Christian Nourry's Christmas Message ...
CEO Christian Nourry has provided a festive update on a number of topics as we head towards the end of 2025.
I want to start off by wishing all our fans, players and staff a wonderful holiday season - it’s fair to say that it has been a very intense 12 months in W12 since my last version of this message.
Players and staff alike are honoured and blown away by the support R’s fans have shown us since even before a ball was kicked this campaign: the most season tickets sold for a decade, the highest average home attendance to date in a Championship season since prior to the club’s last time in the Premier League and 9,000 FA Cup third round tickets sold in eight hours last Friday for our trip to West Ham.
We are aware that the club has made it out of the third round of the competition just three times in the last 12 years. Although it will be difficult against a Premier League opponent, Julien (Stéphan) and the team will give it everything on what will be a special occasion at a ground QPR has not played at before.
Your energy has helped feed recent positive performances and the chemistry being built between the fanbase and this squad and coaching staff, which in my view went up a notch since the second half of the West Brom home game, feels super special. Thank you so much.
If you feel that they are earning it, please continue to give the boys and our coaching staff maximum love and support in this Christmas period and for the remainder of the season. This is a group that is together, that cares about each other, with many of our new signings feeling as if this has been their home for much longer than five months. That’s a testament to staff, the rest of the playing group but also to you, the fans.
I want to ask R’s fans to bring this energy and passion to our FA Youth Cup fourth round match against Brighton & Hove Albion at MATRADE Loftus Road on Saturday 10th January, one day before our showdown in East London with West Ham.
Over the last two years of my being at the club, many of you have noticed our renewed focus on the development and prioritisation of young talent, all the way up and down the structure, with the club now having one of the youngest first-team squads in the EFL Championship. You responded immensely when nearly 8,000 of you turned up to watch us beat our neighbours in the U21 Premier League Cup final in the summer. Please come and see the next generation of first-team talents.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Andy Evans on a richly-deserved retirement, as he serves his final days as CEO of the Community Trust. In my first weeks and months at the club, I found Andy to be so kind with his time, encouragement and such a great teacher on all things QPR history and culture. The work that he has done for the Trust is truly nation-leading and we look forward as a club to honouring him with a proper celebration of his achievements in the New Year.
I also want to congratulate and thank his staff for their continued commitment and resilience in this period of change at the Trust.
Finally, my particular congratulations to Justin Stone and Caroline Shea for organising a second consecutive year of a record-breaking number of player Christmas in the Community visits - I am so proud to work for an organisation where players and staff enthusiastically give their free time to support our community.
I want to start off by thanking our owners. I am forever grateful for the support they have given me during my time here. As a club, we are very fortunate to have such unwavering backing from Ruben (Gnanalingam), Amit (Bhatia) and Richard (Reilly), which was demonstrated by how they responded to the increased competitiveness of the 2025/26 edition of the Championship in the summer window. They enabled us to invest wage-bill savings and incoming transfer receivables back into making the first team competitive.
We are less than a week away from the opening of the January window and thus the speculation that comes along with it. We believe that we have made a step forward in summer with regards to increased competition for places in the men’s first-team squad and that this has driven players to push each other harder and develop quicker, alongside the continued excellent work of our individual development coaches.
January is typically a window of improvisation and market opportunities. Our recruitment team continues to work diligently to identify ones that could make us stronger in the long-term or short-term. But we will not act unless we are absolutely convinced that a deal can improve our standing today and/or in the future.
We began the 2025/26 campaign with the ambition of being a side that could contend for promotion. Thus far, we have failed to consistently deliver the performances to match our ambition. We are working hard behind the scenes to learn some lessons, notably in the realm of recruitment and squad composition, as well as focusing more on building our playing identity rather than the opponent’s particular set of strengths. There is still 50% of the season to go and I’ve been heartened by conversations I’ve had internally with key players and staff, who want to make the best of things in 2026 - our level of ambition for our women’s team remains unchanged.
As a group of staff, we were delighted to see you break our attendance record for a women’s home fixture when 2,307 came to our match against Luton Town Ladies in November at MATRADE Loftus Road. Thank you once again for your backing of the club across all areas.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year R’s fans - it’s a privilege for myself and the team to continue to work tirelessly to try to set up the club for greater long-term success in 2026 and beyond. While we know there will be bumps along the road, please know that everyone fortunate enough to work for your football club is doing all they can to make you proud.
