Come on guys, we want more stories. Doesn't matter how old you are or what decade it happened in, it's that transition from no-mark into total addict that's so fascinating to read about. We all went through it one time or another... Tell us how the Hoops happened for you. Still can't get over woody cheering Rs' goals at Anfield in his red tracksuit!!!
Remember Lazarus well... great character. Right winger in the extra specials. Scored alongside Rodney and Roger Morgan at Wembley in the League Cup Final. Bobby Keech was a few years later. Solid. Blond haired centre half. Tbh don't remember too many hardnut Rs players. Vic Mobeley? Alan MacDonald? Mark Psycho Dennis? Steve Palmer? Struggling with that one.
Welcome to the board Stan_10. For me it'd have to be that nutter with the big bass drum strapped to his chest... massive aesthetic advantage at LR in Divisions 3 and 2 in the late 60s - but just can't see it working as well nowadays on Sky in the prem!
I clearly remember my first away game outside of London ( not counting Watford ). It was in 1968 against Aston Villa and it was the last game of the season and we needed a win to get promoted. I was fifteen at the time and we drove up in an old Anglia. That was me my dad and three of his work mates and talk about a crush. It took for ever to get there and we were all in a state of anxiety not sure whether to believe our beloved Rangers really would ever make it to div.1 We stood in the Whitten avenue end were all the Villa fans were. In those days the area around Villa's ground made our Sheperds Bush look like Monte Carlo so to say it was a bit intimidating would be an understatement. Anyway history shows we won 2-1 and our main rivals Blackpool finished on the same points as us with an inferior GD so up we went with Ipswich and Blackpool stayed down. The journey home seemed much shorter. Ironic in a small way that as we go up this season Blackpool are heading the other way
How weird is that...? We must be same age and that end of season promotion 'showdown' against Villa was my first out of London game too! Tbh, the 2-1 to us scoreline is the only thing I can remember - other than the literal 'sea' of blue and white Rs scarves all the way up (we went on the train); around the Bull Ring; on the bus over to Aston; in the ground; and all the way back home! It was the only time I've seen Rangers fans travel en masse like that. Birmingham was Rs that day. Must've been in a state of absolute delirium all day long... there were parts of the journey where the train line runs parallel to the motorway and both were full of Rs waving frantically at each other!! In the ground we found ourselves in a Rangers enclave down near the Villa faithful in the Holt End. Do you remember who scored for us that day? Don't think Rodney did (could be wrong...). Wasn't one an own goal?
Sorry Brixton I can't but I have a vague recollection the winner was scored by Mike Keen the captain. I wouldn't bet on that though. I do remember the masses of blue and white going up the M1 though. Great day out
You probably already know it's there, but if you don't QPRreport history section: http://qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history
From this report it looks like an own goal - that may explain why you can't remember the scorer. May 11, 1968, QPR travelled to Aston Villa, neck and neck with Blackpool chasing for promotion. (In an era, when there were two points for a win; there was goal aggregate (goals for divided by goals against) rather than goal difference; and only two teams were promoted - with no playoffs for the teams below). The Programme Mick Leach scored QPR's first. Eight Minutes from time, a Bradley Own goal put QPR 2-1 up and that was the final score. QPR promoted with a marginally better goal aggregate than Blackpool. The QPR team on that day: Mike Kelly in goal. Allan Harris, Bobby Keetch, Tony Hazell and Ian Watson in defense Ian Morgan, Mike Keen Les Allen, Mick Leach Rodney Marsh, Frank Clarke http://qprreport.blogspot.com/2008/05/greatest-day-in-qpr-history.html
Thanks Rollercoaster, interesting team that, definitely light of a few regulars which I certainly didn't remember. Some players there that my jaded memory wouldn't have put in our team until a little later but that's memory for you. I got to know Alan Harris' brother Ron ( Chopper ) a few years back as he was a friend of Peter Osgood who was my neighbour for a number of years until he died. I know they're " Chelsea " but they were old school not the current crop.
Thanks once again roller. God, forgot we was playing the original 2, 3, 5 system... Mike Kelly Ian Watson, Allan Harris Mike Keen, Bobby Keetch, Tony Hazell Ian Morgan, Les Allen, Frank Clarke, Rodney Marsh, Mick Leach I looked at the line up and thought, '**** me dead! 5 attackers of which two, Allen and Clarke were out and out centre forwards!! You wouldn't get away with that nowadays.
Tell you what, at risk of upsetting andrewqpr, that Chelsea side was to die for weren't they?! Bonetti, Webb, McCreadie Hollins, Hinton, Harris Baldwin, Cooke, Osgood, Hutchinson, Houseman Didn't win as much as they should have but one of the most stylish and entertaining sides I've ever seen. Done us 0-4 at LR. Absolutely cruised it. Didn't feel a thing either except privilege to have seen them live in a close quarters arena like LR. Mind you, didn't we do them back 4-2 at home in the FA cup (when Venables was captain)?? 'Osgood was good', we Rs used to shout disdainfully. Much more meaningful saying it now looking back! That's why I can't get into wumming, love the football too much. A great team is there to be appreciated by all. Deny yourself that and you lose so much of what the game offers. Doesn't affect your devotion to the Rs either... not one bit, believe me!
MISTAKEN IDENTITY!! Yeah... I know, was kinda thinking the same thing. Don't want our generation to dominate the thread or the board. But hey, what the ****, I'm here for me... And I'm just as interested in what younger people have to say - so friggin' speak up! This is my daily newspaper: give me something new and interesting to read. If you can't or won't, don't blame us for sharing precious memories of our Rs times and teams... and this is the first time in 30 or 40 years I've come across people who have the nouse to fill the gaps in my otherwise anorak powers of recall. As for you young Northolt... your images and are as valid a means of expression as my epistles! But please, get it right. That's an image of our grandparents back in the fifties... sad and redundant. Our generation ain't like that at all! We've been radical from date dot. We're no one's old ****s (as I once told me adult son whilst twisting his bollocks!). Us old'uns will remain defiantly vital, feisty and full of colour till they nail us down! As I once hinted on here, oldtimeranger has a great user-name but wrong emphasis. Should've been old_timer_anger!! You get me doh?!! (Jus' teasin'!)
I like that Brixton. My son says I remind him of Victor Meldrew and I keep warning him that I haven't had my last fight yet! Where do you get the picture from Northolt? My missus hasn't been in touch has she?
I'm going to throw a different slant on this thread now. I've told of my first home & away games. Now my worst experience of a match day. I've been watching the R's since 1968, but my worst experience came about only last season. I'd at last got all three of my sons to attend a match on the same day for the first time. My eldest (no.1 son) is an R's fan, so no problem, no.2 son is a Watford fan (both nos.1 & 2 were born in Watford) no.3 son thinks he's a Man. U. fan! The match in question was Middlesbrough at home. We all live in Norfolk, so we met on the train to Norwich, no problems so far. We the boarded the 11:00 train from Norwich to Liverpool Street, and again no problems, as the train pulled out of the station on time. As we approached Colchester it was announced that there would be some delays due to signalling problems. Well, as far as understatements go, that was a biggun' Cutting a long story short, we crawled all the way to Liverpool Street arriving two hours late, at 14:50! Apparently some kind souls had ripped up the signalling cable for scrap! 10 minutes to get from Liverpool Street to Loftus Road is obviously impossible, and we arrived with 30 minutes of the game gone, only to find people occupying our seats. They insisted they were in the correct seats, and as the game was in progress, we didn't argue the point as there were plenty of vacant seats anyway. We found four together and settled down to watch the remainder of the game, after all it was still 0-0. We went on to lose 5-1, we were awful. Every time Middlesbrough went forward they looked like scoring. Ben Watson played for us that day, and I don't think he played a single forward pass, glad we didn't sign him! The journey home was a mirror of the Journey down, and by the time we reached Norwich I'd just about had enough. So we wearily boarded the Sheringham train for the final leg of the trip home. As we were so late, the train had just been vacated by revellers on their way to nightclubs in Norwich. I sat down only to find the seat was soaking wet, with what I hope was beer! So I got home at a quarter past midnight, wet & thoroughly dejected. What was supposed to be a great day out with my boys ended as a complete disaster. I've not managed to get them all together for for a game since, I wonder why?
