Interesting point and has been discussed before I believe. I personally think you'd have more support than Fulham for instance had you been in their position. The demise of Wimbledon FC was a massive reason for the increase in Fulham's fanbase Unfortunately the media place so much emphasis on the Premier League and show little interest in the Football League. The 90s and moreso 00s was when football broadcasting etc massively increased. I'm not sure if things have changed now but when the PL really hit the big time in the US it was rare to see a match that didn't involve Chelsea, Arsenal, United or Liverpool. I remember being in Shepherds Bush just the other day and seeing a father with a son (Chelsea) and daughter (Fulham) and it was quite strange so I see exactly what you mean. Before 2006 I only knew one Fulham fan, now I know about 15 at least. Some people I had grown up with that supported Wimbledon now follow Fulham relgiously. They've managed to expand their fanbase thus allowing them to expand their stadium by consistently playing in the PL as well as the fact they are a London club in an ideal location.
I went to school in Shepherds Bush...1 Fulham fan! And I know about 2 nowadays me mates are pretty much all QPR with a few Chelsea and Arsenal, I ****ing hate Arsenal fans
The title of this thread was not meant to be derogatory. We are not a big club and that is no bad thing. It is part of what I love about QPR, we are a small close-knit family. I live in Ireland and would love to be able to get to more matches. I was amazed when I saw empty seats but from the responses on here I now have a better understanding as to why. Lets not bicker between ourselves. The reason I am on not606 is to have good healthy debate. We are all QPR fans after all, apart from the odd WUM.
To be honest i would be more worried if we dont sell out next Saturday against Wolves. Thats a much much more important game and i like many others looked at yesterdays game as a bit of a distraction from the main aim of premiership survival. I still went but there were many others who didn't. Strange thing though was that my mates girlfriend who has her season ticket next to me didn't buy her seat for yesterday and on the website it showed the seat had been taken, but noone sat in the seat all game.....
Good intelligent OP Ciarrai. Know exactly where you're coming from. We certainly are a small club - but our prime location has attracted interest in investment from two sets of wealthy people who recognise the potential to grow us. Given the nature of football fans yearning to win every game and every competition, you can't blame proactive owners for thinking we'd be up for supporting ambition plans; plans that would at the same time protect us from extinction through poverty and mounting debt as experienced by many smaller clubs these days. As Ciarrai points out, somewhat glumly and with similar reservations to my own, these plans also require prem football and a mercenary culture at odds with the honest to goodness, humble stuff we've been accustomed to for much of our history. No gain without pain. Such necessary change is always uncomfortable but regardless, has to be the way to go. Remember, we R one of the luckier clubs in this economy - and all down to one thing: our close-to-Central London location, in a league that has a global following... As for a larger stadium and the chances of filling it. That won't happen over night and will require re-branding and marketing initiatives to widen our appeal to local fans. The good news is that such re-culturing in terms of fanbase and filling that bigger stadium (necessary to manage costs) has to be cheaper match tickets until we're full to the rafters. Could take a few seasons to achieve that plastic utopia!!!
I know my place. Remember that Frost sketch in the sixties? Well, in the sixties the big clubs in the First Division were ManU, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, ManC, Liverpool, Newcastle, in fact pretty much what the top of the Prem looks like now. Which tells me it's not going to easy if we want to get ourselves up there. Sure, there have been anomolies since the sixties. Blackburn had Shearer and money and won the title. But pretty much, the status quo has been maintained. How do we get up there and stay up there? Good owners, decent ground to fill, good catchment area, players that captivate the imagination and attract new fans, build a new and international QPR brand. TF and Amit will have these in their minds - may be Lakshmi will take an interest (he was at the game yesterday). It is a huge ambition to achieve it and sustain it What was the question again - do we need a new and bigger ground as part of that project - yes
On the same note would you buy the 2000 tickets for the fans that didn’t go yesterday out of your own pocket? Those fans that people are knocking are the same ones who travel all over the country watching QPR. As I said yesterday my 2 mates didn’t go because of funds but they will be at Villa on Wednesday and were at Newcastle (freezing) on a Sunday and In the Arsenal end and will no doubt be at every other away day, are they any less a fan because they didn’t go yesterday or are they ‘fecking embarrassing’? In fact of all the people moaning how many will be going to Villa? People have short memories. When we were a league One team we averaged 16K at home and we had a fab away support that put some Prem clubs to shame. People forget the Sheff Weds away support or the Cardiff Final. People forget the thousands of us who went to Coventry back in the day or the 15K at Wimbledon in the cup. People forget the 4000 that went to Port Vale in a crap Championship game or the 7K at Manu in the cup on a Sunday losing 2-0. Or the gates in the 70’s 80’s at Loftus rd. I would rather get 15K at home and take 1500 away than 25K at home and 200 away (Fulham) QPR are not a big club like ManU or Arsenal but they we are not like a Donny or a Darlington. I am happy with who we are and what we can become. Yesterday was not the best of crowds but then many factors came into play. Our club gets knocked enough by others we shouldn’t be doing it ourselves. If people want 75K, go and watch ManU.
A bigger ground is imperative to our club SIMPLY SURVIVING in the PL. TF will not pour money into a black hole, he's a businessman and used to success in everything he does, as are the Mittals. They see the potential of QPR as a brand that can be sold in Asia in particular and they will be willing to subsidise the club as part of building that brand. The key to all of this will be a new stadium that will ultimately make the club profitable through multi-use. There are suggestions of a ground-share with Fulham that, logically, would be right for both clubs. However, to really advance QPR as a PL club and brand that may eventually challenge for a Champions League place, a ground of our own, say 30,000 capacity with the option to increase to 40,000+ in the future would be the soundest in terms of a long-term business plan. They sold MH a vision that he has bought into, I have no doubt TF did not say "By the way Mark, we love this ramshackle dump of a stadium and no way would we consider anywhere else!"...
I have to admit that I like us being a small club. We have a tradition of being a family club, slightly quirky but full of character. Our ground may be in dilapidated but the atmosphere generated can be awesome. My biggest fears going forward are that we lose all of the ideals that I hold dear. For me, we must remain a family club, we must remain a friendly club, we must not sell out to the corporate world, as Ciarrai says, we must not lose our soul. The mercenary players question is a hard one. When we were struggling to get out of League One we had players who did give their all for the cause. They were so easy to get behind and so easy to forgive when events did not go as we hoped. Now it is harder. Yes they are far better footballers and yes we need players of their ability, but they are harder to support. This is a dilemma that I am struggling to deal with. I am fully behind a new stadium, it clearly is essential, but the design is so, so important. One of the reasons that Loftus Road is so atmospheric is that there is no gap in the stands. The outside world cannot intrude on the match and the noise generated stays within the ground. This must be the part of the design of the new stadium. We will all miss LR, but it must happen for us to be able to stay at this level. If you look around, there are some fabulous looking stadia in the country, ours is not among them. However many of the managers and pundits say that they love coming to our ground because of the atmosphere, this must not be lost. The growing process is going to be very tough. I think we have a chance of succeeding, a lot depends on Fernandes, Bhatia and Beard. They all say the right things and seem to have the club’s interests at heart. The next few years will be a fascinating period of the club’s history, I hope that we don’t get left behind.
i Love your passion Ellers, its just that some of our fans have short memories,they dont remember the hard times.
My Dad is West London Born & Bred and knew a lot of QPR fans at the time including cousins who went to LR regularly back then. These days when I go to Bush it seems to be mainly Chelsea and then obviously Arsenal, United, Fulham, QPR etc. It's strange how things change over time.
I'm sure attendance today was purely down to the threat of violence. I still remember as a young kid sitting in south Africa road, watching the entire school end of Chelsea fans charge at the lower loft. It was after the final whistle and families were leaving and the sudden panic it caused saw kids being trampled on and eventually the Chelsea fans surrounded one guy and got completely beaten to a pulp, but later found out he was also being stabbed. So no surprise that the lower loft wasn't full.
Yeah, 'cause everyone thinks that ****'s gonna happen in 2012. Few plastic bottles and coins, if that.
The Premier League has killed the League Cup and is now well on its way to doing the same thing for the FA Cup. These tournaments really only become attractive anymore if a trip to the final is on the cards. For the league game against the scum we could have sold out many times over so the only difference yesterday was the competition itself. Youngsters in particular know the relative status of the tournaments and are well aware that the top teams often put out a second string in the cups. Generally it will take at least a generation to rebuild a larger following of true supporters but I have no doubt that any well-funded central London club can attract 25-30k for any PL game and more for the big names. TF knows that too I hope.
Dead right, District. Don Revie, Billy Bremner and chums. They've sunk now of course but otherwise the top order is pretty much the same.
Alot of QPR fans are now out around Northolt, Ruislip areas I think District may have a point, we missed out in the late nineties early noughties, I think our fan base would have increased massively but I remember the atmosphere being terrible the last couple of years we were in the premier league even when we were finishing top half. Plus we have to remember how many team choice's people have in London, I had to drive up to Leeds last week for work and I think their nearest team is Barnsley, nearly every motor I saw had a leeds badge on.
...and THREE prem teams in one of the smaller London boroughs! Our slump over the past 15 years or so also cost us the chance to attract the impressionable teens. It's them that cheer and chant loudest as they move towards their 20s and have the time, energy and passion to generate more support.
Certainly in the 90s when we were doing well as a PL club our average gates were only 12-13,000 and some home games against teams like Coventry struggled to reach 10,000, but that was before the real boom that started about ten years ago. I think we'd easily get 22-23,000 plus and increase as we establish ourselves in a new stadium, especially if we are signing top players...
Mainly Chelsea in Shepherds Bush..mmmmm, i don't think so, Bush is such a small place that for most kids QPR is the only choice they have
