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Saturday, September 05, 2009

Helguson to Watford?...QPR Attendance Figures...Francis on Crouch and QPR...Les Allen Birthday...Wardley Flashback...QPR Masters

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- For additional up-to-the-minute news about QPR, mixed in with "retro" lookbacks at QPR; along with some items of general football interest: Visit the combination blog and messageboard, QPR Report Messageboard. If you want to offer your own perspective: It's always welcome!

- QPR REPORT Available on TWITTER!

- Today's Lower Divison Results. Some results of QPR Interest. Some Sizable Crowds

- A Fan Call to Get Former QPR Chief Scout. Mel Johnson Back at QPR

- Ken Bates -- Ken Bates! - Deplores "Child Farming" of Big Clubs

- Bad press for a US Sports Team and owner

- Snippet re Ex-QPR Youth Oliver Sprague - and Broader at Chelsea's Youth Intake from 2005

- Decade Flashback: Stuart Wardley Arrives on the Scene

- Two Year Flashback: Axed Joe Gallen Talking About QPR's Tribulations

- The Masters Grand Final being played tomorrow - QPR vs Middlesbrough (Knockout format): QPR Squad - Roberts,Edghill, Tillson, Sinton, Doyle, Connolly, Meaker, Bradley Allen, Thorpe

- What it Feels Like to be Sacked: A Coach's Perspective

- Cracking Down on Child Transfers

- Mourinho Highest Paid in Italian Football

- John Terry: English Players Don't Dive!


PAST QPR ATTENDANCE FIGURES

- 2009/10 (Blackpool: 14,013 Nott Forest 13,058 + Accrington 5,203)
[ 2009/10 Championship Football Attendance Ranking

- 2008/09 14,003
- 2007/08 13,958
- 2006/07 12,936
- 2005/06 13,440
- 2004/05 16,055
- 2003/04 14,784 (Promotion)
- 2002/03 13,206 (Playoffs)


WATFORD OBSERVER/Frank Smith -Watford want three new signings and hope to complete at least one before Barnsley 5th September 2009
- Watford are aiming to make at least another three signings in the coming weeks and manager Malky Mackay hopes to bring in a new player before their next league game against Barnsley.
- The Hornets were unable to bring in any new additions before the transfer window closed on Tuesday but Mackay claimed it was not for the “want of trying” and that four deals fell through on the final day.
- But the loan window re-opens on Tuesday and the manager said he would “certainly look to bring another three in”. And when asked whether he aims to sign a player before the Hornets’ next league game in eight days time, he replied “Yes, I am actively looking. The recruitment process doesn’t stop today once the window closes.”
Mackay refused to discuss any individuals but the Watford Observer understands Hornets legend Heidar Helguson is one possible recruit after being made aware of his availability by Queens Park Rangers.
- The Icelandic striker is reportedly available on loan following the signing of Jay Simpson from Arsenal and we understand the two clubs have been discussing a possible three-month loan switch.
- If all parties agree then Helguson, who scored 64 goals during his five-and-a-half year spell at Vicarage Road, could return from Tuesday when the loan window opens, although it is believed there is still some way to go in the negotiations.

....The Scot said: “We are in a small bracket of clubs going for a number of players.
“There were four different players that for one reason or another we couldn’t agree but were in advanced negotiations with either the club, the player or his agent.
“We want to bring players into the club and not just loans.”
Watford are eager to bring in experience but Mackay is adamant he will not sign someone unless they are right for the club.
He said: “We want to bring in players who want to better their careers and not just a journeyman who is looking to fill the last part of his career here. I do not advocate that at all.
“We didn’t want to buy someone and then regret it for the next three years.
“When we sign someone we want to get it right and if that means waiting until December and using the loan market for the next few months then so be it.”
Danny Graham, 24, 30-year-old Scott Severin and Jure Travner, 23, were signed at the beginning of the transfer window but the only recent additions have been youngsters Tom Cleverley and Henri Lansbury from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. The Hornets fielded six players under the age of 22 in their starting line-up against Swansea City on Saturday and Mackay is keen to replace the likes of Smith with a couple of players with knowledge of the Championship.
He said: “I want to build the squad and bring in two or three experienced players into the squad. ....” Watford Observer


Daily Express/Frank Wiechula - PETER HAS HAD THE LAST LAUGH, SAYS FRANCIS
- NOT surprisingly, Peter Crouch has provoked some big debates, fluctuating opinions and even terrace ridicule on his sometimes circuitous route to the top.
- At 6ft 7in, the tallest man ever to represent England internationally, he is used to jibes about his height, ability and perceived ungainly style.
- But it has not stopped immensely likeable striker Crouch from playing for some of our biggest domestic clubs – attracting more than £33million in transfer fees, Tottenham being the most recent at £9m – and building an outstanding England record of 16 goals in 34 appearances.
- Come Wednesday, Crouch, 28, could be preparing for his second successive World Cup after winning over his third England manager in Fabio Capello.
- But one man hugely instrumental in the early days of the Crouch success story, Gerry Francis, is not the slightest bit surprised at just how well he has risen to the challenge and defeated the doubters.
- Francis, the former QPR and Tottenham manager and a one-time England captain, said: “We had him as a kid at QPR and I signed him as a schoolboy before I went to Tottenham. Then when I went to White Hart Lane we took him with us, where he signed professional forms.”

- By that stage Francis had returned to his spiritual home as QPR boss again, but he never forgot about Crouch, who did not make the Spurs senior side.
- Francis, now Stoke’s first-team coach, said: “I’d gone back to QPR and I remember talking to David Pleat, who said Crouch wouldn’t be good enough for Tottenham.
- “So we brought him back for something ridiculous, like £60,000. Peter went straight into the team and got 12 goals, doing very well in a difficult season.”
- But QPR’S relegation in 2001 and their precarious financial state meant cashing in on Crouch. He was sold to Portsmouth for £1.2m and the goals and roller-coaster run started in earnest. Express


Les Allen - Ex-QPR player and manager (and father and uncle of QPR Players), Les Allen, Turned Seventy-two yesteday: Born September 4, 1937.



Started with Chelsea; joined Spurs and was part of Spurs double-winning team. Allen was "surplanted" at Spurs by Jimmy Greaves.

Allen joined QPR in July 1965 for a then-record fee paid by Jim Gregory on behalf of Alec Stock. Allen was part of the 1966/1967 League Cup Winning/Division III Championship team and QPR's 1967/68 Division II promotion team. In his first season, 1965/66, Allen scored 30 goals, including a 6 game streak in which he scored 12 goals - and in one of those games he didn't score.
Allen scored QPR's first-ever goal in Division One coming on as sub at home to Leicester. Allen became player manager in late 1968, replacing Tommy Docherty. Shortly after that Allen stopped playing (see below last game match report!)

Allen managed QPR from then (the Division One relegation season; the whole next season in Division Two, which saw lots of goals; and then the following season until January 1971 when he was replaced by coach, Gordon Jago. (And arguably, since Allen brought Jago to QPR; without Allen, probably no Stan Bowles, Dave Thomas, etc...which impacted deeply on QPR!)..

.As manager, among other players he (and Owner Jim Gregory) bought: Terry Venables and Phil Parkes. He may have become 'relegated' in some minds to being "father of Clive Allen and Bradley Allen" or "Uncle of Martin Allen" - but in his own right, he played a major part in QPR's breakthrough in the mid and late 1960s.

JOINING QPR - (Sunday Times 'Caught in time')
"2 Les Allen (QPR)

A striker in Tottenham's Doublewinning side of 1960-61, Allen moved to QPR for 21,000 pounds in July 1965. "I met Jim Gregory, the chairman, and he laid out the plans about what they wanted to do. I was impressed, even though they were in the Third Division," recalls Allen. "It was quite a change. When I started, we were only getting gates of 3,000 or 4,000 people, but that trebled when we began to get results". Allen became player-manager in December 1968 after the premature departure of Stock and the stormy 28-day reign of the colourful Scot Tommy Docherty. However, the club was relegated, and he moved on to manage Swindon, then spent time in Greece.
He then became a professional model-maker. Allen, who recently underwent hip replacement surgery, is retired and lives in Brentwood." Times.

Allen's Last Game for QPR - Match Report/summary from Feb 15, 1969
- [Note: This was actually the last game Les Allen played for QPR - appropriately enough against Spurs - And the game in which Roger Morgan made his Spurs debut after having just been sold to Spurs for 100,000 pounds+]

- "There was a frosty reception for recently signed Roger Morgan as he returned to Loftus Road, but it was only the freezing conditions that conspired to produce the chill. Most players on both teams wore gloves with Greaves donning fingerless fawn mittens.
- "Rangers were still near the bottom of the table and although both teams put on a good display of football in difficult conditions, the score was 0-0 at the break. The frosty pitch made errors likely and when Les Allen got past our defence, he put in a cross for Frank Clarke to head QPR into the lead soon after the second half started. It was late in the game that things swung Tottenham's way, with Mullery's free-kick being cleared and Morgan putting the ball back into the area for Jimmy Greaves to knock the ball past the keeper. The home side claimed Greaves had handled in the act of scoring, but the referee waved away their complaints.
- Rangers almost won the game at the death with a shot from Ian Morgan (twin of Roger) being kicked off the line by Cyril Knowles to preserve the draw.
Teams :
QPR - , , , , Les Allen, Ian Morgan, Clarke
Spurs - Knowles, Mullery, Roger Morgan, Greaves
Attendance : - 30,013
Referee : - Report

[Team: Kelly -
Clement Hazell Hunt Watson
Morgan Sibley Allen
Bridges Clarke Marsh

- Les Allen/Wikipedia Profile
- Dave Barton's Queens Park Rangers FC Site's warm Profile of Les Allen
- Les Allen/Spurs Profile

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44442000/jpg/_44442848_allen_family_203.jpg


- Despite ban, Chelsea May Still be Able to Sign Players

- Scunthorpe Deny have or had any Gavin Mahon Interest

- England U-21 Win

- Ainsworth One of Possibilities for Lincoln Job

- QPR Ticket Information for Chelsea Game

- Scunthorpe deny they have - or ever had - any interest in QPR's Mahon (and question where that rumour came from)

- Chris Charles/BBC Blog Review of the Week on QPR's Chelsea Game

- QPR Appoint a Scout:

- [Football] Boots for Africa and PFA Team Up for Charity (Individuals can contribute own boots)

- Spurs' Indian Involvement

- Sixty percent of Football League Players Foreign

- Leeds on Beckford

- Brief Video Highlights from Scunthorpe - QPR

- Players Forced to Travel "Second class"

- The Fifty Worst Managerial Reigns List (Complete List)

- Ian Holloway on His New style of Football

- Flashback: Ray Wilkins Departs QPR...Venables and Curbishley Linked as Replacements

- Five Years Flashback: Diaz to Replace Holloway?

- England U-19 Squad recently Announced (Includes Ex-QPR Dean Parrett)

- Year Ago: Ben Watson and QPR

- US Radio Daily Soccer Show Host Quits After Threats

- Norwich Ban Two Fans for On-Field Activities

- Chelsea's Kenyon on 2018: Clubs in London are United!

- Swansea Appoint a Chief Scout

- Accrington Stanley Tax Revenue Payment Due

- Wayne Routledge sole QPR Player in Actim Championship (Top 100)Player Rankings (Several players linked to QPR in the past, make the rankings)
- But no QPR Players in the Top Five Goalies, Defenders, Midfielders or forwards.

- Blow to Premiership Fight Against Piracy

- Sheffield Wednedsay's Francis Jeffers is Available

- West Ham's Finances: 37 Million Pound Loss...Approaching 100 Million Pound Debt

- US Footballers who did NOT make it in Europe (including Matt Pickens)

- Flashback: Briatore Talking About His QPR Plans Right after the Takeover

- Ex-(Briefly) QPR John Curtis - Recalling his QPR "Career"


- South Africa Prepared for World Cup Hooliganism...And the Background of Messi's bodguard.

- Chelsea Game September 23

- The Weirdest Superstitions in Football

- Football Clubs Spending and Profits

- F1 Racing Fix Claim


- New Book re QPR "Hooped Dreams -Billionaires, QPR and the Premiership Promised Land." By Mick Kelly. (Foreword by Rodney Marsh) - Book Description

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