
been delayed.
Specific
fans being singled out for their positive or negative feedback, where
the general view in the room was that some constructive feedback was
being portrayed as negative when it wasn't, and that it causes
a divide between supporters.
Making
announcements about deals way ahead of time, such as the likelihood
we'd partner with Nike as our new kit suppliers last year, but the
formal announcement was only made recently. It is not consistent
with the club's policy on formal announcements.
Tweets
that create tension within the club and its supporters that should be
relayed behind closed doors, such as the tweets about Harry Redknapp and
the players ahead of the Charlton match, which were not
helpful to the club or its supporters.
Ian
Taylor acknowledged all of these issues. The media team provide advice
and recommendations to Tony Fernandes and the board on a weekly basis.
The
shareholders own the club and are entitled to voice their opinions and
views and hopefully the positives of communicating with fans in this
manner outweigh the negatives. They feel it's good to have a Chairman
that wants to communicate, even if it sometimes causes challenges.
Steve
Sayce said that the perception of Tony Fernandes is that he is painted
as a media and web savvy person – so it was important the message gets
back to him that some of his social media communication was
not one hundred percent helpful.
Steve
Sayce touched upon some examples where Tony Fernandes had singled out
fans for their negative criticism and that this has created a divide
amongst supporters who use that platform, which is something
we should be keen to avoid. Steve also felt that recently Fernandes has
portrayed a message that he was only keen to engage with supporters who
were providing positive feedback.
Steve
Sayce touched on issues with previous Chairman in the past playing
supporters against one another – and that was something we certainly
don't want to see repeated again and there was a real worry that
some of Tony Fernandes' exchanges with fans could cause this to happen.
Steve felt that some of the tweets have come across as provocative and
likened it to somebody throwing stones in a pond and then walking away.
Steve
Sayce said that a previous message about us "winning and losing
together" is not true, as we do not appear to lose together very well.
Ian Taylor said they fully acknowledge that mistakes have been made and it's something they're trying to manage.
They feel there is a fine line and a balance to be struck.
There
was a lengthy discussion about what was and wasn't constructive
feedback, and the general feeling was that the constructive feedback is
often being taken as negative when it shouldn't be.
There
was a general discussion on how Fernandes can sometimes react too
emotionally after a result, which often leads to a string of exchanges
that can lead to something else, such as his decision to meet with
supporters.
Ian
Taylor confirmed the media team were first made aware of Tony
Fernandes' decision to meet with supporters through his post on Twitter.
The details of this meeting are not finalised yet, but will be soon
and will hopefully take place in April or May. They hope to make this
available to a wide spectrum of supporters, such as those with the most
loyalty points.
Neil
Dejyothin said that it was a good opportunity to offer other supporters
a chance to discuss matters with the Chairman or any future fans
forums. There should be some opportunity for a random draw to take
place that covers all season ticket holders, and that it's important
that not just the same group of fans turn up for each of these events.
Some
discussion was had about how in touch Tony Fernandes was with the team
and its current performances. Ian Taylor confirmed that Fernandes
watches most games when he is abroad, either via a stream or is
sent DVDs of the games.
Neil
Dejyothin mentioned that the tweet discussing Harry Redknapp and the
team was ill-timed and not something for public consumption and felt it
was destabilising.
Ron Norris felt it was an odd tweet, causing lots of horrible negativity to build up.
Ron
Norris felt a better approach for Fernandes would be to hold a Q&A
every few weeks or so on Twitter for an hour – he could invite questions
in and then select a few and answer them. This would provide some
structure and allow for more measured responses. Everybody agreed this
was a good idea and worth exploring further.
The
general feeling amongst everybody that Fernandes needs to stop singling
out supporters, either for positive or negative issues and such a
regular Q&A may help address that.
Vine platform
Matthew
Woolf asked whether the Vine platform was an official QPR channel, and
mentioned that people are reporting that it slows down their devices. He
mentioned the WATRB site could no longer embed QPR clips
on their forum.
Ian Taylor confirmed that vine.co/OfficialQPR is the clubs official Vine channel and can be accessed via the web or by downloading the app.
The
service hasn't slowed down any platform the club have used and the club
embed clips onto its website without any problems at all. These include
Wall and Storify. It's possible that the forum software or
content management system that WATRB use could be the source of the
problem considering the club haven't experience any issues.
Paul Morrissey provided some suggestions to Matthew to investigate.
Vine is created primarily for smartphones and isn't really intended for computers, it's similar to how Instagram works.
Tweets
from the media team criticising other clubs for breaching the Football
League highlights publication embargo – was this an appropriate use of
social media by club representatives?
Steve
Sayce said he was surprised about how the club used Twitter to lodge a
formal complaint against another club in the public domain, which didn't
seem appropriate behaviour or what a fan would expect to
see from using the platform.
Ian
Taylor explained that there had been numerous clubs breaking the
embargo and they had contacted both The Football League and the club
involved about this on more than one occasion.
QPR
respect the terms of their contract and do not want to break the
embargo. They feel it's unfair because when a club breaks the embargo it
has a direct impact on any potential income the club can make in
terms of losing hits by sticking to the rules.
They
had no joy with contacting those involved to try and settle the issue
and in the end they felt going public would help raise awareness. It had
the desired effect and since then, only two clubs have broken
the embargo since and those who have broken it have been made to remove
the content they'd put online.
Steve
Sayce said that we are all very much learning about social media and
how to use it, and expects the club to lead by example and how to use
this medium. He re-iterated he was surprised to see the club
use it to publicly settle a dispute with another club.
Paul Morrissey said
it was a route the club didn't intend to go down again and that their
relationship with the involved club had actually improved as a result.
Player's and staff usage
Matthew
Woolf raised a recent example where a member of staff tweeted
inappropriate comments on Twitter about one of our own players.
Ian Taylor said the club are aware of the matter and it's being dealt with internally.
Ian
Taylor said that since these fan site meetings started, the player’s
usage of Twitter has improved overall, albeit acknowledged there are
still the occasional slip-ups. This was a view generally shared
by all in attendance.
Ian Taylor confirmed that all of the player's and staff's Twitter accounts,
with the exception of his own, were personal ones, but that
the media team review all material published on social media against the
FA Guidelines for any content that may bring QPR or football in general
into disrepute. If they believe any action
is required, they inform senior management immediately.
Ian
Taylor cited an example where a player had recently been involved in an
exchange with somebody over Twitter and had posted personal information
about that person, which was later taken down as a result
of this process.
Ian
Taylor said that since the initial meeting – social media guidelines
have now become a part of everybody's standard contract and that there
are serious implications for the players and staff in terms of
punishment if they don't adhere to them.
Ian Taylor said that as a result of these new guidelines, some of the players have actually removed their accounts.
Paul
Finney said that the official club Twitter accounts often re-tweet
messages from the players' personal accounts. Therefore there is a lack
of consistency here, particularly as the club are happy to re-tweet
positive messages, but when there are posts that they don't like, they
step away and don't want to be involved.
Ron
Norris raised that the players use of Twitter, whether it was positive
or negative, was interesting because you learn more about their
character and personality and what they're really like. He saw this
as a positive overall.
A
general discussion was had about the use of social media and how it can
impact on a player or staff, and that for many of them, it goes beyond
the club they are presently employed with and can extend to past
clubs or rivals. They are constantly under attack on these platforms
and some may not have the correct education and training to deal with
the constant scrutiny they're under.
In
general there are not too many positives for the players, albeit, it
was agreed that when players like Clint Hill, Jamie Mackie, Bradley Orr
and Shaun Derry among others were using it, you could really get
a sense and feel of the team spirit and friendships around the club.
Joey Barton later joined in, but on the flip-side, when that banter
started to die down and the team were struggling – it created a
perception where fans could read between the lines and
connect stories of a dressing room split or lack of harmony and team
spirit back to these things.
There
were discussions about young players, and some examples of players at
other clubs who had hundreds of followers, but then having made their
senior debut, suddenly saw themselves within minutes gaining
thousands and thousands of new followers and becoming known on an
international scale. The platform is powerful and needs to be handled
well.
Ian
Taylor said that the club are putting plans in place to hold workshops
and tutorials for the 16-18s and Under 21s from the summer. This will be
focused around improving their understanding of journalism
and how to use things like social media, and will be held at a college
where the club themselves will attend and deliver the training.
The workshops will be run with David Baker from the academy education programme.
Everybody agreed this was great news and a really good initiative.
Neil
Dejyothin raised that the official QPR accounts are often re-tweeting
other associated accounts, which can lead to a lot of duplication if you
happen to follow them all. He suggested that perhaps there
is another Twitter account created that's sole purpose is to do this,
so if you only want to follow one and get all the news of all the
accounts, you could.
Paul Morrissey and
Ian Taylor acknowledged the idea, but also stated that part of the
strategy for some of those accounts, such as the QPR Ladies, is to help
raise awareness about them, but they also took on
board the potential for a person to be spammed with the same
information.
Clive
Whittingham said that in comparison with other clubs, the club's use of
Twitter and social media was one of the best out there.
Steve
Sayce said that the recent improvements to the mobile version of the
website were a lot better and that the innovation and other areas the
club explore, such as Storify, Google Hangouts, and Vines were
really good.
The
general view in the room was that there was excellent and innovative
work being done across all social media and there was a great
consistency to it as well.
London Call In
Simon
Dorset asked if there was any way London Call In could be freshened up
and wanted to know who the show was primarily aimed at, such as the
die-hard supporters. He felt that there wasn't anything in the
show for him personally – and that the type of conversations had been
ones he'd ordinarily have done the pub (albeit more explicit).
Ian
Taylor said that there would be a review of the format at the end of
the season and that they would assess changes with a view to
implementing them over the summer. The London Call In will always be
compared
to the Open All Rs Podcast, which is at the other end of the scale in
terms of topics and discussion – and it's unofficial.
Paul Morrissey said
they are looking at the balance of the show and want to better utilise
their access to the players and staff, which is the main reason people
want to watch and which is their unique selling
point, and they hope to be able to deliver something a bit more
spontaneous and reactive, with a more relaxed feel. They feel the
current format has reached its natural lifecycle and has hit a ceiling.
They're happy to take on board any ideas.
Simon
Dorset raised that perhaps things like Financial Fair Play could be
discussed, as nobody understands how it works or things like treatment
news and injury news.
Paul Morrissey said
that modern day manager's like to keep their cards close to their
chests and do not want any information revealed about the state of their
players. This approach in recent years has been
reflected right across football.
Clive
Whittingham said they should focus on that wider access. It was agreed
by all in the room that the Behind The Scenes press videos were a
fantastic and fascinating addition this season and that the more
content produced like that, the better.
Neil
Dejyothin said perhaps they could focus on similar themes for players
and staff – and what it's like and what it takes to become a player or a
coach, or what's it like to be a part of a football club, whatever
the role, etc.
Ian
Taylor and Paul Morrissey said that the London Call-In was a platform
for fans to air their views and that fans from the group would be
welcome to attend on the show.
Malaysia Live Streaming
It was raised whether QPR can stream live matches anywhere outside the UK, or is this restricted to just one country?
Ian
Taylor confirmed that the agreement covers Malaysia only. The Football
League will not grant the club rights to extend this into any other
territory.
Communication around New Stadium
There
was a request for a general update on the state of play – and questions
were asked on why the club made such a big announcement before several
property, environmental and legal issues are resolved?
It
was also discussed that the 2018 completion date appears to be
ambitious and there is a question mark whether it's really deliverable
in that time, as well as whether QPR would own the stadium themselves.
It was also asked what fan consultation would be expected.
Ian Taylor stressed that the whole process is obviously complex and sensitive.
The
Club have taken on board an external property PR company called Forty
Shillings, who are helping manage the new stadium and training ground
announcements.
Forty Shillings have been involved with Arsenal's Emirate Stadium and Wembley Stadium developments.
All
of the PR and communication messages linked to the new stadium are
calculated and strategic. The initial announcement was made to create
awareness and bring a lot of stakeholders and landowners to the table
for discussions. They're making fantastic early progress on a complex,
complicated and huge undertaking project.
The London location makes the project even more complex than the likes of MK Dons and Coventry City.
Ian Taylor reminded everybody in the room that the club has never publicly put a timescale for the completion of the project.
Ian
Taylor said there communication with fans would be key to the project
and towards the end of the season a wider consultation will take place
and that there will be a number of public consultations around
the wider project and stadium when the time is right. Those are the
next steps and there will be more details in terms of infrastructure and
general updates.
The
club has already started liaising with fans with a recent transport
survey after the Wigan Athletic fixture. They are mindful that this may
be irritating but everybody in the room said they actually enjoyed
receiving those surveys.
Ian Taylor confirmed that QPR would own the stadium.
Steve
Sayce asked in what form the consultation would be in and that
questions also need to be asked about how the legacy and history of
Loftus Road is handled. Steve mentioned that fans would want
reassurances
about this, as it will break our hearts to leave what is a very special
place to a lot of us.
Ian
Taylor confirmed that various discussions are in place on how best to
pay tribute to Loftus Road and that it's very much part of their
thinking and plans.
Neil
Dejyothin said that the PR surrounding the new stadium needed to be
handled with care, and that the club have to find the right balance
about being excited to move, or talking about all the corporate extras
a new stadium could bring – because in reality – fans don't really care
about that and if they suspect the move isn't to do with football or
QPR first, they're more likely to be upset, especially if they don't
feel the new stadium represents what's special
about their club.
Clive
Whittingham asked who was responsible for overseeing the new stadium
project and a discussion was had about the difference between people at
the club who live very different lives to fans making key decisions
about what is and isn't good about a stadium.
The
owners and senior management's experience of football is very different
to the supporters, they may come to every match, but they sit in a
different environment and are from a very different world to most
fans and that we come to football for different reasons. Clive said he
would be interested to know what senior management would say their best
and worst five stadiums would be and is confident they'd be quite
different to most fans.
Ian
Taylor re-iterated that fan consultation would be key to all of this –
and that we would have the opportunity to share our views and that they
needed to be taken on board. Mark Donnelly is currently overseeing
the project for both the new stadium and training ground – along with
other influential figures within the trade.
Neil
Dejyothin said the QPR1st Supporters Trust were currently researching
and putting together information that may be useful for the club and
supporters to consider and that more details on this would be
announced soon on www.qpr1st.com.
Personnel update
Clive
Whittingham raised an issue whereby the club have announced staff
arrivals in the past, only not to mention when they've left. This has
happened on several occasions with some scouts and more recently
with Shaun Hallet, who was leading the Warren Farm project and had a
couple of videos dedicated to him on QPR Player when he first arrived.
This
obviously leads to the question of who is running the scouting and
training ground projects now? And why does the club not mention when
some staff have left?
Paul Morrissey said
that the usual policy was to announce both a person’s arrival and
departure, and it was simply a mistake that they hadn't announced when
somebody had left.
Ian
Taylor said that Mark Donnelly, who Shaun Hallet reported in to, is
running both the Warren Farm and stadium project. Ian Butterworth is
overseeing the scouting set-up following Ian Broommfield's departure.
The scouting structure beneath remains unchanged.
Neil
Dejyothin raised that he would like to see more consistency with the
departure messages, and that sometimes they were too short and cold,
that you could sense the club were frustrated with whoever was
leaving – or in some cases – it gave the illusion that something
happened when you may not have realised.
There
were others who disagreed, saying that some who left didn't deserve it,
and it puts the media team in an awkward position. The media team
generally took this point of view, albeit they acknowledged Neil's
point of view too.
Neil
Dejyothin understood those concerns, but said that standards and
ethics, and the consistency of that should be adhered to whenever
possible. There doesn't need to be a big fuss made (unless they are
worth
it), but a simple "thank you, we're disappointed it didn't work out and
good luck in the future", no matter what, just helps show our class as a
club a bit more.
Neil
Dejyothin raised the point about standards and ethics again, and that
while it didn't work out for Jose Boswingwa and that he didn't help
himself, it wasn't helpful that his personal information was revealed
in a press conference and that contributed massively to his downfall in
terms of how he was perceived by supporters. The club put itself in an
awkward position and that had long lasting effects, which were
avoidable.
Former players recognition
The
Alec Stock day was well received, as was Wayne Fereday's half-time
appearance on the pitch, and it was asked what is being done to build on
that, especially in light of some recent comments by Ian Gillard
on the Open All R's Podcast where he clearly felt there was more room
for improvement.
Ian
Taylor said the media team in particular are passionate about doing a
better job of recognising former players and staff and some of the
recent initiatives are a step towards achieving this. They were
disappointed
they didn't seem to reach the standard Ian Gillard expected, but are
determined to put this right.
Clive
Whittingham, Neil Dejyothin, Paul Finney and Steve Sayce spoke about
the expectations of some of the former players and staff, and raised
that the lack of knowledge and history about QPR at board level
may play a part in those peoples perception of treatment. It's possible
they want to be greeted and welcome by the owners and directors, but
it's not clear whether those people in the club know who these people
are well enough and what they mean.
Ian
Taylor said that going forward there will be a better focus on
particular milestones, such as birthday's or anniversary's for former
players and staff and the club will be highlighting fixtures next season
to build on that.
Paul Morrissey said
they recognise that a lot of the work done is still more reactive than
pro-active, and that some of the measures they're putting in place are
to move towards being more pro-active about
these matters.
Ian
Taylor accepts there has been a mismanagement on the clubs part in
terms of looking after its former players, staff and key figures, but
they are now constantly striving to ensure the club makes forward
strides in this area.
Ian
Taylor confirmed that Andy Sinton, Phil Parkes and Clive Wilson will
all be guests of the club between now and the end of the season and that
the Winton Family have been invited to the Nottingham Forest
game and the club will be running a programme piece about their
involvement over the years and paying tribute to the late Harold Winton.
Ian
Taylor said that the W12 area of the stadium always has a former player
as a Guest Speaker and that they hope to involve whoever that is with
other activities around the stadium on a match day in future.
Paul Morrissey said
they will be having some discussions about potentially renaming some of
the boxes to legendary players or staff, and that a Hall of Fame and
other initiatives are being discussed and proposed,
but obviously with Loftus Road being a small stadium, it may be that
some of those things can't arrive until we move to a new ground.
Ian
Taylor said they hoped to have a legend present at every home match
next season, but also stressed that some former players and staff were
not actually interested in returning – because their interest in
football was not the same since retirement.
There
was a general feeling in the room amongst those who attended, that
despite the lack of space, we ought to have an area in the stadium
dedicated to former players and staff, and that we lacked this in
comparison to a lot of clubs. It's something the club should consider
as a priority and would go a long way to accommodating those key figures
and making them feel more welcome.
Ian
Taylor said they were meeting with some other fans to discuss ideas to
help with this and were keen to take on board any ideas from all.
Colin
Henderson said that it would be worthwhile for the club to consider
doing a Q&A on the website with former players and staff, so that
younger fans could learn more about them.
It
was recognised by all in attendance that the club is making progress,
but that also that it will take time to get to the level we'd all love
it to be. The work being done now is a positive start and a good
step in the right direction.
Promoting the Youth
It was asked what more could be done to promote the Youth?
Ian
Taylor said that this area has improved significantly since the
appointment of Andy Watkins (Club Journalist) around fifteen months ago.
The club do more press and PR on the youth and other set ups than
most other clubs, including the QPR Community Trust and QPR Ladies.
The
official QPR website alone has published 81 articles since the start of
2014, which includes 55 articles on the Under 21s and 26 on the Under
18s.
There
is a comprehensive Academy Review in the match day programme, latest
match reports from both the Under 21s and Under 18s fixtures and there
are both manager and player reactions, squad stats, fixtures,
results and tables. There is also a "Getting To Know" features where we
focus on a different youth-team player each work and coverage has
expanded from one page to four pages.
They are happy to take on board any further ideas.
Clive
Whittingham said that the piece he did on the youth team that were done
as a result of these meetings on LoftForWords was one of the best
received features the site has had in the past year, and many
around the table would love to do it again. Paul Morrissey and Ian
Taylor were more than happy to arrange another one of these in the
future.
Neil
Dejyothin said that the coverage of the QPR Ladies was excellent and
they now feel like a part of the club from the outside. It's a huge
improvement.
Ron
Norris said that it would be great if they could somehow do a story on
following a player from his mid-teens up until the point he wins a
professional contract, and have an archive over a period of time
that shows what it's like to go through that process.
Steve
Sayce said that his eyes were really opened when he did the recent
Tiger Feet walk and found out about so much amazing work the Community
Trust do. He felt he'd only known about fifty percent of what
they did before, so any further promotion of their work would be
welcome.
Paul Morrissey said
that they obviously had to get the balance right and be careful about
how much news they put on the official QPR site, as obviously most
supporters are going there for news and information
about the team.
AOB
Ian
Taylor said they are waiting on confirmation of Tony Fernandes' diary
ahead of his meeting with fans in April or May. The club's Supporter
Liaison Officer, Andy Rees, will be liaising with fans in due course.
Neil
Dejyothin spoke a little bit about the meetings over the past year and
that the media team could be proud of what they've achieved in that
time. It was recognised that it was brave to meet and engage with
supporters in the way they did, and they've had a fantastic season to
date, and hopefully feel, as all of us do, that the relationship they've
had with supporters is the best it's been in years.
Football League The Football League have announced that the 2014/15 fixtures will be released on Wednesday 18th June 2014 at 9:00am.
The
season will kick-off on Saturday 9th August and will conclude on
Saturday 2nd May with the Play-Off Finals being held at Wembley Stadium
on 23rd-25th May.
The 2014/15 Christmas and New Year programme
will include matches on Saturday 20th December and Sunday 28th December,
as well as Boxing Day.
FLASHBACK 6 Years -April 3, 2008 - PR Week/Matt Cartmell - Henry's House to 'glamorise' QPR
Queens
Park Rangers Football Club has signed up celebrity specialists Henry's
House in an attempt to inject a dose of glamour into the resurgent west
London club.
New billionaire owners Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio
Briatore want to draw on the agency's experience with clients including
the Beckhams and Jenson Button.
Celebrity fans such as Naomi
Campbell have already been attending games at Loftus Road. It is hoped
that Henry's House can capitalise on this and make QPR a serious rival
to neighbour Chelsea FC in the glamour stakes.
Formula One
tycoons Ecclestone and Briatore bought the club, currently sitting in
lower mid-table in the Championship, for £14m earlier this year.
QPR
deputy MD Ali Russell said: ‘The new owners brought a lot of interest
to the club and helped to make football sexy. We're now looking at how
we can best use that.'
Henry's House will work with the club's
in-house team to develop ‘brand building, reputation-enhancing
initiatives' to start at the beginning of next season.
Last month, the club announced its biggest ever sponsorship deal, with Lotto Sport Italia, worth £20m to the club. PR
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...."Administration
FLASHBACK 6 YEARS
Six years ago:
MAIL April 2008 - QPR striker Vine breaks leg and is out for rest of season
Queens Park Rangers striker Rowan Vine will miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken leg in training. The 25-year-old requires an operation after fracturing his left leg towards the end of today's training session.
Out for season: QPR forward Rowan Vine has broken his leg in training and will miss the rest of the season
We are nothing like Chelsea, says QPR vice-chairman Bhatia as he reveals Rangers' masterplan Rangers
physio Paul Hunter said: "Rowan is understandably upset right now, but
he is already thinking about getting himself fit as soon as possible." Vine has hit seven goals for the west Londoners since joining from Birmingham in January for £1million. He
has helped the club climb from relegation trouble in the Championship,
with a top half finish possible if they finish the season strongly. www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-556008/QPR-striker-Vine-breaks-leg-rest-season.html#ixzz1qxSzoE3y
FIVE YEARS AGO: VINE INJURYQPR Official Site VINE INJURED
Rowan
Vine has been taken to Hospital after suffering what appears to be a
serious leg injury in training this morning (Thursday).
The
25-year-old striker picked up the injury towards the end of the training
session as the players were getting ready for Saturday's home match
with Preston North End.
The seriousness of it is unknown at this stage as the Club awaits further news from the Hospital. QPR Official Site VINE UPDATE
Rowan
Vine has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after
fracturing his left leg in training earlier today (Thursday).
The 25
year-old striker suffered the injury towards the end of this morning's
session, and was taken straight to Hospital, where X-Rays revealed he
had suffered a fracture.
Vine will undergo an operation this evening.
Head
Physiotherapist Paul Hunter, who is with the former Birmingham man,
said: "Rowan is understandably upset right now, but he is already
thinking about getting himself fit as soon as possible."
Everyone at Queens Park Rangers Football Club wishes Rowan a speedy recovery.QPR
Ealing Today - Warren Farm Decision - Fight Not Over
Oral hearing granted to campaigners
Campaigners have been given another chance to fight plans to build on Warren Farm. They've
been granted an Oral Hearing to determine whether there is a need for a
judicial review of Ealing Council's decision to allow QPR to build an
elite training centre and academy on the open land.
Ealing
Council say it will provide a base for the club’s training academy as
well as give local people access to high-quality community and sports
facilities.
Improvements will include enhanced football and
cricket pitches, a new artificial turf pitch and multi-use games areas
suitable for sports such as netball and tennis. There will be a new
changing facilities catering for disabled users, as well as bookable
community space in the new clubhouse.
However, campaigners have
questioned the Council’s process and decision-making around the
application for the development on 61 acres of publicly-owned land,
designated Metropolitan Open Land and community open space.
Just
under two weeks ago, the High Court rejected an application for a
Judicial Review and the judge confirmed that the council acted
appropriately and awarded QPR’s costs of £5,000 against Hanwell
Community Forum.
Undeterred, campaigners sought an oral hearing
which will take place on Tuesday 24 June at the Royal Courts of Justice
in the Strand.
Carolyn Brown, Chair of Hanwell Community Forum, the group bringing the case on behalf of the Save Warren Farm Campaign, said:
''The
Council intends to lease our land for 200 years, the equivalent of
seven generations, at no rental income; QPR will take two thirds of the
land for their own benefit, leaving the community with only a third of
the land, no adult full size pitches, and insufficient smaller pitches
to be able to run the major sports tournaments for schools and clubs
which have been held there for the last 10+ years.
“In addition
to this, the Council has disregarded national, London’s and their own
planning policies enabling the development of buildings far too high,
intrusive and poorly designed for open green space which, in theory, is
protected from commercial developments such as this. And the previously
open space, accessible to all at any time, would be enclosed within an 8
foot high opaque security fence with access to even the community areas
controlled by QPR.
''Probably most shockingly, the Council has
valued this land, all 61 acres of it, at £1.8-2.25M – the equivalent in
value to a single large house in central Ealing. Questions have to be
asked as to how this has been deemed acceptable.''
Campaigners
say anyone can support the campaign by contributing to the fund for
legal costs, and/or by signing the petition opposing this development,
by going onto the website at www.savewarrenfarm.com. Ealing Today
How QPR Will Get you to buy Season Tickets...
FC Business - Sports Alliance retained to deliver award winning PURL package at QPR
Mon 31st Mar 2014 | Marketing & PR
The
ability to deliver unique real time data options means Sports Alliance
has been retained to be at the heart of this year’s season ticket
campaign for Queens Park Rangers Football Club.
Last season,
Rangers produced record sales with an award-wining Personalised URL
(PURL) campaign which was acknowledged as the; ‘Best/Most innovative use
of technology in football’ at the annual Football Business Awards in
November. The campaign was executed by the club at just over half the
cost of previous campaigns and the approach, despite relegation from The
Premier League, resulted in an e-commerce conversion rate of over 17%
compared to a site average of just over 10%.
Sports Alliance data
management software was an integral part of a campaign which used
highly personalised and relevant messaging to the QPR database and now
the club is ready to implement the same approach.
CRM &
Digital Marketing Manager, Jon Davies said: “At QPR, we pride ourselves
on being at the sharp end of new technology options and we were
delighted with the outcome of the Sports Alliance PURL approach, so it
makes perfect sense to have them involved again.”
The Sports
Alliance PURL package offers clubs up-to-the-minute data on supporter
purchasing behaviour to maximise the relationship understanding between
supporter and club and Managing Director, Anthony Khan said: “Our
investment into real time PURLs was vindicated by QPR’s tremendously
effective and award winning campaign. Highly personalised communications
are an integral part of any modern day customer relationship but the
emotional loyalty of football fans is unique and the personalised
approach was key to the tremendous success of last year’s campaign.
“Our
ability to tailor a message that is relevant to individual supporters
within our real time PURL offering, makes the journey so much easier for
fans to navigate. It also means the supporter is more comfortable and
confident with their club’s renewal process.”
Davies added: “The
Sports Alliance approach to PURLs means the personalised webpages and
the communications messages we present, are an accurate reflection of an
individual’s commercial relationship with us at any given moment. ‘Real
time’ means we can recognise exactly what a supporter wants or
importantly, doesn’t want at any point in time. That is an incredibly
valuable addition to the process because it delivers confidence and
trust into a supporter’s lifelong and emotive association with their
club.”
Sports Alliance has also been engaged by Premier League
football club Stoke City and Premiership rugby club Saracens to provide a
PURL platform for their respective season ticket campaigns. Sports
Alliance is also involved in active partnerships with clubs across
football, rugby and cricket in the UK and Europe.
Amit Bhatia speaking.... "..."Shareholders
should not determine what a club looks like. QPR have a great history
and a great tradition and for us to maintain that is of prime
importance. "Consequently, there are no plans to change the logo, club colours or stadium name...
Mail/This
is London - April 1, 2008: We are nothing like Chelsea, says QPR
vice-chairman Bhatia as he reveals Rangers' masterplan
Amit Bhatia has outlined the Mittal family?'s masterplan to usher in a new era of success at Queens Park Rangers.
The
Rangers vice-chairman, and son-in-law of billionaire owner Lakshmi
Mittal, claimed that last week?'s �20million shirt sponsorship deal
with Lotto Sport Italia is a signal of the club?'s intent to stop at
nothing in their bid to become a Premier League powerhouse.
The key points include:
* No plans to move from Loftus Road "for now".
* The club will not "lose control?" over spending because "we are nothing like Chelsea".
* QPR will remain "quintessentially English?" and no names or badges will change.
Lakshmi will stay "as a fan rather than an owner?" otherwise "he will
not get involved unless it is necessary?". � Missing out on promotion
next season "would not be a failure?".
Bhatia is the public face
of the Mittal family's interest in QPR and is keen to allay fears among
fans that the London-born Indian businessman will change the identity of
the club and move away from their present ground.
"One of the most attractive things about this club is the stadium, so we have no desire to move from here at all,?" he said.
"If
the day came where a move was warranted - and I guess that would be
when the results were great, we get promoted and we need a 35,000-seat
stadium ?- then, yes, maybe we?'d explore it. But we don?'t need it
today.
"Shareholders should not determine what a club looks like.
QPR have a great history and a great tradition and for us to maintain
that is of prime importance.
"Consequently, there are no plans to change the logo, club colours or stadium name.
"There
is a need to ensure things are kept fundamentally English. If you look
through the roster, there are mostly English players here and we like it
that way.?"
Comparisons with Chelsea are inevitable. Mittal?'s
estimated �26billion fortune dwarfs that of their more illustrious
neighbour?'s owner and should they one day decide to move, the club
could outbid Roman Abramovich for potential sites at Chelsea &
Westminster Hospital, White City or Earls Court. Mittal, the
fourth-richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, has lavish
tendencies ?- Bhatia?'s wedding to Vanisha Mittal in June 2004 was
reported to be the most expensive in history at a cost of ?�30m ?- but
fans should not expect a similar approach to the club?'s finances.
"We
are nothing like Chelsea and we will not lose control over spending,?"
said Bhatia. ?"The expenses involved with QPR are far smaller. The
?�20m deal will go a long way to making us profitable, as would
promotion.
"My father-in-law?'s involvement on an emotional
level is already known. He is involved firstly as a fan. If and when
something warrants his involvement with the media, he will get involved
but, for now, he believes the best way to be involved is as a fan and
not an owner."
With money comes expectation, but the club's officials insist the team are not under pressure to deliver immediate results.
"We started off by setting a three-year target for promotion,"
Bhatia added. "If we didn't get promoted in three years, I don?'t think
it would be a failure. We would be disappointed, of course, but I am
sure we are going to get there.
"I don't think any of us has got
into this to be second best. We have a specific plan and we will do
anything it requires to get the club where we want them to be.?"
Workmen
are at present relaying South Africa Road leading up to Rangers?'
stadium. Given Bhatia's confident blueprint for success, fans could be
forgiven for thinking they will be paving it with gold. Mail
75 Years of Supporting QPR: John "Gramps" Clifford
- 75 Years of Supporting QPR: John "Gramps" Clifford
QPR Fan, John "Gramps" Clifford
recently marked a truly amazing Milestone: 75 Years of Supporting QPR.
From the days of QPR in the Old Division III South - to the 1948
Promotion...and 1952 relegation; the years in the wilderness; 1967 and
on...and so forth
Johnvery first game
was at Loftus Road pre-World War II: February 25, 1939. In the words of
John " QPR 1 Torquay United 1. Our goal scored by inside
right (number 8) Harry Lowe. As usual, we were 0-1 down before getting
the equaliser (nothing new there) and Alec Stock played in that game.
Attendance: 7,783."
Since then John many
hundreds - if not thousands of player- have worn the QPR shirt and more
than 40 QPR Managers and Acting Managers over this period (although just
four manager - Ted Vizard, Dave Mangall, Jack Taylor and Alec Stock for
the first almost 30 years of John's supporting days!)
