The opening paragraphs especially should resonate with a lot of us. It did for me. I can't upload the image from the Irish Independent web page, but it is class. Anyone feel a little like we are in a Hooped strait jacket at times........ Bright future must not overlook the lessons of history Dion Fanning PUBLISHED 14/12/2014 http://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...overlook-the-lessons-of-history-30834054.html QPR are a club that believe that some good will come from everything. There is very little beauty at Loftus Road yet it is currently the ground I most enjoy visiting. This is not because it is the football ground closest to my house, although maybe that adds to my affection. It isn't necessarily because the floodlights light up the rows of terraced houses as you approach it in the way that English football grounds are supposed to do but that also helps. It does have something to do with those streets. It does have something to do with Shepherd's Bush and walking along the Uxbridge Road past the pubs that contain the type of Irishmen who never feature when they write the perennial magazine story about the Irish in London, even though those Irishmen are still here and probably haven't gone any place else. Those Irishmen went into these pubs on the Goldhawk Road or to the old Irish haunts on Ladbroke Grove, which have nearly all disappeared, and a lot of them never came out. As a friend of mine says, "We lost more men here than at Suvla Bay". All these things are part of it and it has something to do with memory too. My uncle is a QPR supporter and I remember him saying once back in the mid-'80s that he felt there were important lessons in life that came from supporting a team like Rangers. They were fatalistic lessons but lessons nonetheless about futility, hope and the connection between the two. No matter how excited you became as a QPR supporter, there was always a voice telling you, "Nothing will come from this". It was a tough message to tell a kid but happily I dismissed it out of hand at the time, sure as I was that something would come from everything. He had come to QPR relatively late in life but like the man who takes up drinking at 40, he immersed himself fully in the details, attending reserve matches and talking about promising players coming up through the youth team. The side of the Jim Smith era is the one I remember most vividly. My uncle would talk about the late Alan McDonald's strength, the class which John Gregory brought whenever he was used and his frustrations that a player as limited as Terry Fenwick could become an England international. I remember going to stay with him once and he gleefully put on the videotape of the 5-5 draw with Newcastle United in which the R's had recovered from being four down at half-time. It was the club-issue video, filmed on one fixed camera and released without commentary. We might have watched it more than once. In January 1987, during one magical weekend, we went to London and saw QPR play Everton on the Saturday and then to White Hart Lane on the Sunday where George Graham's Arsenal, including Niall Quinn, beat a Tottenham side which included Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and Clive Allen who would score 49 goals that season. Sport is about memory as much as anything else and so for all these reasons and many unexplained ones, I enjoy going to Loftus Road more than any other ground right now. Part of the enjoyment also comes from the high-wire act QPR are currently engaged in, desperately trying to avoid relegation for all the usual reasons as well as a few of their own they've added just to make it more interesting, like the potential fine when they once again fall under the jurisdiction of the Football League or the 'nuclear option' that they would be relegated to the Conference. They have based their attempt to escape on their form at Loftus Road where they have won four times, drawn with Manchester City and lost inexplicably to Liverpool. It is an atmospheric ground and the atmosphere, of course, comes from the stadium's design and the way the crowd hangs over the players. It comes also, I believe, from the history, from the knowledge that men have stood in these seats before, providing support and abuse to players for generations and, in the case of Stan Bowles, providing information on the winner of the 3.10 at Haydock Park. Last weekend, 17,785 people went to Loftus Road to watch them beat Burnley and there are those with big ambitions for the club who think that is not enough. QPR are something else now, they are a club that believe that some good will come from everything, even if their speculative attempts to make things better have only made things worse. They are £177m in debt. QPR have the smallest ground in the Premier League and most of its supporters accept the idea that they must move elsewhere as Loftus Road can't be expanded. It is a parable for the age. QPR need a bigger stadium so that they aren't tempted to make the same mistakes as when they spent more than they could afford. In the season they were relegated if they had doubled their turnover they would still have made a loss. "The club has ambitions to be an established Premier League club," their website promoting the new ground states, "and it needs a stadium that reflects those ambitions." To ensure nobody goes crazy with the cheque book again in pursuit of those ambitions and signs the next Jose Bosingwa, it is regrettably necessary to destroy a bit of history, to remove another connection with the past which, and this is what distinguishes it from hopeless nostalgia, also takes something from the future. QPR will move to a stadium with ample parking and increased revenue streams. Loftus Road will be "redeveloped for other uses", although it's unlikely to become a drop-in centre for the Shepherd's Bush bewildered. Tomorrow QPR play at Goodison Park. They have no points away from home and have scored twice which sounds a lot like the club my uncle fell in love with. When you walk to Loftus Road, it is that club too, even if it is a club in danger of overlooking the lesson he understood: that there is a liberation, not a restriction, in believing that nothing will come from this. [email protected]
Great shout Corker. ....that my friends sums up why we support this little unfashionable club in West London. ..
That unique little ground of ours holds so many memories of every description that if it does eventually disappear it will be taking a very big chunk of me with it. Isn't it strange how so many places that are in our very fabric elicit such strong feelings?...
A good read CORKeR. It reminds me of why I'm an R. Never mind relate to it though, it feels like I've lived it. And thoroughly enjoyed (well mostly) every minute. And I wouldn't change any of it, good or bad. It's what we do isn't it?
A very nice piece, which caused my eyes to moisten a little. My first game at Loftus Road was in 1961 and I remember well the abortive season at White City. I remember the grass bank at the back of the South Africa Road terracing and have countless fond memories of the old place. I won't be sad to leave it, though. It's time to move somewhere modern and comfortable. We will still have the memories.
You're correct of course Corker, that piece is a great find and tells a story that is similar to mine. I may well be one of a few and quite possibly the only one on here who doesn't actually want to move to Old Oak. I see the 'Old Girl' that is Loftus Road as my spiritual home.
I know what you mean nines. Deep down I don't want to leave the old place. There is no better place to watch football than Loftus Road. It is truly unique. It's in my blood, my DNA and my soul. Reluctantly though I think a move is inevitable, but I question how hard and creatively we have looked at developing our spiritual home.
i agree. love the old place. however, its time to move on. If this old oak thing ever gets off the ground hopefully we can learn from the countless mistakes that others have made with their modern, soulless stadia and build something equally as great.
Great article Corker, it's a shame we have to move from LR, but it is necessary for the club to continue and survive, whether it be Old Oak, Park Royal or some plot of land down the A40
Excellent piece. Spot on observation about the fatalism of supporting QPR but it is part of what we are now. I don't get over as often as I like but maybe it builds the excitement for when I do get the opportunity. The dilemma I face is I dearly want my son to be a QPR fan also but would it be fair on him. I can't wait to bring him over though for his first game which I feel would be a special experience for both of us.
If he's anything like my two mate, as soon as he experiences the place he will be hooked. Trouble is, will that be the case with a brand new stadium? Loftus Road is so unique and that is unlikely to be replicated. I share Nine's reservations about moving...............my last game at Loftus Road will be very emotional.
Off course it's fair on him Kerry, it will teach him that life has its ups and downs, it's not always guaranteed success. Look at the way the Man U fans last season couldn't cope with being average, how thw Chelsea fans are arrogant to believe they will win everything every year. There is something to be proud about saying you support QPR, it stands you out from the crowd and yes get your lad over to LR to experience the uniqueness before it disappears for ever......
Nice article. Football fans are very nostalgic and like everyone else I have a lot of associations over 42 years with LR. When its full and we are in the right mood it does have a very special feel. But I'm afraid over the last 6 or 7 years I've come to hate the place and be embarrassed by it. The lack of comfort, appalling absence of circulation space, crushes of people getting in and out, disgraceful catering and toilets are all things that I feel more acutely as I get older and increasingly obsessed with quality. If it was cheap I could put up with it a little more, but..... The location is brilliant though and I will miss that wherever we go. The ideal would of course to be develop where we are, but even small modern stadia have a much bigger footprint than we have, and I can't figure out how we could do that without getting rid of existing roads. It is possible to design excellent, intimate new stadia though, there are dozens of them out there. It's us, the fans that make the place special and my biggest fear is that we do actually build a 40/45k seater, where even if its full (no chance) I'll be looking around thinking 'who the **** are you?' 30,000 max for me.
I could never hate the place. Of course it's uncomfortable and has terrible facilities, but during those 90 minutes these are the last things on my mind (till I bang my shins on the seat in front when we score of course!).
You're right of course 'hate' is too strong a word. Unfortunately I do get distracted by the discomfort though, which shouldn't be the case given the prices we pay. And restricted views are farcical in this day and age. Of course, I remember like you when it was all shiny and new and felt cutting edge compared to other clubs' grounds. Can't say I've ever liked what they did to the School End though, and the Loft isn't much better. I really hope we make a strong case for safe standing if we get a new stadium, will help keep it compact as well as adding to atmosphere.
Spot on x 2 What a fabulous article, thanks for posting Corker. The most genuine and moving thing I've read in a long time.
