QPR: A POTTED HISTORY

The boys were members of the St. Jude's Institute as they used this as the Club headquarters, and in the early days were known as St. Jude’s.

They obtained the name of Queens Park Rangers when they merged with a team called Christ Church Rangers in 1886. They called themselves Queens Park Rangers because most of the players came from the district of Queen’s Park.

Playing in light and dark blue halves, their first fixtures were all friendly matches, playing teams such as Stanley, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.

Remarkably, the only equipment the Club owned at this time was four posts and two lengths of tape for the crossbars.

The Club's playing pitch was on a piece of waste ground near Kensal Rise Athletic Ground and shortly after they moved to Welford’s Fields at a rent of £8 per year.

In 1888 they rented the London Scottish ground at Brondesbury for £20 and it was in this year they first started charging for admission.

In 1888/89 the pitch became unplayable, and between 1890 and 1892 they moved to four different grounds - Home Park, Kensal Rise Green, The Gun Club at Wormwood Scrubs and Kilburn Cricket Ground.

In 1892 QPR changed their colours to green and white hoops and joined the West London League. The Club’s first honours soon followed when they won the West London Observer Cup, beating Fulham 3-2 in the Final.

Buoyed by that success, the Hoops would go on to lift the Cup the following two years.

In 1894/95 QPR won the London Cup and also entered the FA Cup for the first time.

In 1896 Rangers moved to Kensal Rise Athletic Ground and charged adults 6d each for admission.

The Club turned professional on December 28th 1898 to stop their players going to other Clubs, and applied for permission to join the Southern League.

They played their first professional league match on September 9th at Tottenham and lost 1-0.

The R’s won their first professional match on September 16th 1899 by beating New Brompton – Turnbul the scorer. They finished eighth in the league and reached the second round of the FA Cup before bowing out to Millwall.

Because of poor finances, QPR had to move to St. Quintin Avenue in 1901.

Players had to change in a public house and walk to the pitch. The inhabitants of the area complained that Rangers were lowering the tone of the neighbourhood, and in 1902 they moved back to Kensal Rise!

In 1904/05 they moved to The Royal Agricultural Society Ground at Park Royal, which could hold 40,000 spectators.

In 1905/06 the R’s won the Western League Cup, but in 1906/07 they finished in a disappointing 18th place in a 20-team Southern League.

In 1907/08 QPR moved to another new ground at Park Royal, capable of holding 60,000 spectators. They won the Southern League for the first time. At the end of the season they met Manchester United for the first-ever Charity Shield match. Rangers drew 1-1, only to succumb to a heavy 4-0 defeat in the replay.

The Hoops expected to be elected to Division Two as they had won the Southern League and resigned from it.

However Tottenham, who finished eighth, were elected, and QPR had to be readmitted. They had to play all their matches in midweek as the fixture list had already been completed by the time they were readmitted.

In 1911/12 Rangers won the Southern League for the second time. In 1912, because of a coal strike, they played two of their matches at White City, and also went on their first tour of Europe, scoring 40 goals in eight matches!

In 1914 Mr Cowan, who had been Manager since the Club turned professional, left and Mr Hewie took over. In 1914/15, because the First World War had started, the army took over QPR's ground at Park Royal, and they played the rest of their fixtures at Harvist Road.

The R’s then took over the ground of amateur Club Shepherd's Bush, who played at Loftus Road. In 1920/21 Rangers were elected to the newly-formed Third Division. They also had a new Manager, Ned Liddell. They finished third in the table behind Crystal Palace and Southampton.

In 1923/24 QPR received a then-record fee for a player when they sold Arthur Chandler to Leicester City for £3,000. However, they finished the season at the bottom of the table with 31 points from 42 matches, and had to apply for re-election.

In 1925/26 they finished bottom again, with only 21 points, the lowest ever for the Third Division. They had a new Manager called Bob Hewison.

In 1926/27, after successfully applying for re-election for a second time, they also changed the colours of their shirts to blue and white hoops.

In 1927/28 George Goddard set up a new Club record by scoring 37 league goals. QPR also beat Merthyr Town 8-0 - a record score for the Club.

John Bowman started the 1931/32 season as Manager but had to resign due to ill health, with Archie Mitchell taking over. Rangers moved to the White City that season and a record crowd of 41,097 saw them beat Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup.

In 1933/34 the R’s moved back to Loftus Road having made a loss of £7,000 while they were at the White City. Mick O'Brien became their new Manager and they finished fourth in the league.

In 1935/36 Billy Birrell became the new Manager and he signed Tommy Cheetham, who posted a new Club record by scoring in nine consecutive matches at Loftus Road.

In 1938/39 Ted Vizard became the new Manager. During the Second World War, Dave Mangnall became Manager.

In 1945/46 QPR finished top of Division Three South (North Region). They also got through to the fifth round of the FA Cup - the only time it was played on a two-legged basis.

In 1947/48 they reached the sixth round of the FA Cup before losing to Derby County after a replay, and on April 26th 1948 won promotion for the first time to the Second Division.

The R’s spent four years in the Second Division before they were relegated back to Division Three in 1952. Mangnall left the Club and his place was taken by Jack Taylor. In 1953 the first floodlights were installed at Loftus Road at a cost of £5,000 – the first floodlit match being against Arsenal on October 5th.

In 1959 Alec Stock joined the Club as a Manager and signed Brian Bedford from Bournemouth, who went on to score 180 goals for QPR by the end of the 1964/65 season.

Rangers played at White City again for half a season in 1962 but again poor attendances forced the Club back to Loftus Road.

In 1961/62 the R’s scored 129 goals in 52 matches, including a record 111 in the Third Division. In 1963 Tony Ingham retired after playing 548 matches for QPR’s First Team.

In March 1965 Jim Gregory became Chairman of the Club. In 1965/66 Rangers finished third in Division Three. Rodney Marsh signed from Fulham in 1966 for £15,000 and went on to score 134 goals in 242 appearances.

In 1966/67 QPR won Division Three with 67 points. In the same year they also became the first Third Division side to win the League Cup, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Wembley after being 2-0 down at half-time.

In 1967/68 Rangers were promoted to the First Division for the first time by finishing second in the table.

In 1968/69 the South Africa Road Stand was completed. The R’s were relegated after only one season in Division One with just 18 points. Stock left the Club, Tommy Docherty came but went in 28 days, and Les Allen took over.

On February 7th 1969 Roger Morgan became the first QPR player to be sold for a six-figure fee.

Gordon Jago became Manager in January 1971 and on March 8th 1972 Rodney Marsh was sold to Manchester City for £200,000.

On September 8th 1972 Stan Bowles became the first six-figure signing for the R’s.

In 1972 the new Ellerslie Road Stand was built. In 1972/73 QPR finished second in Division Two and were promoted to the First Division once again.

In 1973/74 Rangers reached the sixth round of the FA Cup again, before losing to Leicester City before a record crowd for a cup match at Loftus Road of 34,989.

On April 27th 35,353 people saw the league match against Leeds, which was a new attendance record for Loftus Road. Dave Sexton became Manager on October 17th 1974.

In 1975/76 QPR were Division One runners-up, finishing one point behind Liverpool. The following season, the R’s reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals at their first attempt.

In July 1977 Frank Sibley became Manager, resigning a year later when Rangers avoided relegation by a point. Alec Stock became Manager until Steve Burtenshaw took over in August. Phil Parkes was sold to West Ham United for £565,000 - a world record for a goalkeeper at the time - having played 406 games for the Club. QPR ended the season in 20th place and were relegated to the Second Division.

Burtenshaw left the Club after only one season and was replaced by Tommy Docherty from Derby in May 1979. Tony Currie was bought from Leeds for a Club record fee of £390,000. 19 year-old Clive Allen was sold to Arsenal for a fee of £1million - the first-ever teenager to merit the million pound price.

In the 1980/81 season the new School End double-decker stand was built and Terry Venables was appointed Manager on October 14th 1980.

In 1981/82 QPR became the first league Club to replace grass with an artificial playing surface and Rangers reached the FA Cup Final against Tottenham.

The game went to a replay after a 1-1 draw, with Terry Fenwick's headed equaliser cancelling out Glenn Hoddle's opener. It was Hoddle again who scored the only goal, from the penalty spot, in the replay.

In 1982/83 Venables took the R’s back in to the First Division again, and Rangers lost only two of their home league matches. In 1983/84 QPR completed building their fourth and last stand and thus had seating on all four sides of the ground.

QPR finished fifth in their first season back in Division One and in 1984/85 Venables left to join Barcelona. Alan Mullery had a brief spell in charge with Frank Sibley later becoming Caretaker Manager for the rest of the season.

Rangers again qualified for the UEFA Cup and went through to the second round where they lost on aggregate to Partizan Belgrade. All seemed well after a 6-2 first leg victory. Yet the Hoops conspired to lose the second leg 4-0 and went out on the away goals rule.

In July 1985 Jim Smith became the R’s new Manager and the following season QPR were defeated finalists in the Milk (League) Cup competition at Wembley, losing 3-0 to Oxford United.

In May 1987, Gregory ended his record 22-year chairmanship of Rangers and became Life President. David Bulstrode became Chairman of the Club.

In 1987/88 QPR finished fifth in the First Division, despite having been top of the table for some months. In April the artificial playing surface was removed after seven seasons and was replaced by natural grass.

In September 1988 Bulstrode tragically died and later that month Richard Thompson was appointed Chairman of the Club, becoming the youngest in the Football League. Following in his predecessor's footsteps, over £2.5million was spent on new players.

In December 1988 Smith left to join Newcastle United and Peter Shreeves was appointed Caretaker Manager with Trevor Francis subsequently being appointed Player/Manager on December 14th.

In November 1989 Francis left to be replaced by Don Howe as Head Coach. The Club reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, losing to Liverpool. It was a hectic season in the transfer market, with many players leaving Loftus Road. The major signings were Kenny Sansom, David Bardsley and Roy Wegerle (the Club's first £1million player).

In October 1990 Jan Stejskal, the Czechoslovakian international goalkeeper, was signed from Sparta Prague for £625,000 to replace David Seaman, who had been sold to Arsenal for £1.3million during the close season. Club Captain Paul Parker returned from the World Cup finals as an England regular.

Bobby Gould joined the Club for a brief period between December 1990 and February 1991 before leaving to become Manager of West Brom. Howe left the Club in May 1991 to be replaced by former player Gerry Francis.

Prior to the 1991/92 season kicking off, QPR received £1.75million from Manchester United for England defender Parker. Later that season a further £1million saw Ray Wegerle depart for Blackburn Rovers.

The most outstanding performance of the season came on New Year's Day 1992 when, in front of 38,554 spectators at Old Trafford – and a live television audience – Rangers thrashed Manchester United 4-1, with Dennis Bailey hitting a hat-trick.

The R’s finished 11th in the league, thus ensuring their place in the new FA Premier League for the next season.

In 1992/93 Rangers finished fifth in their first season in the new Premier League. Les Ferdinand hit 20 league goals and was called up to the England squad along with David Bardsley.

England international Andy Sinton left for Sheffield Wednesday on the eve of the 1993/94 season for £2.75million. QPR quickly spent £750,000 on winger Trevor Sinclair and £650,000 on defender Steve Yates. After four-and-a-half years with the Club, Ray Wilkins joined Crystal Palace on a free transfer. However, he returned to Loftus Road in November 1994 when Francis left, who later became Manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

Wilkins proved to be a very popular choice as Player/Manager and a series of good all-round displays revived the R’s season, including two memorable 3-1 victories over Arsenal. They finished in the top ten for the fourth consecutive season.

During the close season striker Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle for a Club record £6million, with £570,000 of the fee going to his former Club, Hayes. The loss of the England striker proved crucial in 1995/96 as Rangers always struggled at the wrong end of the Premiership table. Despite paying over £1million each for Simon Osborn, Australian International Ned Zelic and Mark Hateley, QPR lost their fight to stay in the Premier League.

In May 1996 the Thompson family announced their intention to sell the Club and three months later media tycoon Chris Wright, a Rangers fan for some 20 years, bought the Club and also announced his plans for Wasps Rugby Union Club to share Loftus Road.

Chris Wright later floated the newly-formed Loftus Road PLC, incorporating both QPR and Wasps, on the Alternative Investment Market. In September 1996 Wilkins left the Club by mutual consent and was replaced shortly afterwards by ex-Arsenal Caretaker Manager Stewart Houston. Former Gunners Manager Bruce Rioch was installed as Assistant Manager.

Houston's first purchase for Rangers smashed the Club's previous transfer record. Scottish international striker John Spencer joined the Club from Chelsea for £2.35million in November 1996. He was joined in December by ex-Blues team-mate and former R’s player Gavin Peacock.

Northern Ireland international Steve Morrow also joined from Arsenal. QPR’s poor home form during the 1996/97 season cost them dear and they finished ninth, five points outside the Play-Off places.

1997/98 was even more of a disappointment despite the arrival of £2.1million striker Mike Sheron, with the Club only avoiding relegation on the final day of the season. Houston and Rioch were sacked mid-campaign to be replaced by Ray Harford, but he was unable to halt a slide that so nearly ended in relegation to Division Two.

1998/99 also ended with Rangers needing a result on the last day and once again they stayed up, this time courtesy of a final day victory over Crystal Palace, albeit by the overwhelming margin of six goals to nil.

Six months previously Harford had resigned to be replaced by Rangers legend Gerry Francis as Director of Football and once Francis had ensured Rangers' survival in Division One, he marched them back up the table in 1999/2000, with Stuart Wardley top scoring in an impressive campaign.

Rangers finished ninth and looked set for a promotion challenge in 2000/01. Sadly though, it wasn't to be. A dreadful season ended in relegation, despite the introduction of Ian Holloway as First Team Manager, and coincided with the Club entering administration as harsh financial realities began to bite.

The following season began with no fewer than 16 players released, and a scratch squad built from practically nothing by Holloway. It is to his enormous credit therefore that the R’s enjoyed a top-half finish when many predicted another relegation.

QPR came out of administration and Chris Wright left the Club to be replaced as Chairman by Nick Blackburn. The Club embarked on the 2002/03 season with optimism. Once again Holloway wheeled and dealed and led the Hoops to the Play-Offs thanks to an impressive team ethic and the goals of Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong.

It was Furlong who scored the winning goal on a dramatic night at Loftus Road to take the R’s to Cardiff for the Play-Off Final, courtesy of a two-legged victory over Oldham Athletic in the semi-final.

But the fairy-tale ended at the Millennium Stadium when Andy Campbell's goal late in extra time took Cardiff City up to Division One and condemned Rangers to another in year in the third tier of English football.

Nevertheless, 12 months later the agonies would be forgotten when QPR secured automatic promotion.

Martin Rowlands, Gareth Ainsworth, Jamie Cureton, Tony Thorpe, Richard Edghill, Arthur Gnohere and Richard Johnson all joined the Club and each contributed to the team's success.

The Hoops lost only seven games all season, the lowest in the Football League - but too many draws took Rangers' fate to the final day.

They needed to win at Hillsborough – home of Sheffield Wednesday – and did so – triumphing 3-1 to secure second place in Division Two behind champions Plymouth Argyle.

With that achievement fresh in their minds, consolidation was the key in the R’s first season back in the Championship.

Four free contract signings coupled with the same number of departures ensured the squad remained fresh, but Rangers found the going tough early on, failing to win any of their opening four matches until they eventually broke their duck courtesy of Marcus Bean's winner at Gillingham.

Thereafter, seven wins on the bounce, including a morale boosting 1-0 victory against West Ham, saw Holloway's rejuvenated side gate-crash the top half and that's where they remained for the rest of the season, eventually finishing in a creditable 11th place.

Furlong again impressed, scoring 18 goals in all competitions as well as bagging the Players’ Player and Supporters' Player of the Year awards, plus the coveted Goal of the Season crown.

Hope sprang eternal at the start of 2005/06 and with the addition of a number of new players, including Rangers old-boy Richard Langley and the highly rated Stefan Moore from Aston Villa, the R's looked well equipped to mount a charge for the Play-Offs.

But after a positive start - which saw the Hoops top the table after three games - the season soon turned sour and Holloway was placed on gardening leave at the end of January.

Gary Waddock took the reigns as Caretaker Manager and immediately stamped his own unique style on proceedings.

But a spate of injuries and poor fortune, coupled with a few questionable refereeing decisions, saw all Waddock's best laid plans backfire and the Hoops finished the season just one place and eight points above the drop-zone.

As a result, Waddock was forced to make some tough decisions at the start of May and duly released half a dozen players, while also placing nine others - including established First Team regulars Marcus Bignot, Steve Lomas and Marc Bircham - on the transfer list.

Unfortunately, the changes in personnel, coupled with the arrival of six new signings, failed to have the desired effect, as Rangers registered just six points from a possible 24 at the start of the 2006/07 Coca-Cola Championship campaign.

An embarrassing Carling Cup exit at the hands of League One outfit Port Vale proved to be the final straw for the Rangers Board, as Waddock was demoted to Assistant Manager, and R's cult hero John Gregory replaced him in the Loftus Road hot-seat.

Gregory wasted little time in stamping his authority on proceedings, making further changes to the First Team personnel and introducing coach Richard Hill and Sports Performance Coach Joe Dunbar to the Club.

Gregory's impact was immediate, as the R's eased to a 2-0 home victory against Hull City in his first match in charge, before grinding out a memorable 2-1 victory versus Southampton seven days later.

Waddock made way as his Assistant Manager soon after, as the R's - buoyed by the double loan capture of Chelsea starlets Jimmy Smith and Michael Mancienne - moved five points clear of the relegation zone with victory against London rivals Crystal Palace at the start of November.

Further additions followed in January 2007, when Gregory swooped to add experienced duo Adam Bolder and Danny Cullip to his squad.

Derby goalkeeper Lee Camp came back on loan too and his arrival, coupled with the fine goalscoring form of top scorer Dexter Blackstock, saw Rangers secure their Championship status with a 1-0 home victory against Cardiff two weeks before the final day of the season.

Gregory wielded the axe soon after though, letting eight players go, including fans’ favourites Bircham, Gallen and Furlong.

On Saturday 1st September 2007, the Club announced that Formula 1 magnates Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone had made a recommended offer for the Club.

Gianni Paladini – now Chairman of QPR – remained in his position and Briatore, Bruno Michel Alejandro Agag were invited to join the Board.

Briatore said: "Bernie and I were delighted to receive a recommendation from the Board of QPR for our bid for the Club and we look forward to working alongside Gianni Paladini and his team.

"We are fully aware of the history of QPR and the loyal fan-base that it has; we are therefore totally committed to bringing future success back to the Club.

"Gianni, Bernie and I are all determined to see the Club return to the Premiership as soon as possible."

Shortly after this, the Club announced further great news as Lakshmi Mittal became involved, placing son-in-law Amit Bhatia on the Board as the family's representative. Bhatia was named Vice-Chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd.

Despite the positive off-the-field news, Rangers made a poor start to the new season and following a 5-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, which left QPR rooted firmly to the foot of the Championship table, the Club terminated the contract of Manager John Gregory.

Mick Harford was placed in caretaker charge and with the addition of loanees Rowan Vine, Martin Cranie and Jason Jarrett to the ranks, the 48 year-old guided the R's to their maiden win of the campaign against Norwich City on Monday 8th October, in front of the live Sky Sports cameras.

On Monday 29th October, QPR appointed Luigi De Canio as their First Team Coach.

The Italian, with an extensive coaching pedigree having taken charge of Udinese, Napoli, Reggina, Genoa and Siena in Serie A, penned a deal until the end of the 2009/10 season.

With the new investment sending shockwaves around the footballing fraternity, De Canio was given the licence to add to his squad in the January transfer window, with no fewer than ten new faces arriving in W12.

Former Premier League trio Vine, Gavin Mahon and Fitz Hall arrived from Birmingham City, Watford and Wigan Athletic respectively, while the R's also added some up-and-coming youngsters to their squad in the shape of Hogan Ephraim and Matt Connolly.

The new additions had the desired effect, as the new-look R's successfully climbed away from the foot of the division with stunning victories against high-flying Watford, Stoke City and Bristol City to name but a few.

On Thursday 8th May 2008, QPR announced that they had parted company with De Canio by mutual consent with immediate effect.

Six days later, Rangers appointed Iain Dowie as First Team Coach.

After guiding the R's to ninth place in the Coca-Cola Championship table after 12 league fixtures, the Board announced the departure of Dowie with immediate effect on October 24th 2008.

Gareth Ainsworth took over as Caretaker Manager, before Briatore appointed former Portugal international ace Paulo Sousa as the R's new First Team Coach on November 19th 2008.

Sousa enjoyed mixed fortunes at the helm, however, and after the departure of his assistant Bruno Oliveira, the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder had his contract terminated on April 9th 2009. Ainsworth was handed the managerial reigns until the end of the season.

On Wednesday 3rd June 2009, QPR unveiled former Ipswich Town boss Jim Magilton as the Club's new Manager, with the former Northern Ireland international penning a two-year deal in W12.

Magilton enjoyed initial success with the R's, guiding the Club to fourth spot in the table in October following a string of impressive victories.

However, he left QPR by mutual consent in December and was replaced by Paul Hart who remained in charge of First Team affairs until January, when he decided to leave.

Following his departure, Mick Harford - Hart's Assistant - was named Caretaker Manager until the end of the season.

On Friday 19th February, the Club announced Briatore had stepped down as Chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd, and he was replaced by Ishan Saksena.

Meanwhile, the Mittal family also took the opportunity to increase its shareholding in the Club.

Bhatia said at the time of the announcement: "I have known Ishan for 12 years now and I know his feelings for our Club run very deeply. Our immediate priority must be to reintroduce stability into the Club and safeguard our future in the Championship.

"The season has been disappointing so far, but there are still many games to go. We must make every effort to end it positively, not least for our fans, the people who have continued to support and believe in the Club through all the highs and lows. Together we can succeed."

On his new appointment, Saksena added: "Since becoming CEO, I have developed a great love and very strong passion for the Club. It is therefore a great honour for me to assume this position. It is a position of trust and I will hold it with great pride.

"I would like to thank Flavio for all his hard work during his time here and for the many positive additions he has made.

"I must also express my gratitude to all our fans, who are the real owners of the Club. I feel a real responsibility to repay their loyalty and intend to do all I can to bring the great days back to Loftus Road."

Neil Warnock's appointment followed shortly after, with the former Crystal Palace boss agreeing a three-and-a-half year deal with the R's in March 2010.

After steadying the ship towards the end of the 2009/10 campaign, the 2010/11 season promised to be an exciting affair.

Under the ownership of Mittal, Bhatia, Briatore and Ecclestone, Warnock embarked on the new season by making wholesale changes on and off the pitch.

The most remarkable of those arrived in the shape of Moroccan magician, Adel Taarabt, who penned a three-year deal from Tottenham in the summer transfer window.

Warnock targeted promotion for the 2010/11 season and he didn’t disappoint, as the R’s clinched the npower Championship title that very year.

Aided by some astute captures in the transfer market – the influential trio of Paddy Kenny, Clint Hill and Shaun Derry to name but a few – the Yorkshireman described it as ‘the best job I’ve ever done’ in helping QPR secure a return to the Premier League for the first time in 15 years.

That was, incidentally, Warnock’s seventh promotion is his managerial career – and few would argue that the 62 year-old deserved another crack at the big time.

Malaysian business tycoon Tony Fernandes CBE completed his takeover of QPR on Thursday 18th August 2011.

Fernandes’ company Tune Group bought a majority stake in the Club, buying out previous majority shareholders Briatore and Ecclestone.

The 47 year-old founder of AirAsia – also the team principal of Formula 1’s Caterham F1 – and his business partners bought a controlling stake of 66 per-cent to work alongside the Mittal family, who retained their 33 per-cent stake.

Fernandes – who took the role of Chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd – was joined on the board by joint Tune Group owner Mr Kamarudin Bin Meranun, one of Malaysia’s most successful business tycoons.

Bhatia resumed in his position as Vice-Chairman of the Club, after stepping down at the end of the 2010/11 season.

The 2011/12 season saw Rangers compete in the Premier League for the first time in 15 years.

Despite a desperately disappointing 4-0 home defeat against Bolton Wanderers on the opening day of the campaign, QPR’s return to the top table of English football promised to be one to remember.

Wins at Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke followed before Christmas, while the Hoops also recorded a 1-0 victory over arch rivals Chelsea at Loftus Road.

However, after an alarming slide in form over the festive period and then into the New Year, the Rangers board opted to replace Warnock as Manager with Mark Hughes.

Stellar signings such as Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora followed the Welsh boss through door. However, although Hughes won his first home league fixture in charge, QPR still struggled for form.

The Hoops wouldn’t win away from Loftus Road for the remainder of the campaign – but they survived thanks to a run of outstanding results at home towards the end of the season.

Wins over Liverpool, Swansea City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Stoke in Rangers’ final five league fixtures in W12 saw the R’s retain their top-flight status, with optimism high heading into the 2012/13 season.

QPR worked hard in the summer transfer window to bolster the squad for their second season back in the top-flight, with 12 new signings coming through the door. Rob Green, Julio Cesar, Esteban Granero, Jose Bosingwa, Samba Diakite, Junior Hoilett and Andy Johnson were amongst the new faces at Harlington.

A poor start to the season left the R's languishing at the foot of the table, however, and following a 3-1 home defeat to fellow-strugglers Southampton, Hughes was relieved of his duties as QPR boss.

On Saturday 24th November 2012, Harry Redknapp was named as QPR's new manager and he has been charged with the task of keeping the club in the Premier League.

However, Rangers relegation back into the Football League was confirmed at the end of April following a 0-0 draw with Reading.