AFC QPR v White City Westfield Rangers Match Preview October 17th 2022 by Jimmy McMade-up Itâs now ten years on since 130 years of history dramatically came to an end, when a boardroom war at QPR saw the club cease operating and the split which saw the birth of two rival teams; AFC QPR and Westfield White City Rangers. The catalyst for these events was of course the arrival in late 2011 of new owner Tony Fernandes. After several years of mismanagement and under-investment by the previous owners Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, Fernandesâs arrival was greeted with huge optimism. There was a real feeling that the club was now truly on its way to achieving great things. The manager Neil Warnock was backed with a whole raft of high profile deadline day signings (including one Joey Barton, in the days before he became a Government Minister), and there was sensible talk of slowly building the club from the foundations upwards in order to establish it as a well run, regular premier league outfit. The hugely popular Amit Bhatia was brought back into the board as a co-owner, ticket prices were reduced, and Bhatia and Fernandes went out of their way to work together to build a better relationship with the fans. However, it wasnât long before the cracks in the relationships began to show. First, there were Fernandesâs very public overtures to David Beckham, which Bhatia was uncomfortable with and embarrassed by. But it wasnât until rumours of a new stadium came out that the differences between the two really started to show themselves. Fernandes was convinced that the only way that the club could grow was by moving out of Loftus Road to a bigger ground. Bhatia shared this vision, but preferred a different pace, wanting instead to gradually build the fanbase until the point where a new stadium was needed. In interviews he publically stated any new stadium would have to be rights for the fans, and so would not involve a ground-share with either Fulham or Chelsea. But Fernandes had different ideas. His belief was that a ground-share was the only way forward for the club, and the sooner it happened the better. When the opportunity came up in 2012 to go into partnership with Chelsea football club to build a multi-purpose 55,000 seater venue in the newly expanded Westfield Shopping Centre, the offer was too good to resist. This proved the final straw for Bhatia (as well as many of the Rangers fans), and lead to his decision to resign from the board for the second time in two years. Neil Warnock went into retirement in Cornwall, and meanwhile several months of legal wrangling failed to come to any conclusion about who had the right to use the Queens Park Rangers name, and in the end it was clear that neither of the co-owners had the right to it. And so it was that after exactly 130 years of existence the words Queens Park Rangers Football Club passed into history. Fernandesâs renamed WWCR team, together with fellow premier league outfit Chelsea, moved into the new Westfield Arena in 2013, sharing the venue with other entertainment acts such as ice hockey, basketball and dwarf throwing. Experienced Premier League Manager Avram Grant was drafted in as Manager, Kieran Dyer was named as new captain, and the proceeds from the sale of Loftus Road were used to bring in the new star player, the 38 year old David Beckham. That same year Bhatia set-up AFC QPR, who started life in the Combined Counties League at the much hated Lynford Christie Stadium (complete with running track). Forward-wind 9 years, and after 5 promotions in 9 seasons AFC QPR are back in the football league, playing in the fourth tier. In the meantime White City Westfield Rangers have been gradually sliding in the opposite direction. Now, after 3 relegations they find themselves playing in front of around 500 spectators in a 55,000 stadium, many of whom are actually off duty dwarfs and hockey players awaiting their shift. Next Saturday sees the first ever meeting of the 2 clubs. It will be the first time that Fernandes and Bhatia have sat in the same Directors box in 10 years. What will happen? Will there be trouble? Only time will tell, but whatever happens on the pitch next Saturday, one thing is for sure; the very air itself will be infused with the ghost of Queens Park Rangers Football Club.
Cheers Northy. Just a bit of nonsense really. I was bored, so rather than do anything productive I seemed to end up penning a distopian match preview from the future. If there's a next time I'll ensure that there's a happy ending.
I enjoyed it The prospect of Joey becoming a Government Minister could be too close to the truth. After all, once Robbie Savage finishes making a prat of himself on the dance floor, won't he try for Minister for Wales?
Turned into luxury flats I'm afraid.... My thinking here is that by predicting the worst case scenario possible, that it can now never happen in real life. Cunning ya see!
Nice one Kaspars, I really enjoyed that. Nothing wrong with a bit of dystopian fayre. Btw, why are all new build apartments marketed as ' Luxury' flats? Always found that a bit weird. Most of the flats I see being built are poorly built rabbit hutches, but are still given the ' Luxury ' tag. Maybe it's just me.
You've clearly got too much time on yours hands Kaspars!... It's true in a way though, if we ever did go belly-up something would rise from the ashes...
very good read, after our recent history over the last 20 years who can say they cant see it happening?
Very good story mr adel in the kitchen. That has inspired me to nock one out myself as i have been stuck and bored without the drama of a game to get me through the week.
