I'm in the young spring chickens category here. I didn't start supporting the hoops until the 1978/79 season. Everyone at school was supporting Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Man Utd. I couldn't muster the enthusiasm for any of the big clubs. I started going to football a few years earlier to my local club, Hendon FC. So my choice was based on locality and was between Chelsea and QPR (I'd never heard of Fulham then). I chose wisely and it has been my passion since. I had one other friend at school who I found supported QPR later, he was none other than the great Tony Currie's younger brother, although I found he changed allegiance according to which club his brother played for. I didn't start going to matches initially as my parents wouldn't allow me, having seen and heard about violence on the terraces. Supporting QPR is like a disease, once it catches you, it's in your bloodstream, as is evident here. Thus, I regard fellow supporters as blood brothers & sisters.
Nice post mate................ as with the many others. I can still remember the sad feeling of missing out too.
I'd been playing football that evening and rushed home to hear the end of the radio commentary, Wolves were winning 1-0 when I switched on and for just a couple of minutes I thought it was going our way then1-2-3 and that was that, worst feeling ever...
I'm adding my name to the old farts list........ First game as a 5 year old January 1966 against Brentford, a right of passage taken by my Father, he would place me over the turnstile and just pay for the adult price to get in, he'd then sit me on a crash barrier on the South Africa Road terrace to watch the games.......... And so began 56 years and counting of mostly thin and thin times although there were some highlights, the odd promotion followed eventually by relegation, a League Cup Final win, a FA Cup Final loss, getting to see the finest team we've ever had, seeing the R's in Europe, the misery of going to Molineux for that game only to be denied in the last 14 minutes of lifting the most beautiful trophy in the domestic game......... A real dislike of the way the club behaved when finally getting promoted in 2011 and just throwing money at overpaid, over rated players, Redknapp, Hughes....... At least now we have the right people in the right jobs doing what we did from the 1970's onwards and punching above our weight, developing talented youngsters who can see a pathway to 1st team football rather than being stored in some academy........ These could be exciting times and who knows we might even get a new ground even though the old girl is still a lovely sight and there's no better ground for atmosphere under lights....... And that why we love this daft little football club in W12.......
If you'd lived there in the 60s you would never have gone as you would have been able to watch the games from your flat as I recall
If you went up to the top floor ( 4th ) you could see the final third of the pitch towards the Loft end. That was until they developed the school End stand around 1982, but I'd moved away by then.
