R's On the Road...

Weather permitting of course, QPR's next game is away at Nottingham Forest this coming Saturday 7th February. Lee Brown brings you some info, hints and tips for those R's fans making the journey to the City Ground.

Rough Guide to Forest, by Lee Brown

The City Ground, Current Capacity 30,576



Nottingham Forest play at The City Ground situated south of Nottingham City Centre and the River Trent opposite Trent Bridge Cricket Ground. The visitors are accommodated in the Lower Tier of the Bridgford Stand. The capacity is 4,750 but this is usually reduced to about 3,000. Access to the visitors turnstiles is through The Brian Clough Stand car park via Scarrington Road off Lady Bay Bridge. It
is also possible to follow Colwick Road (and Orston Road), to get to these turnstiles, this can be found halfway along Radcliffe Road next to a pedestrian crossing.

Parking prohibitions are in force on match days around the ground. Nottingham City Council operates a paying car park 15-20 minutes walk away on Victoria Embankment. Access is via Clifton Bridge complex to Queens Drive and then
Riverside Way. South of the river in West Bridgford it is permitted to park in the side streets; however, it should be noted that this parking is in short supply and is unpopular with residents. There are also a number of places on the opposite side of the Trent, including Notts County's Meadow Lane ground, which charge about £2 to park.

As you may or may not know, Rangers away form at the City Ground is dreadful! QPR have never won there in their history, making it one of the only grounds they have failed to pick up a win from. Having only scored 16 goals in the previous 26 fixtures at Forest, it is essential that Rangers continue their rich vain of form away from home having scored 5 and kept 2 cleans sheets in the previous 2 away games.

On top of the 2 clean sheets in the last 2 away games, Rangers also have a clean sheet from the weekend game against league high-flyers Reading. Defensively QPR now look very stable, the combination of Connolly, Stewart, Gorkss and Delaney now looks a settled and well oiled back four. It's all a question of who has their shooting boots on to go and score the vital goal(s) that their smooth passing and counter attacking football deserves.

It may only be a matter of time before we start finding the net on a more frequent basis. Forest themselves have been in good form and were on a 6 match unbeaten streak until losing to Cardiff on Saturday. Since being under the guidance of ex Preston and Derby boss Billy Davies, Forest have clawed themselves away from the relegation scrap and are now climbing the league at a healthy rate and are currently laying in 17th place. The main dangerman for Forest has been Rob Earnshaw, whose 11 goals in all competitions, 4 in the last 5 games before missing the Cardiff game, has helped lift Forest up the table and also defeat Man City up at Eastlands in the FA Cup.

Pubs, Grub and Sights

The Meadow Club on Meadow Lane has now become the 'unofficial' pub for away supporters it adjoins Notts County FC. The Trent Bridge Inn and Larwood and Voce do not allow away supporters in. There are a large number of food outlets around the ground including a McDonalds, which is less than 5 minutes walk down Radcliffe Road. If you have time to spend in the city centre there are a vast number of pubs, clubs and eating places. For those of you who like a bit of culture when it comes to a good old fashioned pub with some light hearted entertainment then I would highly recommend Hooters, although it is not suitable for some of our younger viewers.



If you are looking at buying any football memorabilia then I would strongly advise a trip to the MSR memorabilia shop located in the Broadmarsh shopping centre. For a bit of history visit the Trip to Jerusalem near the castle, or even take a trip to the castle itself.