In the final part of his epic look back at 25 years as a QPR supporter Ross Smith recounts the two promotions under Ian Holloway and Neil Warnock.

Sheff Wed 1 QPR 3 – 2004

In 2003 I decided to embark on the once in a lifetime opportunity of backpacking round the world. I moved back with my mum and dad at the end of 2002 to save up the money to go do it, which meant I missed out on the vast majority of the 2003/04 season. I managed to catch Bournemouth at home in August before jetting off later that month to Los Angeles and the start of my trip. I tried to put football to the back of my mind whilst experiencing the delights of the west coast for the very first time, in particular Las Vegas where I found out why America does not entertain the same drinking culture that we do in the UK. The reason is that their beer is so awful and gassy, it makes you physically sick and after about 5 bottles of Miller, Budweiser, Labbatts or some other crap bottle of fizz they try and palm off as beer, you suddenly realise why they prefer opting to eat themselves into an early grave instead.

There was absolutely no coverage of Nationwide Division 2 out there and I had a lot of ground to cover before setting off over the Pacific to Fiji. I don't think I once checked any football results.

I hit Fiji in September and as you can imagine on tropical islands, internet and TV is a little hard to come by. It wasn't until I reached Auckland, New Zealand in mid September that I checked how we were doing and was pleasantly surprised to see we had beaten Sheffield United in the League Cup and thought how great it must have been to get one over their obnoxious manager. By October I was in Sydney, Australia looking for work while bouncing from hostel to hostel well and truly on the backpacker trail. The Rugby World Cup was just starting at this point and there was a really good vibe around the city with hundreds of English taking over the bars and pubs, getting absolutely annihilated with everyone one else who just happened to be on their travels. I stayed in Sydney a while before heading up the east coast and doing the usual tourist things - Fraser Island, Whitsundays and Surfer’s Paradise where I happened to meet England Captain Martin Johnson and team mate Ben Cohen’s out and about. Still no feedback from Rangers though. For once in my life I'd really well and truly put QPR to the back of my mind and, amazingly I rarely found myself thinking about what they were doing back home either.

By mid December I found myself on the west coast in Perth where I was visiting some Aussie mates I met in the UK a year or so earlier, and half the reason I decided to do the traveling in the first place. I witnessed England lift the Rugby World Cup in a massive party on Airlie Beach and celebrated it with a bunch of English and German's who I'd met on whilst sailing the Whitsunday Islands. The German's I managed to persuade to support England, which they did without even thinking about it, even though the concept of rugby to them was completely off the wall. I can honestly say hand on heart, they were some of the best people I've ever met and certainly gave the English a run for their money where the dinks were concerned.

Having Rugby World Cup glory to jokingly gloat about to anyone that would listen when I arrived in Perth was enough to keep me occupied. That was until around January when my money had run a bit thin and I was looking for some work to tide me over and pay the rent on the apartment I was sharing with friends by the Swan River. A bit surreal now to think about that and when things aren’t quite going your way you tend not to appreciate your environment. The thing with Perth is that it's a beautiful city and all but there isn't much going on. It's a good place for the British ex pats to retire to but for a backpacker with a working holiday visa, it's not that much fun after about 3 months of looking for demeaning jobs (mainly sales) that pay virtually bugger all for your efforts. By this time my main sources of income was the old drastic plastic, where I’d eventually max out the odd card and get my mum back home to make the monthly minimal payments to tide it over.

Eventually my mind cast back to QPR and if they'd managed to cock up another promotion campaign by now. It must have been March 2004 by then, and my girlfriend back home who by now was probably not considering herself that after being left in the UK single since August. She kept me informed on by text on the odd result the 2-1 win over Brighton was one I vividly remember receiving in the middle of the night before realising my head was pounding after another hard session at the Mustang Bar. I was making regular trips into town by now, looking for work and visiting internet cafe's to check up on the QPR official site for match reports and results and to browse the league table. By that point, even though I was thousands of miles away in 40 degree heat, I began to feel anxious that the league table was beginning to look a tight affair and calculating points tallies from wild predicted results on QPR fixtures and fixtures of the teams around them. The only Rangers fix I'd get was the view of Loftus Road when I'd stay up late to watch a live Premier League fixture in Rosie O'Grady's Pub down the road from my apartment when Fulham were playing at home to someone. Oh to be there. Even though it wasn't Rangers playing, the site of the Old Girl from thousands of miles away just gave me that little bit of home comfort.

By April my finances were starting to get out of hand. I was now owing a few grand on my credit card by that stage and the interest free period was over. I was also owing my mum at least a couple of hundred by then for the payments she was making on it. It was obvious I'd have to start making tracks back to the UK. I was gutted to be cutting the year short but at least I'd manage to be back home for the football season finale. I arrived back in London the day after the Bristol City defeat. A result I managed to check up on in Singapore Airport during my flight stopover from Bangkok where I had spent the previous five days, and I was gutted to be seeing we'd blown that one and it was looking ever so likely that automatic promotion would go down to the wire as indeed it did.

I was far too skint to be thinking of getting to any games and had to find work to priorities clearing all my debts first. I did however scrape enough money from my temping job to go to the Live Beam back of Sheffield Wednesday v QPR at Loftus Road. The task was simple, better or equal Bristol City's result and QPR were back in the First Division. A strange atmosphere to say the least. Watching it from the lower loft on the big screen was no doubt the second best thing. When we took the lead in the first half through Kevin Gallen, it was a massive relief. Having been alerted to the Bristol City result coming though, it was in no doubt Rangers were going to have to win at Hillsborough. The amusing thing was hearing through the sound system the cheering Sheffield Wednesday fans who cheered like their team had scored when news of Bristol City's goals were coming through their end.

Loftus Road was still feeling a bit edgy at half time as a one goal margin was always going to be a precarious position. However, Rangers had pretty much dominated that first half so I was pretty confident a second goal would pretty much settle it. And indeed 5 minutes in, a cross from Marc Bircham allowed Paul Furlong to control the ball with his back to goal, turn and smash the ball past Kevin Pressman in the Wednesday goal in one swift movement to send the 8000 Rangers fans behind the goal into heavenly glory. QPR were now 2 nil up and looking bound for Division 1.

As always though QPR never seem to do things the easy way and will always turn a relaxed situation into a tense one. Sheffield Wednesday caught Rangers napping somewhat as John Shaw eluded a desperate Bircham lunge to find himself in on goal and finish neatly passed Lee Camp to bring Sheffield Wednesday back in it. The crowd inside Loftus Road sighed. We knew QPR had been careless when it mattered most, and suddenly a likely winning margin now looked like a fragile one and we all braced ourselves for an agonizing final 25 minutes.

Rangers had to stay afloat in a Sheffield Wednesday storm now as they finally found some momentum and went about leveling to scores. Rangers held on and then got a genuine silver platter stroke of good fortune. As if the previous four years of pain, embarrassment and bad luck were about to be repaid in full, a Martin Rowlands cross came in and under no pressure from a QPR forward, Wednesday defender and one time QPR trialist Chris Carr sliced the ball into his own net in an attempt to clear. Loftus Road couldn't believe it. "Did that just happen" I cried and to my delight the sight of 8000 jubilant Rangers fans on the huge screen before me confirmed it so - Rangers were 3-1 up now and promotion looked a certainty. The story surely should have read about how a former QPR trialist got his own back by smashing a winner against the team that deemed him not good enough. Instead we were treated to a free goal out of nothing by that said trialist. He went down as a Rangers legend in his own right that afternoon.

When the final whistle came, it was a scene of relief and celebration in W12. We may not have been there at Hillsborough but we were in the second best place, Loftus Road. Some ran onto the pitch in jubilation. I stayed for the interviews on the big screen and felt proud watching the team who had worked so hard all season finally get their reward and the nightmare of losing the 2003 playoff final was finally put to rest.

YouTube Footage

Champions 2011

After a fantastic season the title was won on a beautiful spring day in Hertfordshire at Vicarage Road as Rangers ran out 2-0 winners against Watford.

For once on the pitch at least, Rangers broke the habit of a lifetime and made it “Mission Complete” sealing the title with a game to spare. It could have been earlier still had they put away a last minute sitter at Cardiff or not conceded a late goal to Hull. Promotion though was pretty much sewn up the week before April 30. Thousands of Rangers fans invaded the Loftus Road pitch in celebration after the Hull game before news came through that a late winner at Norwich meant that promotion wasn’t mathematically secure for another week at least.

There was the small issue of a FA hearing over the legalities of the Alejandro Faurlin signing in 2009 hanging over the club like a black cloud which threatened to derail all the hard work in some cruel but oh so typical twist of fate. I shall refrain from going into that though because it almost took the gloss off what was one of the most memorable QPR seasons to date. But I will say this: I was never convinced we’d lose points once I’d heard the TalkSport interview with Simon Jordan who was so convinced that QPR had done nothing wrong except stupidly big up the Faurlin transfer cost which would warrant nothing but a slap on the wrist. He completely bamboozled Richard Keys and Andy Gray during the interview with his take on the case and from that moment on I was convinced we’d be okay. Jordan is not everyone’s cup of tea, mainly for the way he looks, but he is never one to shy away from what he believes is right. Big mouth, big principles - in 2004 he gave an interview in which he described other club chairmen as “tossers” and football as “a bulls*** world. “Agents are nasty scum. They’re evil and divisive and pointless,” he said. A shame football has all too few Simon Jordan characters left instead of overseas money men with no emotional tie to the club they invest in, arguably it might have been a better place for it.

And so to Vicarage Road where the atmosphere was jumping with many Rangers fans who were unable to buy tickets for lack of loyalty points infiltrating the Watford ends to watch this historic moment unfold.

I arrived early at Vicarage Road and took my seat on the far side of the away end and was actually the last seat in the row overlooking the junk yard below me which looks somewhat bizarrely out of spec with the rest of the ground. Why Watford, a team that has twice graced the Premier League, has never done anything about that side of the ground baffles me. It’s a tip with old cable, rusty goal posts and random lumps of tarmac chucked in there. It looks like a scrap monger’s clearance sale down there. Why have they not built that end up as all seating, with a half decent area for disabled supporters who have to sit up the balcony of that old wooden pavilion in the far corner, where the view surly can’t be that great at all? Even it was along the design of out own Ellerslie Road stand, surely that wouldn’t be an outrageous financial commitment?

This was only my third visit to Vicarage Road, the first being ten years previous during our meltdown season where we got caned out of sight inside the first ten minutes and the second being out maiden season in the Championship where we got caned out of site within…. ah yes within the first ten minutes if memory serves correct. And on such occasions it’s only fitting for the sky outside to be pissing with rain as it was on both those trips.

This season though we were given a late season fixture at Watford and although it was a glorious sunny afternoon, being high up in the ground and with no cover from the wind it was actually bloody fresh with the breeze whipping round and me in just my t-shirt. For the second time this season I was watching QPR take on Watford, freezing my arse off. I just hoped the result would be different this time around.

Rangers fans were in good voice with plenty of random inflatable toys on offer as the party atmosphere got going. The first half was pretty even with both teams unable to get any real dominance. Fitz Hall did his usual first half bail out by picking up an injury under no real contact. He was replaced by the bigger then ever Danny Shittu in the Rangers defense. This actually improved the defence as Matt Connolly, playing at left back, was having a bit of a mare up to that point and a couple of times infuriated Taarabt with some inept passes that went out for throw instead of up the line to the Moroccan’s feet. The best chance of the half probably fell to Watford when a Troy Deeny cross looked plum for Danny Graham to bury with his head but for once he got it wrong and put his header wide.

The second half started much the same, both teams equal in measure and Watford trying to take every advantage of the controversial multi ball tactic where Rangers had to be on their guard every time the ball left the field. They did get to grips with that and coped with all that cheating quite well.

Wayne Routledge was withdrawn from the field having had a reasonable but slightly frustrating game where things just didn’t quite happen for him. Buzsaky was his replacement and with that Rangers were soon in front. A long ball from Cerny, which very nearly never got off the ground, found Tommy Smith, who up to this point was also undergoing a frustrating game against his former club. Smith played a teasing low cross from out wide which seemed to get a deflection as it traveled and Adel Taarabt was able to control his finish beyond Scott Loach in the Watford goal. The away end exploded into fits of hysteria. Rangers were on their way.

Rangers were in control from that point and in stoppage time Tommy Smith made sure QPR would be playing Premier League football next season with a neat jinking move and smart low finish low passed Loach to send the Rangers faithful mental once again. Faurlin doing the Jurgen Klinsmaan arm flapping thing in celebration from Italia 90 joining the fans emotional hysteria as we were once again a Premiere League club.

The celebrations went on after the final whistle with the players and manager coming over to us in the away end. It was great to see the promotion banners being held aloft and Taarabt getting a Moroccan flag from the crowd, who’s to say he’s a moody wotsit, for it seemed to mean as much to him as it did the rest of us?

Some of the QPR fans inevitably invaded the pitch to join the players in their celebrations, nearly swarming Neil Warnock in the process until Big Pat Agyemang came to his rescue and with that the Rangers players and staff made their way back to the dressing rooms. The Watford official’s pleas to get off the pitch fell on deaf ears so mounted police were quickly deployed to hem the invaders in. To be fair to the Watford fans, many stuck around in hope they would get a lap of honor from their own team and applauded the Superhoops promotion. It was nice to see that from the away fans, a stark contrast to the Sheffield Wednesday fans behavior seven years earlier.

It soon became clear the Rangers players wouldn’t be returning so I made my way back through the streets of Watford in the joyous crowd of Rangers fans singing their hearts out back to Watford High Street. Things turned a little bit ugly at one point when the stampede of Rangers fans passed a local pub where the chavs in the window seemed to take disliking to the away fans celebrations outside and bottles and glasses were exchanged with the doorman of the pub desperately trying to close the doors and shutters or risk having their workplace annihilated. I mean a bunch of around six tattooed beer swilling scaffholders was never going to hold out a few hundred football fans, who despite the jubilant mood, are never the quickest to turn down an offering and by this point getting re-enforcements in vast numbers. It was all rather silly so I was glad when I managed to by-pass all that and carry on towards the high street without taking a stray glass to head or something to that effect. The streets were soon crawling with police due to that incident so I assumed it was snuffed out pretty quick.

Unfortunately I had a prior engagement that evening so was unable to and join Andy Impey and co in the Weatherspuds so headed back to Watford Junction and caught the train back to Clapham and then Raynes Park where I would commence the drinking with the good lady and friends who were commencing their own bender by that point.

So Rangers had achieved Promotion within the four year plan that the new owners had set out when the takeover came to fruition in 2007/08. There is no doubt that the promotion would never have been achieved if not for the hard work of one man. The man of course is Neil Warnock who in the summer transfer window of 2010 built Championship winning team. When Warnock was appointed manager in March that year, he inherited a squad bloated by bad loans and under performing players on big money contracts. He weeded out the dead wood and added the right characters to the squad to build the camaraderie that was all too lacking in the three years prior to his arrival. His one masterstroke that would set the tone for the season ahead was to convince Adel Taarabt to sign a permanent deal at the club and to realise what the managers before him couldn’t. QPR’s Championship winning team of 2010/11 was built around that young Moroccan and his goals and assists were the main reason we went to Watford that Saturday afternoon with on3 foot firmly in the Premier League.

Selling Taarabt before our return to the Premiere League even gets going would be a disaster as far as I, and I’m sure hundreds of others, are concerned. There are not many times I’ve watched a goal go in and been left with my jaw wide open in disbelief. My generation of Rangers fan in the past has only had their imagination to work out what that must have felt like being in the presence of the likes of Bergkamp and Ronaldo whilst they manipulate those moments of amazement like some kind of well performed art.

I would actually feel cheated if I don’t get to see him grace the Premier League in a Rangers shirt and I would also like to add for the record that the Premier League as a whole should also feel cheated it that does not happen come August.

YouTube Footage

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

Recent Stories