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See Bushman's "Early Years" of QPR Photos ....- QPR/St Jude Placque Commemoration
QPR Official Site - CLUB TO UNVEIL ST JUDE'S PLAQUEPosted on: Tue 28 Jun 2011
- To commemorate the 125th anniversary since St Jude's Institute and Christchurch Rangers merged to become Queens Park Rangers, the Club are set to mark this milestone by the unveiling of a plaque at St Jude's Hall - QPR's original headquarters.
- The Club are organising an event as part of the unveiling, with fun activities, raffles and prizes for local families and QPR fans.
- The event will take place on Saturday 9th July 2011 between 1.00pm and 4.00pm at: St Jude's Hall, Ilbert Street, Queen's Park, London, W10.
- The plaque unveiling will take place at approximately 2.00pm.
- Special guests from the Club's past and present day will also be in attendance.
- Please note that there will be no alcohol served at this event.
- The QPR story began in 1882 in a newly-built residential estate of West London, with the formation of two local youth teams, St Jude's Institute and Christchurch Rangers.
- St Jude's was set up for the boys of Droop Street Board School (now Queen's Park Primary) by Jack McDonald and Fred Weller, supported by the Revd. Gordon Young, whilst Christchurch Rangers was formed by George Wodehouse Snr.
- Both teams amalgamated in 1886.
- Wodehouse had played in a match between the two sides and was watched by a friend of his, who suggested that a merger between the two Clubs would be a good idea.
- Queen's Park Rangers was the name chosen for the new Club, suggested by E.D Robertson because the members were based in the Queen's Park district of West London. QPR
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- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates, comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general....Also Follow: QPR REPORT ON TWITTER
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- Five Year Flashback: "THE TRIAL" Not Guilt Verdicts
- Five Year Flashback: Gary Waddock OFFICIALLY appointed QPR Manager....Four Year Flashback, Title Winning Youth Coach, Joe Gallen, strangely axed by Manager John Gregory.
- Betting Fair/Ralph Ellis: Premier League Summer Transfers: When the board men pick the players
"Gone are the days when it was solely the Manager who decided which players his club should sign. Ralph Ellis looks at which Premier League Chairmen and Board Members like to meddle when it comes to raiding the transfer market.
We all think we know about football. We've all got an opinion. And that's fine when it's you and me discussing what to have a bet on, or what went wrong with England's Under 21s. It doesn't really do that much harm either when it's random punters ringing in to the local radio station to air their daft views, however much that might add to the pressure on the guy who's running the team.
When it really causes problems is when football club directors start thinking they can spot a player. All the more so, when they reckon they know more than their manager. Then you've got a recipe for disaster.
The trend in football for chairmen and chief executives to get involved in transfers began when they took responsibility from managers for the task of negotiating fees and contracts. What happened next, in many clubs, was that they tried to take over choosing the players to buy as well. Agents saw the signs, and cosied up to the blokes who signed the cheques.
It's ended up with the ridiculous situation that Birmingham's acting chairman put out a statement over the weekend insisting he didn't meddle in the transfer decisions of former boss Alex McLeish; and he justified the claim by giving a list of players he'd wanted to sign that McLeish wouldn't have. It struck me it actually proved the board did interfere - otherwise why were they spending time finding players in the first place?
"There's a similar row brewing, you sense, at Queen's Park Rangers. The story from Italy has leaked this morning that Italy's World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro could be recruited at Loftus Road. The stylish centre back, the most capped player in Italy's history, is available on a free after turning down a lucrative coaching role at Qatar club Al Ahli, where he's been since leaving Juventus.
Now I know that Hoops boss Neil Warnock seemed to have changed his lifetime of pragmatic football philosophy last season by finding a role for maverick Moroccan Adel Taarabt. But I somehow can't see that his idea of how to shore up a defence ready for the Premier League is to sign a 37-year-old, whose legs have gone. The man behind the move is clearly co-owner Flavio Briatore, whose passion to interfere in the running of the team caused so many problems for the ten managers and 47 players who came and went in four years of his control previously.
Ominously, in the last few weeks QPR have also been linked with 37-year-old Marco Matterazzi (who has been freed by Inter Milan) as well as Nicola Legrottaglie, who is 34 and just been let go by AC Milan.
Warnock has hitherto been adept at handling the politics of the QPR boardroom, but the higher profile of a place in the Premier League will re-open the whole can of worms. Briatore is now back in charge of football operations, backed by Bernie Ecclestone's money, since Amit Bhatia and Ishan Saksena, the men behind the recruitment of Warnock, stood aside.
QPR are 1.96 to be the top promoted team in a new Betfair market, and I'm tempted to lay that. Warnock has been telling his local papers how he's "hoping the board will clarify that I can sign" players he's been looking at. It's fair to assume that none of them are ageing Italian World Cup legends.
The toughest task for any newly promoted manager is strengthening his squad. Players are reluctant to sign up to a club that promises them little more than a struggle against relegation, and want to wait to see if they can do better.
relegation, and want to wait to see if they can do better.
Swansea, not surprisingly, are the 4.8 outsiders to be best of the new boys. The play-off winners always start at a disadvantage with less time to prepare, and that was reduced even more as Brendan Rodgers took himself off to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity and then took a holiday after Wembley was over.
Of the three that went up it seems Norwich, priced at 3.3, have best got the ball rolling so far, with James Vaughan from Everton, Welsh international striker Steve Morison from Millwall, and Brighton's promising Elliott Bennett all putting pen to paper for Paul Lambert. I'm betting that Delia Smith never said a word about any of them. Well possibly except "Let's be 'avin you". But only after Lambert told her who he wanted. Betting Fair
LES FERDINAND ON QPR
Al Jazeera/Jason Dasey - Sir Les welcomes Rangers back to the big time
Former striker Les Ferdinand recalls glory days but says things have changed as QPR prepare for Premier League return.
-The greatest goals compilations from the early days of the English Premier League are aired in high rotation on cable television, providing a window into the last time that Queens Park Rangers competed with England’s elite.
Banging them in along with the likes of Eric Cantona, Teddy Sheringham and Ian Wright is Les Ferdinand, wearing the familiar blue and white-hooped shirt of the west London club.
The shorts were shorter back then, but it's easy to recognise the ex-England international almost two decades later as a striker coach at Tottenham Hotspur, another of his former clubs.
Approaching his 45th birthday, Ferdinand still looks fit enough to put in a full shift up-front against his much younger cousins, Rio and Anton Ferdinand.
Last week's draw for the 2011/12 season gave QPR an October trip to White Hart Lane in their return to the Premier League after a 15-year absence.
Their opening fixture on August 13 is at home to Bolton Wanderers.
Paddington-born Ferdinand supported Spurs as a boy but admits to having a soft spot for QPR, where he scored 80 league goals in 163 games over eight years.
When he was sold to Newcastle United in July 1995 for a club record £6 million ($9.5 million), many fans saw it as the beginning of the end for the R's days in the Premier League.
Relegated
Indeed, just 10 months later they were relegated and would drop to England's third tier a few years later.
"It is great to see QPR back in the Premier League," Ferdinand said.
"Football today is very different because there is a lot of rotation. In my day if I scored two goals I knew I would be in the team the next weekend, but you are not guaranteed that these days even if you get goals"
Les Ferdinand, Tottenham Hotspur forwards coach
"I think everyone expected it to happen a few years ago once the money came into the club, yet it wasn't to be. But they are there now and I'm delighted for them."
The money was from QPR’s foreign owners – Formula One magnates Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone plus Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal – who promised an immediate transformation when they took control of the club in 2007, giving it an estimated value of £22 billion ($35 billion).
The return to the promised land did come, but happened only after 10 different managers and yet more boardroom shake-ups.
At the height of Ferdinand's heyday in the early 1990s, both QPR and the English game were vastly different compared to the multicultural mixing pot that saw Moroccan Adel Taarabt inspire their successful promotion campaign, and Dutch recruit Rafael Van Der Vaart emerge as Tottenham's top scorer.
Taarabt is a former Spurs player who reportedly wants to leave Loftus Road because he thinks the current squad will find the going tough in the Premier League.
Ferdinand agrees.
"Like most clubs who come up from the Championship it will be a struggle for QPR," he said.
"They need to spend, and spend wisely, and if they do that, they will give themselves the best chance.
"But Neil Warnock is a wily manager who has had a taste of the Premier League and knows what it is all about and deserves another crack."
Calibre
If QPR had a striker of Ferdinand's calibre, their chances of avoiding the yo-yo fate of so many clubs in recent seasons would be much higher.
'Sir Les' was a human battering ram with finesse whose strong right foot produced 180 league goals and prolonged his career until his 40th year.
Taarabt's goals have fired QPR into the English Premier League [GALLO/GETTY]
In the mid to late '90s, he formed a formidable partnership with Jurgen Klinsmann at Tottenham, and alongside Alan Shearer at Newcastle, where he had a phenomenal scoring rate of 50 goals in just 84 matches.
But it was in the scruffy London suburb of Shepherds Bush where he first made his reputation.
Ferdinand had been loaned out to third division Brentford, and Besitkas in Turkey, before he established himself in the first team in the 1990-91 season.
Two years later as the Premier League was launched, Ferdinand's 20 goals in 37 matches saw QPR finish fifth in the table as Manchester United took the inaugural title.
"My best memory would be from that year where we finished as the top London team," he said.
"We were at a small club that was never going to win the league, but what we tried to do every year was finish as high up as we possibly could.
"You had Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea – the three big clubs – and West Ham, who were a good little side then, and we finished top of the bunch."
Like West Ham, QPR were known to play an attractive style and certainly produced some eye-pleasing performances as they were cruised to the second division Championship title last season.
But manager Warnock will be careful not to follow the fate of former QPR boss Ian Holloway.
He was praised for Blackpool's entertaining passing game, yet couldn’t stop the Seasiders slipping straight back into the second division last month.
Ferdinand recalls that QPR's reputation as an attractive team was built during his days growing up in London.
"I always remember when I played there and a lot of people said it in the 70s as well, that if their favourite team was away from home they would go and watch QPR play instead," he said.
"It was always a good little footballing club, similar to West Ham, who grew up on that same tradition. The quality of that side meant that most of our players were comfortable on the ball."
Like the QPR of old, his current club Tottenham have earned critical acclaim without having the consistency to back up the hype.
They dazzled on the European Champions League stage last season, yet a fifth place EPL finish means they’ll be missing in 2011/12.
And Ferdinand admits that the lack of production from Spurs' strikers cost them dearly.
"Football today is very different because there is a lot of rotation," he said.
"Jermain Defoe scored two goals against Wolves then, for the next game he was on the bench.
"In my day if I scored two goals I knew I would be in the team the next weekend, but you are not guaranteed that these days even if you get goals."
With no Champions League qualifying distractions, Tottenham open the season at home to Everton.
But Ferdinand admits he'll have more than a curious eye a dozen miles across town to Loftus Road as QPR make their long overdue return.
Jason Dasey (www.jasondasey.com) is an Asia-based international sports broadcaster and host/executive producer of Kopi-O, a new football chat show for Singapore. Al Jazeera
The Club and the Official Supporters Club
Three weeks after the meeting between a Club official and the Official Supporters Club (OSC), the "Minutes" of the meeting was posted on the QPR Official Site's OSC Site. The Minutes evoked further, mostly rather caustic, comments on the various QPR fan boards (including QPR Report).
One fan, Terry Brown who was in earlier repeated contact with the club and the Official Supporters Club in trying to obtain further information re the OSC-Club meeting and the makeup of the OSC, wrote the following, which was sent to various official at the Club and the OSC:
The Letter
After reading the minutes of the meeting between QPR & the OSC on 3/6/11 I would like to make the following comments & raise some questions.
Firstly, I would like to thank the OSC committee for requesting a meeting with the club & asking some pertinent questions. However, the responses in the minutes would suggest that the club did not take the meeting as seriously as the OSC or Rangers supporters. Would have preferred.
Therefore, please can the club or the OSC answer the following questions:-
1) For a meeting of such importance why were the club only represented by the Marketing dept. & not senior management/decision makers?
2) Why could the board have not agreed a two tier ST price system prior to the result of the FA enquiry – one set of prices for the Premier & one set for the Championship? These could then have been issued directly after the Leeds match.
3) Stating that the increases were a board decision is an irrelevance. We all knew that! Why is there no explanation for the board’s rationale?
4) Why is there no “Early Bird” discount for renewals?
5) Other London based clubs have vastly superior facilities. Have any of the board or marketing dept. ever looked at Loftus Road or Ellerslie Road ? Have any of you ever tried to sit in those areas during a match?
6) You imply, by omission that the prices for Gold is not competitive. How do the club intend to compensate Gold ST holders? (I must declare an interest here as a Gold ST holder).
7) Why were the minutes from the meeting only issued two days before the closing date for renewal, when this was the purpose of the meeting?
8) What is there in the minutes that required 3 weeks to be approved by the club senior management? Surely the only approval & accuracy could be given by the attendees?
9) By stating that the club will only talk to the OSC, do the club realise that they have caused the backlash for the OSC committee from members & supporters groups?
I look forward to your reply & would ask that the answers are made public to the supporters of Queens Park Rangers FC.
Terry Brown - QPR Report
QPR Official Site - Minutes from meeting between OSC Committee and QPR 03/06/11
Attendees:
QPR:
Joe Kyle
Daniel Laryea
OSC Committee:
Karen Hampshire (Chair)
Ian Stenning (Vice Chair and Trust Liaison)
Brian Ahearne (Treasurer)
Linda Favell (Secretary and Assistant Treasurer)
Rebecca Favell (Assistant Secretary)
Brian Paterson
Zach Hampshire
OSC stated that they had called this meeting because they wanted to try and give
some answers to the fans about Season Ticket prices and other areas of concern.
OSC indicated that they had been subject to a backlash from some of the other
supporters groups because they were not publicly seen to be meeting with the club.
OSC expressed the view that they, and in their belief a number of fans, were feeling let down by the handling of the Season Ticket campaign. They raised the following points:
- The prices were extremely high.
- The club has held out as long as possible before releasing prices in order to see how
much more they could charge.
- They were concerned that the prices would drive away the core support that had
been coming to the club for years.
- There was no loyalty shown to the long term supporters.
- The proposed timeframe was too short for many fans to pay.
The club responded that there had been no possibility of releasing prices any earlier until the outcome of the FA enquiry had been resolved, which wasn’t until the end of the season.
The club pointed out that the prices reflected the fact that the fans would be
watching a higher class of football at Loftus Road next season and that the prices
remain competitive with other London based clubs. They also stated that the ticket
prices were a board decision, as has always been the case.
The club then provided a brief summary of the ‘per match’ price breakdown of
Season Tickets and indicated that the pricing was still competitive in many areas,
particularly around Bronze and Silver level. The Platinum level only constitutes
approximately 2% of the entire stadium Capacity so needs to be placed in context.
Age Groups Bronze Silver Gold Platinum
Kids U8 £2.58 £5.21 - -
Junior U16 £7.84 £10.47 £13.11 £28.89
Young Adult 16-21 £16.79 £21.00 £26.26 £36.79
Adult £28.89 £34.16 £39.95 £52.58
Disabled £16.79 £21.00 £26.26 -
Senior Over 60 £16.79 £21.00 £26.26 £36.79
Family Area (Renewals Only)
2 adults & 2 U16s - £73.63 - -
1 adult & 2 U16s - £47.32 - -
1 adult & 1 U16 - £42.05 - -
1 adult & 1 U21 - £52.58 - -
OSC raised concerns about the quality of stadium facilities. The club made it known
that they always strive to improve the match day experience for the fans.
Unfortunately due to the constraints of Loftus Road stadium, major improvements
are not possible.
OSC expressed the view that the ‘Stars Come Out’ campaign was misguided and
receiving a lot of negative comments on the message boards. They were unhappy
with the focus on other teams' players as a draw to attract fans to Loftus Road.
The club said that the ‘Stars Come Out’ campaign was not questioning the loyalty of
the fans but rather promoting the higher standard of football that will be played at
Loftus Road next season. The views on the message board were taken out of context
because they had only seen that part of the campaign separately from the rest of the
season ticket brochure which tracked the club's fantastic achievements throughout
the season.
OSC stated that they were receiving a fairly high volume of negative comments from
other groups, suggesting that they were not doing anything proactive to help the
fans. They expressed their enthusiasm to have as much of an active role as possible.
The club said that the relationship with the OSC is very important and that they were keen to work alongside each other more regularly and make people more aware of
the OSC’s contribution. They felt that the OSC can make a real difference addressing
supporter issues such as catering, facilities, coach travel, away details to name but a few.
The club acknowledged that they need to make people aware of their regular
meetings with the OSC on behalf of the fans. As such they proposed that a structure
of regular meetings is put in place where the OSC and the club will meet monthly.
Each meeting will be promoted on the website and on Facebook a week in advance
and all fans will be encouraged to share any concerns with the OSC so that they may
be discussed at the next meeting. The meeting minutes would then also be published
on the club website following each meeting. QPR
Also Posted (as previously "reported" on QPR Report last Friday: The membership of the OSC has been "disclosed"
QPR Official Site - OSC COMMITTEE DIRECTORY
Posted on: Mon 27 Jun 2011
Karen Hampshire - Chair
Ian Stenning - Vice Chair and Trust Liaison
Brian Ahearne - Treasurer
Linda Favell - Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
Rebecca Favell - Assistant Secretary
Other members ...
Brian Paterson
Simon Paterson
Zach Hampshire
QPR
- Update re The QPR Official Supporters Club (OSC): The Committee Membership...Club/OSC Meeting Minutes Released Today (Monday)...The OSC Constitution - [Note: Not everyone appreciated such questions being asked!]
- QPR Fan Groups Speaking Out in Protest
- QPR's Last Fan Forum: More than One Thousand, Five Hundred Days (1,500) Days Ago. Flashback to that last forum.
- [Note: Not everyone appreciated such questions being asked!]
- QPR Fan Groups Speaking Out in Protest
- Swansea Faced and Now Seem Set to Escape Transfer Ban
- Five Year Flashback: QPR Manager Gary Waddock Optimistic...>Four Years ago Coaches Neil and Skinner join John Gregory at QPR
- Four Year Flashback: Danny Nardiello Joins QPR on a Free
- Dave Clement's Son Axed by Chelsea
- "Who Knew?!" - Jamie Mackie Played in Wimbledon's Last League Game before became MK Dons
- Two-Year old Article: Which Clubs do Fans of Premiership Clubs Most Hate
- Tavistock AFC vs QPR, July 18...A Tavistock Invite/Appeal...Order Tickets
- Article re Transfer Gossip/Rumours on Social Media
- Article: The Power of Football Agents
- Strange Comments from Hearts
Leicester Mercury - Leicester City's bid for Craig Mackail-Smith accepted by Peterborough
Monday, June 27, 2011
Leicester City have had a bid accepted for Peterborough United striker Craig Mackail-Smith.
City have emerged as the front-runners to land the 27-year-old after he turned down moves to Premier League new boys Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City.
West Ham are also in negotiations for the prolific forward but Posh have yet to accept an offer from the Hammers for him.
Posh director of football Barry Fry confirmed Mackail-Smith was now in talks with City.
"We have accepted a bid from Leicester," said Fry.
"Their manager Sven-Goran-Eriksson is out of the country at the moment, but was due to speak to Craig over the weekend.
- "I have had several conversations with West Ham, but we have turned down their bid. I am certain they will be back.
- "Craig is facing a tough decision. He turned down Norwich and he has now turned down QPR." Leicester Mercury
- Watford Assessment of QPR's Bid for Danny Graham
From the great Watford Fan Blog BHaPPy / from last month
Current Premiership Relegation Odds
- General Advice: How to Choose a Password
- Ex-QPRs: Where Are They Now?
