Like many, if not all of you, I can't help bemoaning the fact that we've had three attempts at the PL and thrown away our chances like a discarded Christmas present from Great Aunt Myrtle.
I suppose it is particularly poignant on the eve of the playoff between Reading and Huddersfield. The former we've often kept pace with over the years and the latter have come from nowhere and are a force to be reckoned with - for now at least.
It is important to consider the present in the context of history. For example, and to take a non footballing example, the financial crash in 1987, when viewed on a graph of the financial fortunes of the UK is a small blip rather than a cataclysmic chasm.
All of which made me want to re-examine the QPR highs and lows since the war (someone else can do the whole lot if they wish!).
During that time we've been promoted eight times.
The greatest periods of stability were between 1952 to 1967 in Division 3 ie 15 years but then back to back promotions to Div 2 then Div 1 so a 17 year good run and then, of course, 1983 to 1996 in Div 1 which morphed into the PL in 1992 ie 13 years.
7 years in the Championship between 2004 until we achieved promotion in 2011 when we spent 2 years in the PL so a 'good' run for 9 years.
We've not really seen the yo-yo effect of the last few years before. Whether that is a precursor to recurrent success or the harbinger of doom for another 10 to 15 years remains to be seen. The QPR of yesteryear did not have to deal with FFP, Murdock's Sky money, high wages and ever increasing expectations from fans.
I think we can only hope that the pattern is a precursor to success but I suspect, as many of us have expressed on here, that we are due another period of years in the Championship before we get another bite at the PL cherry. That's if we avoid relegation as we so narrowly did this season!
I suppose it is particularly poignant on the eve of the playoff between Reading and Huddersfield. The former we've often kept pace with over the years and the latter have come from nowhere and are a force to be reckoned with - for now at least.
It is important to consider the present in the context of history. For example, and to take a non footballing example, the financial crash in 1987, when viewed on a graph of the financial fortunes of the UK is a small blip rather than a cataclysmic chasm.
All of which made me want to re-examine the QPR highs and lows since the war (someone else can do the whole lot if they wish!).
During that time we've been promoted eight times.
The greatest periods of stability were between 1952 to 1967 in Division 3 ie 15 years but then back to back promotions to Div 2 then Div 1 so a 17 year good run and then, of course, 1983 to 1996 in Div 1 which morphed into the PL in 1992 ie 13 years.
7 years in the Championship between 2004 until we achieved promotion in 2011 when we spent 2 years in the PL so a 'good' run for 9 years.
We've not really seen the yo-yo effect of the last few years before. Whether that is a precursor to recurrent success or the harbinger of doom for another 10 to 15 years remains to be seen. The QPR of yesteryear did not have to deal with FFP, Murdock's Sky money, high wages and ever increasing expectations from fans.
I think we can only hope that the pattern is a precursor to success but I suspect, as many of us have expressed on here, that we are due another period of years in the Championship before we get another bite at the PL cherry. That's if we avoid relegation as we so narrowly did this season!
