Three Years Ago Today: The Pre-Paladini Era Drew to a Close

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On this day three years ago, June 18, 2004 QPR CEO David Davies announced his departure. A few days later, QPR's Chairman, Nick Blackburn resigned. With the departure of Davies, Blackburn and Ross Jones (Chairman of the PLC), the new people in charge of QPR became Bill Power who became QPR Chairman, Kevin McGrath who became QPR PLC Chairman; and Gianni Paladini (whose wife officially became a Director).
Below BBC report + analyses from that period from "Boardroom Blues" and Ron Norris at the old QPR Rivals

June 18, 2004 BBC -Davies leaving Loftus Road
Queens Park Rangers chief executive David Davies is leaving the club.
The departure of Davies, who has been at QPR for four years, was confirmed after a series of board meetings.
"Whilst I am naturally sad to be leaving, I'd like to place on record my best wishes to the players and the supporters for the future," he said.
QPR Holdings chairman Ross Jones said: "He has worked his socks off for the company and I am personally very grateful for all he has done." BBC

BBC - June 24, 2004 QPR chief stands down
Nick Blackburn has resigned as Queens Park Rangers chairman.
His future has been in doubt since the recent resignation of chief executive David Davies.
Blackburn was former Rangers owner Chris Wright's deputy before taking over as chairman when Wright quit the club in 2001.
Davies, Blackburn and company chairman Ross Jones are leaving as part of a shake-up at Loftus Road following disagreements at board level.
Blackburn told the club's website: "I will always be proud that I was chairman of the football club when it achieved promotion.

"And I particularly enjoyed my close personal and professional relationship with manager Ian Holloway."

Blackburn was effectively at the helm through all of the club's worst times and, while we don't doubt his professed commitment to QPR, we will not miss him
QPR director Bill Power will replace Blackburn, with fellow director Kevin McGrath appointed acting plc chairman.
Justin Pieris of the QPR supporters' trust, QPR 1st, welcomed news of Blackburn's departure.
Blackburn angered fans by considering a merger with Wimbledon and was also associated with the club's slide into administration.
Pieris said: "Nick Blackburn was our last link with the years of waste that followed QPR's relegation from the Premiership.
"As Chris Wright's deputy, he was effectively at the helm through all of the club's worst times and, while we don't doubt his professed commitment to QPR, we will not miss him.
"His attempt to broker the merger of Wimbledon FC and Rangers was probably the single act that cost him most trust amongst supporters.
"He never regained that trust, deservedly so." BBC

BOARDROOM BLUES - June 21 2004 - END OF WRIGHT ERA APPROACHES
Monday 21 June 2004

Chief executive David Davies is to leave Loftus Road "by mutual agreement" next month, and it is reported that directors Ross Jones and Nick Blackburn will soon follow. With their departure the QPR boardroom will finally be rid of Chris Wright's appointees.

The exact reasons for Davies' exit are not yet clear, although QPR's official website refers to a "restructuring" at the club. This is likely to mean that there are plans afoot to convert the plc into a private company and / or that cost-cutting measures off the pitch are underway (even with loan repayments to the ABC Corporation running at £1m a year many QPR supporters are baffled as to how the club, with vastly improved merchandise sales and record attendances, can still be losing money hand over fist).

During Davies' four years at Loftus Road numerous potential investors have come and gone, and Davies is on record as describing most of them as "men of straw" with two exceptions, both of whom he courted vigorously on behalf of the club. The first was Australian David Thorne, and Davies described it as a "hammer blow" when Thorne withdrew his offer to invest. The second was Milwaukee Wave owner Tim Krause: after 18 months of prevarication QPR have given Krause a deadline of today and there is still no sign whatsoever of his investment materialising.

Davies assumed more responsibility than most chief executives of league football clubs and was often left to deal with crises alone when you would have expected chairmen or directors to step in and take over or at least provide help. Consequently he leaves big footprints, and it will be interesting to see who fills them over the coming months.

Boardroom Blues believes that behind the scenes Gianni Paladini has been trying to restructure the club since April when he bought 22% of the plc shares and installed his representative, accountant Mohammed Azeem Malik, on the board of directors. It seems probable that Paladini has now persuaded directors Kevin McGrath and Bill Power to line up with him and outvote the old guard. Boardroom Blues


QPR Rivals - June 19, 2004 DD's D-Day By Ron Norris
It was announced today that Chief Executive David Davies will leave Loftus Road next month sparking rumours of a possible imminent investment at QPR.
David Davies To Leave QPR
Davies joined QPR four years ago and leaves the club by mutual consent. He will stay until July at which point you would expect him to be handing over to someone, who that might be remains a mystery.

DD's departure has been met with mixed reactions; there is no doubt that he has done some good for the club. He is clearly a good face for QPR. He is eloquent, media friendly and comes across as an approachable man.

His impeccable handling of the recent situation with Ian Wright showed just how astute he can be, however he came in for much criticism just before Christmas when his ill timed comments to a local paper about the clubs financial position created wide spread panic.

Davies moved the club into, through and out of administration, taking out the highly controversial loan with ABC in the process; something he still maintains was unavoidable despite many protestations to the contrary. He leaves the club promoted with record season ticket sales and heading in the right direction.

He was involved in the decision to bring Ian Holloway to the club, which has undoubtedly been our best managerial appointment of recent years, however it was one the board lucked into having been turned down by all their principal choices.

His reputation took a major battering the day he decided to take three Rangers fans to court after a leaked boardroom memo was placed on a QPR website.

In a recent interview with QPRnet.com Davies defended this decision by saying "We've come too far to have people treat QPR like it's an amateur club. It's a professional club, it's got good people in it and I'm dammed if I'm going to have people treat it like no name United playing in an amateur league".

It was a move that left a sour taste in the mouth of many and one that could forever tarnish his legacy at Loftus Road. QPR Rivals


Also see QPR Net Interview with then CEO, David Davies