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- Dennis Signy - A man with long-standing and deep ties to Queens Park Rangers, is in Intensive Care
- Flashback: 13 Years Ago - Ray Harford Appointed QPR Manager
- Birthday for Mark Lazarus
- Birthday for Ex-QPR Player, Captain, Coach, Assistant Manager and Manager, Frank Sibley...Update: Twenty-Six years ago today: Replaced Alan Mullery as Acting Manager
- Two Year Flashack: Lee Cook Reported to have re-signed for QPR
- Two New Books About Bernie Ecclestone
- Fifty Years Ago this week: QPR's all-time Record Win
Independent/Laura Chesters
QPR mulls move to TV Centre as BBC plots sale to developer
Auntie's redevelopment could house 35,000 capacity stadium – plus offices, shops and homes
North-west London football club Queens Park Rangers is drawing up plans to move to a new, purpose-built, larger stadium on the BBC's Television Centre site in West London.
The QPR board is discussing various options for the future of the club, which is currently based nearby in Loftus Road, and is planning a move within three to five years.
The plans are at an early stage but QPR has held informal discussions with its local council, Hammersmith and Fulham, which supports a move within the borough to the BBC site.
The move would be just half a mile and will not prove controversial with fans, unlike other potential football relocations such as West Ham's possible switch from Upton Park to the Olympic stadium after 2012.
Both the ambition and financial ability of QPR to plan a new stadium is clear. It has been topping the Championship table; Neil Warnock's team remain the only side in the Championship not to have lost a game this season. If the club was promoted to the Premiership this year, its desire for a new stadium could step up a gear.
The club is part-owned by the billionaire Mittal family and racing driver entrepreneurs Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. Briatore and Ecclestone are widely reported to be selling their stakes; Vijay Mallya, the United Breweries tycoon and Kingfisher beer owner, has been in the frame, but a deal has not yet materialised.
Loftus Road, which has been QPR's home for more than 90 years, holds 18,000 fans, and a new stadium would be planned with a 35,000 capacity.
The 15-acre TV Centre site was put up for sale by the BBC through property agent Lambert Smith Hampton last week. The BBC is structuring the sale as a joint venture. A developer would be selected to build a scheme that could include up to a million square feet of offices, shops and leisure. As a joint venture partner, the BBC would get a share in any future profits.
The council, which has already drawn up a long-term masterplan for the area, said: "It is hoped that the BBC building and the wider area will attract new media and arts companies – forming a new cultural quarter called Creative London. In addition, thousands of new homes will be built." Independent
QPR-INDIAN YOUTH II & BHATIA AND SAKSENA?
[The only "caveat:" - To ensure this is not just last year's story!]
Times of India -No problem with I-League, says AIFF president Praful PatelPTI, Dec 4, 2010
MUMBAI: All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel on Saturday said there was no problem with the country's premier football competition - I-League - and added that it was being "strengthened" with a new format.
"There is no problem with the I-league. It is being strengthened. The process of having a new arrangement is underway at the AIFF," he told reporters on the sidelines of a sports event here.
"I can assure you that the AIFF's endeavour, in association with the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA, is to strengthen the I-League. The I-league, in fact, is being looked upon very appreciatively by the AFC and FIFA. Within a few weeks, things will fall in place," he added.
Earlier, Patel inaugurated the second annual South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenge, an initiative by Congress MP Milind Deora, at the Cooperage Football Ground here.
The championship, which aims at promoting soccer among the youth in the city, would serve as a 'Talent Hunt' as 30 talented youngsters will be shortlisted for a coaching clinic that is being conducted by the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) coaching teams who are in the city[/b].
From this training camp, two youngsters shall be selected for a six-weeks training programme at the Queens Park Rangers Youth Development Centre in London.
Also present at the inauguration were actor John Abraham, and Queens Park Rangers' chairman, Ishan Saksena, and vice chairman, Amit Bhatia. - Times of India
See Also: "Two Indian Youths to Get a Chance to Attend a Six-Week Training Camp at QPR
UPDATE: - 2nd South Mumbai Junior Soccer ChallengeSportskeeda - By Arunava Chaudhuri · December 5, 2010 ·
The talk about an English club in Indian hands is about Blackburn Rovers and their new owners Venky’s, but meanwhile Queen’s Park Rangers FC, who have Indian co-owners in the Mittal family, are continuing in their quest to help Indian talent as two kids from Mumbai to get a chance to attend a six-week training camp at the London based club. This year two Mumbai kids had been to the QPR Academy to traing within their set-up.
The second edition of the South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenge was yesterday inaugurated by the chief guest Praful Patel, the AIFF president. Also present at the inauguration were football loving Bollywood star John Abraham along with South Mumbai MP Milind Deora plus QPR chairman Ishan Saksena and the clubs vice-chairman Amit Bhatia.
The soccer challenge has the same format as last year in which south Mumbai schools face each other in a 5-A-Side format. The tournament is for boys and girls in the age groups of 8 to 11 years and 11 to 14 years. The tournament will be played at the Cooperage Ground over this weekend and on December 11. In total over 2,500 children will be taking part from across 300 schools.
The tournament is serving as a ‘talent hunt’ and coaches from the QPR Academy will pick 30 kids for a coaching clinic in Mumbai and from this clinic the two best players will be chosen for a six week training program at the Queens Park Rangers Youth Development Centre in London.
South Mumbai MP Milind Deora said, “We have a rich source of intelligent and vibrant youth. To keep this source sturdy, ‘Sports’ is an effective medium. It ensures a healthy lifestyle and fitness amongst these future citizens. With this initiative I hope to make Mumbai the capital of ‘sports’ in India. This championship will provide a uniform platform to potential sports stars of tomorrow across all social and civic strata in the city. I wish to encourage youngsters to adopt football so that we can place India on the sports global map. Hopefully in the FIFA World Cup 2018 there will be a strong team from India participating.”
Deora added, “It indeed is great to see this initiative receive such amazing response from students across all backgrounds. Last year we had 200 schools participating and this year the number has increased by 30%. This year the participation from the girls has also increased. Hope every year the number of students keeps rising.”
A really good initiative by Milind Deora with support from QPR, who as an English Championship club are involved in trying to develop talent in India, more then what some of the EPL biggies are doing in India… Report
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