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FIFTY-THREE years ago today, September 17, 1960: Mark Lazarus made
his QPR Debut (for the first time) Had just signed from Orient
QPR versus Colchester...QPR won 1-0 Lazarus scoring the winner Crowd of 5,750 saw the game.
The team under Alec Stock
(Mike Keen was out for a couple of months)
Drinkwater
Ingham Rutter Angell Woods
Clark Whitford Carey Lazarus
Bedford Andrews
- Mark Lazarus Singing: "QPR"
Thursday, June 28, 2012
QPR's 1967 Hero and Legend Mark Lazarus
Interviewed Speaks About QPR, QPR Legends and Football in General
Yesterday and Today - By John "Gramps" Clifford
-
Chatting with Mark Lazarus – 27th June 2012
By John Clifford "Gramps"
John "Gramps" Clifford is the author of "Queen's Park Rangers: The Old
Days (1939-1970)" which can be purchased at qprtheolddays.com or via
Amazon.com
Rodney Marsh v Stan Bowles
Rodney played the
game like a lot of the people they are talking about now but Rodney used
to score a lot of goals and he also scored a lot of goals off his own
back. He would get the ball down in the middle of a crowded defence
and he would wiggle his way through and score a goal. Players today
can’t do that – Stan Bowles could never do that. Let’s face it, Stan
Bowles was a bloody good player but as a pure footballer you’d have
Rodney in your side every day in preference to Stan Bowles. Rodney
could win a game on his own but Stan was a player who, on his day, would
bring the ball down and set other people up but with Rodney, well he
didn’t need anybody else. In my opinion Rodney was far away ahead of
Stan. I agree that people may have other opinions but, after all, what
is football – it’s all about opinions at the end of the day.
I
would have struggled in today’s game because I didn’t work enough
backwards. A lot of the players in my day would struggle today because
they were not athletic enough; today you’ve got to be an athlete
because it is a much faster game. Today the players can tackle but
they can’t hold the ball as we could. I wouldn’t mind betting that
today twenty out of every hundred passes go forwards and eighty go
backwards. There’s more backward play today than there has ever been
in the game. People get the ball up front, they seldom go past anybody
and if they do go down the line they stop and pass it backwards and it
finishes up with the right back or centre half. We are attacking in
their penalty area and the ball finishes up with our goalkeeper without
the opposition touching the ball.
Football today is very good
‘touch football’ – excellent – but in our day we had more players with
great individual skills. They would get the ball and people like Jimmy
Greaves, Johnny Haynes – well, Rooney couldn’t lace their boots up.
Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney were brilliant but not players who
tackled a man. You just gave them the ball and let them get on with it
and it was the same with Rodney; you could give me the ball and let
me get on with it! I was never looking to pass the ball back to my
full back. There was that spot in the opposition area that was eight
yards wide and eight feet high and had a net on it; my aim was to get
the ball in there or at least somewhere near there; I certainly didn’t
want our goalkeeper to end up getting it. I wanted to get the ball and
go forward.
My opinion of Rooney is that he is an average to
good player. He is definitely not world class and despite what some
may think he is not the greatest footballer we have ever turned out.
We
were given a lesson in football in 1953 and 1954 by Hungary. We
thought we were the best in the world, we introduced the game to the
world, then Hungary came over and played the sort of football we had
never seen before. I took the day off school to watch that game. In
my opinion we didn’t learn from it. We haven’t got the individual
players now: Finney, Shackleton, Lawton, Matthews, Mortensen. We
don’t have them today but we have different types of players – athletes –
but I can’t call them great. The goalkeeper might be the best
goalkeeper around but he couldn’t compare with the goalies we had in the
past. We were the best in the world for goalkeepers – Banks, Swift,
Parkes, Seaman, Shilton, Rangers’ own Reg Allen, Ted Ditchburn, Sam
Bartram, Ron and Peter Springett – in my view Ron Springett was one of
the best goalkeepers I ever played with and against. I will always
remember Gil Merrick who played for England. His sense of positioning
was brilliant and I have seen him go out at the beginning of a game in
clean kit and come off the pitch just as clean. His positioning and
keeping was so good that he seldom had to dive for the ball. He took
every shot cleanly.
If you had to pick a world team I can’t see
that any England players would get in – we just don’t have the skills
that other countries have. I feel that our true world class players
over the years have been Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Jimmy Greaves but I
can’t think of too many more, even in the World Cup winning side.
George Best and Denis Law might have got in there.
Questions from QPR Report members:
1 What made Mark choose football over boxing and what was your weekly wage at QPR in the 66-67 season?
Mark:
Well, I didn’t choose football – football chose me rather than boxing.
I was doing the two things at the same time. When I signed pro
forms for Leyton Orient in 1957 they stopped me boxing as an amateur and
I was not allowed to sign as a pro in the two sports. So, as I have
said, football chose me. Had Orient not signed me then I would most
probably have carried on boxing as I wasn’t that keen on football. I
was a mad footballer as a kid and I got a lot of recognition as a
schoolboy but boxing was my real love.
As far as the second part
of the question goes, it is difficult to remember but I’ll try to get my
facts right. As I recall, we were all on £30 - £35 a week. You have
to remember that we were a Third Division side at that time and I knew
players at Fulham who were on less wages than that. In those days this
was quite a good deal. Remember that in those days we didn’t have
agents so players had to negotiate their own contracts. When I signed
for Rangers from Brentford I negotiated £35 a week plus bonuses so with a
good result I could get £60 in a week which was really good money in
those days. When I moved on to Crystal Palace I negotiated £60 a week
basic plus bonuses and a signing on fee. Generally, though, players’
pay was about £35 a week.
At this point I asked Mark if he knew
that he held an all time football record as the only player to be signed
three times by the same club. He admitted that he didn’t know this
but then pointed out that he held another record in that he is the only
player to have played for three teams (1967 to 1970) who were promoted
in four successive seasons. 1966/7, promotion with QPR; 1967/8,
promotion again with QPR; 1968/9, promotion with Crystal Palace;
1969/70, promotion with Leyton Orient. He said the word was going
round that if you wanted to get promotion then you signed Mark Lazarus.
2 Apart from those he has played with, which other players, past or present, would he have liked to play with?
Mark:
That is a very hard question to answer. I once played a friendly
match with George Eastham and of all the players I have played with over
the years George gave me the ball more than anybody else. In the
formations of the old days, if you were a winger or inside forward on
the same side of the field you had to know and understand each other
very well. George “had my number” and seemed to instinctively know
where I was at any one time. I have never played with him since but I
guess, based on that one game, he would be the one with whom I would be
happy to strike up a long-term partnership.
I played with Jimmy
Greaves as a schoolboy and he is a good friend but we never played
together professionally and I don’t know how we would have got on
together. I also enjoyed playing with Jimmy Bloomfield. I have
played with some great inside forwards but it is always difficult to
answer a question like this if you have not actually been on the field
with a player. In saying this, I think that Paul Scholes is somebody I
would have enjoyed playing with; he is a bit more ‘old school’ in his
style of play. Now I think about it, Johnny Haynes would also have
been a good player to work with.
3 How does it feel to still be a Rangers legend after over 40 years?
Mark
(slightly embarrassed laughter): Well, it really is an honour . I
wouldn’t know how many legends there are at QPR but I don’t want to
appear too immodest when I say that I think Rodney and myself are two
who can claim that sort of title. What you have to remember is that
Rodney and I did a lot of the hard work to get QPR out of the Third
Division. When I first joined the club in 1960 we often played in
front of crowds of only three or four thousand and by the time I finally
left, our successes had dramatically increased this.
When I was
sold to Wolves for £27,500 this was a record fee. I didn’t want to go
and Alec Stock didn’t want to sell me but the club was in financial
difficulty and I was mainly sold to help keep their head above water.
This was something that Alec Stock was good at and he kept clubs afloat
by his financial dealing. I believe that by going to Wolves I saved
QPR at that time.
Rangers have had some really class players in
people like Les Ferdinand, Terry Venables, John Hollins. It is
difficult, in my view, to classify these players as ‘legends’ because in
effect they jumped on the successful bandwagon. Of course the club
had to strengthen their squad to cope with a higher division but these
players had done nothing to create that bandwagon in the first place and
it is easy to forget those who were with the club in the thin times.
This is exactly what the club has to do, and is doing, this year to
strengthen their squad which will also herald the departure of one or
two who have worked loyally and been through the hard graft of getting
them into the Premier League.
Probably others who could claim
legendary status would be Mike Keen, Tony Ingham, Dave Clement, Ian
Gillard. I am not decrying the club and supporters when they talk of
legends, and don’t deny that there were great players along with many
others, but sometimes the title is given too easily. Gerry Francis is a
true legend. He started with the club as an apprentice, gave loyal
service for more than ten years, was a first class player and captained
England. What could get better than that? There are others from
before my time who could probably also claim that title: Reg Allen,
George Goddard and others but very few supporters from those days are
around now so they tend to be forgotten. A legend has to be an old
player. I don’t believe you can be a legend while you are still
playing the game. I know and have a lot of respect for Les Ferdinand.
A good player who has helped his clubs by scoring a lot of goals but I
would have difficulty in classifying him as legendary on that basis
alone.
At this point I would like to say how much I loved QPR.
I never once wanted to leave them. I was forced to leave for the
club’s financial reasons but they were always the only club for me.
The fans there were absolutely brilliant and I loved every one of them –
they were my non-playing mates.
4 How do you rate the managers from your time to the managers of today?
Mark:
I really don’t think I can answer that question. I haven’t played
football for over 40 years. A few of today’s managers I have played
against and played with but it is very difficult to generalise about
people you have not played for. I think you have to judge managers
today on their ability to buy and sell players. Years ago you based
your managers more on success for the club. I have played under Alec
Stock, Malcolm McDonald, Tommy Kavanagh, Jimmy Bloomfield, Bert Head,
Stan Cullis, George Petchey. Undoubtedly the top of that list was
Alec Stock and next would be Bert Head. Very similar but, in stature,
Alec would leave Bert behind. Bert was a real, quiet spoken west
country man – a great motivator; a very, very nice man who always knew
what was going on in his club. Alec Stock, on the other hand was a
diplomat, very smartly dressed. You couldn’t mistake Alec for what he
was – he was the Guv’nor, whereas Bert was a bit scruffy and very laid
back.
Alec was a disciplinarian. Many a time when he was not
happy with me he literally cuffed me round the face or gave me a kick up
the arse. He wouldn’t stand for any nonsense but the very next day he
would come up and put his arm round you. Not only was Alec a leader
and motivator of men, he was also a problem solver. He would recognise
signs if anybody appeared to be worried and ask a player if everything
was alright at home. He was a very caring man and if any of his
players had a problem he would go out of his way to help them in any way
he could. Alec had a lovely family. I was devastated when he died .
I admit without shame that I wept at his funeral and kissed his
coffin. I had great respect for him.
Another man I had great
respect for was “Gentleman Jim” Langley and I was deeply saddened by his
death. A nice guy, really solid, tough, full back even though he was
only about five feet eight. He was similar to Tony Ingham. They were
both players who were real gentlemen and would not kick an opponent
except by accident. There are gentlemen in football or, at least,
there were gentlemen in the game in those days but not so much now.
There were also a lot of ****holes!
Back to the managers,
however. It seems that the only measure of a good manager today is the
buying and selling of players and success. The latter comes from the
skill of doing the former. It’s a lot to do with the coaching side of
it. Years ago you didn’t see a manager on the football pitch. It was
all about the coaches and most clubs had two or three coaches who were
all experienced footballers. Alec Stock could not discuss tactics to
save his life, even though he was a former footballer. He just came
nowhere near the pitch during training sessions. He was, like others
of that time, strictly an administrator.
5 Did you ever consider becoming a manager or coach?
Mark:
No. Definitely not. I was offered a post as coach at Colchester by
Dick Graham when I retired from active playing but I was not
interested. Not my thing. I had seventeen years of football and I
had a business. When I stopped playing I had really had enough. When
I was playing the game I was not the best one for training and I don’t
feel it would have been right for me or I would have been suited to
strutting around telling others about the importance of training. I
had a fair idea of how to coach but I just wasn’t interested.
6 What is your recollection of the game when you lost your shorts but carried on playing?
Mark
(Laughter): There are a few games that stand out in your memory bank
and there was lot that was spoken about and written about that incident.
It was against Carlisle in the fifth round of the League Cup and I
split my shorts. My shirt was covering my embarrassment and I had to
take my torn shorts off by the dugout. I threw my shorts to Alec
Farmer (trainer) and he threw me a new pair. Before I could put them
on the ball came my way. It was instinct. I was on the field of play
and was not about to let the ball go to put on a pair of shorts so I
just ran down the line with no pants on. I had a good game that day
and laid on both goals for Rodney. I was tearing Carlisle apart at the
time and, as was the case in those days I got a cheer every time I got
hold of the ball but on this occasion there was a cheer and roars of
laughter. That’s the be all and end all of it.
7 In all your career who do you feel gave you the hardest time and contained you during a game?
Mark:
There’s plenty of games where I haven’t been at my best but never a
game where I have been fearful of the defence against me and I truly
don’t think any player of that era can say they managed to truly contain
me. When I played against Don Megson at Hillsborough when he played
for Sheffield Wednesday I had a tough game or two but always “murdered
him” at Loftus Road. I don’t think anybody ever gave me a hard time at
Loftus Road. The confidence and sheer “fan-power” at that time meant
so much. I did play one game at Loftus Road for Crystal Palace against
the Rangers and I was up against Dave Clement who really gave me a
tough time. Probably Dave was the toughest back I have ever faced.
The away factor is something that is always a problem. You could play
on a pitch similar to our own yet struggle. Again, this was so much
down to the fans and familiarity of your surroundings; they give you
such a lift and you feel a real buzz and want to do the business for
them. It was much the same with Clive Clark, Rodney Marsh and Les
Allen besides myself. When any of us got the ball fans were convinced
something was going to happen.
8 About those transfers………….
I
just so loved my time at QPR. When I was on Brentford’s transfer list
I wanted to get away, more so when I knew it was Rangers and Alec Stock
who wanted me. If it had been any other club I am not sure that I
would have left.
Later, Alec Stock called me into the office and
asked how I would feel about going to Crystal Palace. I told him I
didn’t want to go. He suggested that in any event I should go and have
a chat with Bert Head. I later realised that Alec was in a difficult
position. He wanted to bring on the Morgans and I think he was under
some pressure from Ian who was more or less a permanent sub and wanted
to develop his career. I felt they wanted to get Ian into the side as a
young player but were in a difficult situation and perhaps didn’t want
to lose me. I was no youngster at the time and Bert came up with a
super offer so I thought that perhaps QPR were trying to save me a bit
of dignity. Alec Stock, diplomat that he was, was very good at that
sort of man management. Crystal Palace were a good side at the time so
I accepted the deal. I felt I would rather play for Palace than be a
substitute at QPR. As I said before, I never wanted to leave QPR and I
wish now that I hadn’t but I was obviously always trying to further my
career.
Wolverhampton Wanderers was a disaster really. Stan
Cullis and I never hit it off and what I saw as a chance to play in the
big time simply did not work out. Coincidentally, Cullis told me that
if he had not signed me he would have signed Mike Summerbee who went to
Manchester City. I often think that if I had refused to go to Wolves
then that may have opened the door to Manchester City and who knows
where I could have gone from there? Maybe even a regular for England.
This was one of those years where I couldn’t do anything wrong. If I
fell over my own feet the chances were that the ball would hit my head
and go in the net.
9 If Joey Barton was your team mate, would you have punched him on the nose?
Mark
(huge laughter): I have no feelings about this really but I think he
is a bit of a prat, not only for what he did at QPR but also his former
clubs – a real head case. I just think I would not like the man and
could not get on with him as a person. Yes, I know I was fiery but I
would never have allowed myself to get into a state like he did. I had
my ups and downs on and off the pitch but would never have done
anything like that. It was professionally shameful and brought
discredit on himself and the club.
In the old days it was the
clubs who ran things and dictated terms it now seems that the pendulum
has swung the other way and it is the players and their agents who run
things. I don’t think Barton is that good a player and with the latest
development you might as well have an injured player on your hands.
The club needs to make life hard for him. His team mates can’t
possibly have any respect for him as a captain. He totally lost it in
that game and if I had been on the pitch I would have stepped in but not
sure that I could have stopped him.
110 Do you stay in touch with former players?
Mark:
I don’t stay in touch as such but I do see them at various functions
from time to time. I’m not one for ringing people up and going out for
a meal or any such thing. I see Tony Hazell from time to time. He
doesn’t miss any opportunity to see old friends. He goes to any QPR
events that he can. I spoke with Ron Hunt about a year ago and he is
not very well. He lives in the Bournemouth area and had a tragedy
which he has never come to terms with when his son hung himself. I
tend to see Frank Sibley from time to time but not that often. Nobody
knows where Keith Sanderson is. The last we heard, he was in South
Africa but nobody knows exactly where. I keep in touch with Les Allen
who has been very ill. I am also in touch with Rodney Marsh – I love
the guy although I am never quite sure what is going on with him. I
have seen Roger and Ian Morgan from time to time in recent years. The
last time was at a signing session in Brentwood.
111 Best wishes from Bill Power and wants to know your recollection of that winning goal.
Mark:
Thanks for the good wishes. That goal! It was quite an easy goal
and an easy recollection. Probably one of the easiest goals I have
ever scored. It came to me from the goalkeeper, I chipped it in with
my left foot then went for a chat with the crowd while they sorted the
goalkeeper out – not unusual for me! The prima donnas who are playing
today have so much money and consider themselves so very much better
than the supporters that in general they don’t want to know. Where
would they be without those supporters though?
112 Mark, where did you get your beautiful singing voice from?
Mark (biggest laugh of the afternoon): Can’t answer that! But I’ve still got the record somewhere.
113 What would he wish the club to do about its relationships with former players?
What are other clubs doing vis-à-vis other players that Mark knows?
Mark:
I can’t really give you a view on what other clubs are doing although I
can say that Crystal Palace run regular functions (reunions) for past
players, usually with a meal and a match. As a former Palace player I
was invited to a home match against QPR a couple of years or so ago. I
made a point of walking across the pitch to acknowledge the QPR fans as
well as the Palace supporters and I received a really great round of
applause for that which was very rewarding. Palace are brilliant and
do a lot for us.
I know Rangers don’t do anything and I was a bit
upset when none of us got invited to the West Brom game last season in
view of our history with them (1967). One recollection is of a game
where QPR were playing West Ham at Loftus Road. My son is a Hammers
supporter and asked if we could go together so I rang the club and asked
if I could buy two tickets and they said that this could be arranged.
I told them who I was. When I got there I couldn’t get a decent seat.
We were in the top corner of the South Africa Road stand with a
dreadful view and I just didn’t want to be there.
On another
occasion I was invited to a QPR dinner at a big hotel. I took a good
friend with me. I was seated at a front table along with Ron Springett
and Stan Bowles. The compere for this was Tom Watts (formerly of
Eastenders) a self professed Rangers fan. He said that he would like
to introduce some old favourites from Loftus Road. He introduced Ron
Springett and Stan Bowles to applause then went on to a totally
different subject. I was completely ignored and found this to be
insulting. It took some time for me to calm down and get over my
embarrassment. I said to myself that I would not go to any more QPR
functions in future.
14 Why are you not a fan of the modern game? Is it the money, speed, cheating,
refs, ball, fans, foreigners, chairmen of just lack of technical ability of the English
players?
Well,
I guess it is a bit of most of them. The questioner seems to be
reading my mind. I don’t think money should come into it. However
much you are paid you can only do what you can do. Lack of ability
certainly comes into it.
Cheating is a big issue and something
must be done about it. I blame the referees because they are being
conned and, what’s more they know they are being conned, they are
allowing themselves to be conned and they let the players get away with
it. Players are screaming as soon as anybody goes near them and
throwing themselves on the ground and other players are being booked –
often for nothing. The referees are useless! Absolutely useless! I
don’t know what sort of football, if any, they have ever played but
they are definitely being conned. If they keep on letting players get
away with diving and cheating the game will be totally ruined. The
players are the biggest cheats of the lot. If they think they can get
away with things then they will carry on doing it. I see players
getting the smallest connection on a leg going down holding their head
because they know play will be stopped for an apparent head injury.
Most of the things that they go to ground for are the sort of things
that in my day we would have ignored. If we did go down we would get
up and carry straight on – and we never screamed or had agonised looks
on our faces unless it was totally genuine and serious. The aim seems
to be to do whatever you can to get a player sent off. If a player
ever fouled me, I would get up and carry on with the game. If I fouled
a player, he would do the same. There is no way I would ever say
“Sorry”. It was all part of the game. Jimmy Langley was different.
If he made a poor tackle, he would immediately grab his opponent’s
hand, help him to his feet and apologise but that was not for me. I
don’t want somebody to say sorry to me when they have just tried to
break my leg.
If the ref gave us a penalty we would never argue
against it even if we knew it was not a penalty but we would always
argue if there was one against us. That goes with the territory. You
give anybody an inch in football then the players will want to take a
yard.
We have all seen incidents, particularly in the Euros, where
the shirt tugging goes on. In one incident John Terry was held back by
his shirt and it was ignored by the ref and his assistants. If it
happens down by the half way line the a free kick is awarded. By the
same token that sort of holding should be given as a penalty in the box.
This sort of behaviour should be stamped out by referees. I know
that referees had me down as a marked man before a game because they
knew I was a tough player. Referees today must have a similar view on
players who are cheaters and divers like Ashley Young but they choose to
ignore the facts and let it go. I also feel that the foreign players
have a lot to do with the cheating aspects of the game.
I don’t
like football today. It’s boring, referees are killing it, players are
killing it and silly little plastic footballs are ruining it. Some of
today’s players like Ronaldo would never be able to cope with the
heavy, soaking wet leather football and soggy mud-bath pitches that we
had in our day. One final point is that in my opinion goal-line
technology is an essential as referees are just not up to the job.
QPR
Report would like to thank John "Gramps" Clifford for conducting this
interview; and for granting permission to post it on the QPR Report
Blog. His Book "Queen's Park Rangers: The Old Days (1939-1970) can be
purchased at qprtheolddays.com or via Amazon.com
And a past on the Official Site
QPR OFFICIAL SITE PROFILE OF INTERVIEW WITH MARK LAZARUSQPR Official Site, December 2007 - BLAST FROM THE PAST
In our latest instalment of exclusive past player interviews on www.qpr.co.uk, 1967 League Cup Final hero Mark Lazarus comes under the spotlight.
Mark Lazarus
- Mark Lazarus will always be remembered as the man who scored the winning goal in the 1967 League Cup Final victory.
-
It was a memorable match as Third Division Queens Park Rangers fought
back from two down to beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in the first Final
to be staged at Wembley
Lazarus can recall that day from 40 years ago
in vivid detail. He reminisces that Rangers started nervously and were
soon trailing to goals by former R's player Clive Clark on seven and 36
minutes.
- "None of us performed in the first half," said Lazarus.
"The atmosphere and the occasion must have affected us before the game.
Maybe we felt we had got to Wembley and that was the job done! We had
forgotten that there was a football match to play as well.
- "In
saying that, both the West Brom goals were dodgy and looked offside. Had
it been an ordinary game, we would have contested them. But because we
were in the Final and we were the underdogs against a First Division
side, there was no protest from us.
- "Then at 2-0 our keeper Peter
Springett made a brilliant save from Jeff Astle, which I think won us
the game. If Albion had scored again at that point then we would have
been finished. Peter really kept us in it.
- "During half-time,
Manager Alec Stock told us that we could still win the Cup. But whatever
we did had to be an improvement on our first half performance. He said
that we had overturned deficits before, so we should go back out and
enjoy the day and finish the task.''
- The second half was a totally
different affair. Rangers goals from Roger Morgan (63 minutes) and
Rodney Marsh (75 minutes) took the score to 2-2.
Lazarus said: "We
played well after the break and the R's fans in the 100,000 crowd kept
cheering for us. But Roger's goal came out of the blue with less than
half an hour remaining.
- "I got the ball on the right hand side of
the pitch and I went past Graham Williams, who was at left-back and
captain for West Brom. He brought me down. And from that free-kick by
Les Allen, Roger Morgan headed home.
- "We were the better side at
that point. I had a couple of good chances that were kicked off the line
and another that was pushed on to the post by their goalkeeper.
-
"So the equaliser was coming. I remember that Rodney hardly had a kick
all game but then he started to buzz. Although I think he was surprised
when he scored his goal! He was trying to get rid of the ball but he
couldn't find anyone to pass it to. So he just ended up shooting from
distance and it hit the post and went in. It was a great strike."
-
The winner came on 81 minutes. It was Lazarus who sealed victory after
good work by Ron Hunt. And like the biblical Lazarus, Rangers had risen
from the dead.
"Ronnie gained possession so I ran inside and he
played a pass up to me. I slipped it back with the outside of my foot
and it went up in the air and started spinning like a rugby ball. Ronnie
was a strong boy and he carried on running.
"When the ball came
down, it dropped at the feet of a couple of West Brom defenders but the
spin beat them and it carried on through to their goalkeeper. Ronnie
raced in and he had every right to go for the ball but there was a clash
with the keeper.
"The spin beat the goalkeeper as well so the ball
rolled out and I was there just to tuck it into the corner of the net
with my left foot. It was a scrappy goal but the occasion made it so
important!"
- Lazarus feels that the 1967 team launched Rangers
into the big time. They also won the Third Division that year, paving
the way for the future advancement of the Club.
- "It was just a great season all round. We were a good side and we were confident that we could beat anybody.
-
"That campaign certainly put the R's on the map. Previously, we were
just a Cinderella club who were lucky to attract crowds of 4,000 at home
games. But our gates rocketed after that.
- "Our team in 1967 was
the stepping stone for the great Rangers players who have followed since
then. We were the start of the QPR success story." QPR
qprreport.blogspot.com/2008/12/qprs-1967-hero-turns-seventy-mark.html