Ask any football fan which was the top London club in the English Premier League’s first season, and the chances are most of them will get it wrong. It wasn’t the Fancy Dans of pre-Arsene Wenger Arsenal, or the perennial under-achievers from White Hart Lane. It wasn’t even Chelsea, who were too poor in those days to hope for anything more than mid-table mediocrity.
It was in fact the Super Hoops from Loftus Road, Queens Park Rangers; but those golden days have become a distant memory for their loyal, and very loud, followers in recent years. However, QPR have hit the ground running this season, proudly sitting at the very pinnacle of the Championship with five wins in their first six matches.
Under the stewardship of the spiky but ever-lovable Neil Warnock, the London side are looking the part at the moment. To say Warnock is much-travelled is a little like describing TV presenter Davina McCall as slightly noisy, but the former Sheffield United boss seems to have found himself a happy home at Loftus Road.
During the summer, Warnock brought in a diverse group of players in order to mould an effective squad. Striker Jamie Mackie, goalkeeper Paddy Kenny and midfielder Adel Taarabt (finally signed after extensive loan spells from Tottenham) have proved a more than useful trio in the first few games of the campaign.
On the opening day of the season, Mackie and Taarabt both found the net in a 4-0 thumping of Barnsley, a victory that made the whole of the division sit up and take notice. A week later, they haughtily bestowed a 3-0 Bramall Lane defeat on the much-fancied Sheffield United (the team which Warnock has supported since his boyhood).
Since then, further 3-0 victories over Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town have given The Rs a start that even their staunchest supporters could only have dreamed about. The only blot was a poor performance at Derby, but they still managed two injury time goals to snatch an unlikely 2-2 draw. The perfect season is always 90% talent and 10% luck.
Of course, it’s still early days in the season, and there’s a long campaign ahead for Warnock and the boys. No doubt the next eight months will see more ups and downs, but the fact remains that Queens Park Rangers have served notice that they mean business and Warnock’s ambition to have one last crack at the Premier League is well known.
One of the club’s secret weapons is the ground itself. Although Loftus Road isn’t as big as almost all the other home stadia in the division (only Doncaster Rovers and Scunthorpe United’s grounds hold less people), it has a reputation for being one of the loudest grounds in the country.
The capacity is only 19,100, but in their glory days of the 1970s, when the likes of Stan Bowles, Don Givens, Gerry Francis and Rodney Marsh gave the club an almost showbiz-like glamour, they regularly played to attendances of well over 30,000. Even today, with the reduced numbers that can be crammed in, the noise can be as intimidating as being offered a lift home by George Michael.
The period between now and Christmas will be a crucial one for Warnock and his team, with games coming thick and fast. If QPR can consolidate their current position they will be perfectly placed to push for the ultimate goal: a place at the revenue-generating bean-feast known to all as the Premier League.
Last season, Newcastle United ran away with the league, but it should be pointed out that West Bromwich Albion achieved automatic promotion despite losing seven matches, and Blackpool went up via the playoffs even though they lost 14 games during the regular season. There’s plenty of optimism in Shepherd’s Bush at the moment – who’s to say it isn’t justified?
Perhaps the last word on the matter should go to Warnock himself, who has already set about instilling a steely discipline throughout the side. “Our aim is to get promotion, we want to be in the Premier League", said the 61-year-old. "I want my players to play the kind of football I have only dreamt of in my managerial career.”
