Blackburn Await Warnock's Blue and White Army...

This evening saw the draw for the 3rd Round of the FA Cup and has seen the R's been drawn to travel north to take on Premier League, Blackburn Rovers.



Personally, I am a bit disappointed, especially as it was one of my musical heroes, Noel Gallagher that drew us out of the hat. You may not agree with me, but this season, we have a great chance of promotion, so I just wanted a BIG tie, either to new Stadiums like Arsenal or Man City, or a big side at home - Chelsea, Spurs or Man United?? But it's Premier League opposition and will take place on the 8th/9th January.

Will see you all at Ewood Park then...

QPR Clip Bluebirds Wings...

QPR 2-1 Cardiff

QPR went five points clear at the top of the Championship, with a 2-1 victory over second placed Cardiff at a packed and bitterly cold Loftus Road.



For various reasons, the gang didn't all arrive at a packed Springbok and sadly, for work committments, we were missing PK and also California Hoop, who had a bout of the old man flu. But it was nice to welome Nik and Iceman to the pub, Sophie and Lee's lady friend, Jess, along with some old friends of mine, Laura, Tony and Family (of who I won't mention that her Chelsea supporting Mum was wearing a QPR beanie) and Corinne and Mark from Basingstoke. There were certainly some mixed views amongst us all of what lied ahead and it was possibly nerves that led to them not all being overly positive. For whatever reason however, I personally was pretty confident.

But that confidence was soon in tatters on 13 minutes when an uncharacteristic slip from Gorkss let in, ahem, England's latest striker, Jay Bothroyd, who fed everyones favourite Welshman, Craig Bellamy in what certainly looked like an offside position - the TV footage certainly hasn't changed my mind either - the Cardiff striker slipped the ball past Paddy Kenny and celebrated in front of the Rangers end, much to our annoyance.

It was so frustrating after such a positive start from the R's and you could't help but feel for Kaspars, who has been a very consistant performer this season.

But the above was soon forgotten on 18 minutes when after a spell of pressure, Rangers equalised when Tommy Smith's perfect cross from the right was headed home superbly from the Big Latvian defender and Loftus Road went bananas!! Was thrilled too for Kaspars Gorkss who looked absolutely distraught following the Cardiff goal.



From there, the game went from end to end in what was turning into a cracking contest, but the R's started to turn the screw and have much more possession about 10 minutes into the second half and the chances began to come. Jamie Mackie saw his long range effort superbly saved by Tom Heaton in the Cardiff goal.

But the on-loan Manchester United keeper could to little to stop Taarabt minutes later as Cardiff failed to deal with the resulting corner and the Moroccan beat Lee Naylor, twisted and turned his way into the box before smashing the ball home from close range - Loftus Road was now absolutely rocking!!



The Bluebirds then quite understandably put the R's under a spell of pressure but the R's back line, as so many times this season, were not found wanting - there were a couple of penalty shouts also as Bothroyd seemed to be caught by Matt Connolly and fortunately, the referee wasn't to be fooled by a blatant Bellamy dive shortly after. Referee, Friend, then waved away a stonewall penalty after Leon Clarke was brought down in the box in the dying seconds - but it mattered not as the final whistle went and brought a fantastic match to an end with a fantastic R's victory.

QPR: Kenny, Hill, Derry, Taarabt (Clarke 87), Faurlin, Mackie (Agyemang 88), Gorkss, Walker, Connolly, Hulse, Smith (Hall 90). Subs: Orr, Helguson, Cerny, Ephraim.

Lofty's Man of the Match - so difficult this one as QPR, to a man, performed superbly and it would be quite easy to give this one to the whole team! But following some in depth discussion at the British Queen, it was filtered down to my own choice of Adel Taarabt and a shout for Faurlin also. But when mentioned, I had to agree with Lee's choice for a superb display of forward play - Rob Hulse!



Dave Jones's rant on the football league show did not go unnoticed as he questioned the referee's decision not to give Cardiff a penalty, but he seemed to forget the two penalty shouts for the R's and that Bellamy was offside when he gave Cardiff the lead. But end of the day, it's the result that matters and in summary - Top of the League - five points clear - nineteen unbeaten - Absolutely AWESOME!!!

Come on You R'ssssssssssssss!!!

QPR 2-1 Cardiff

On a lovely winters day the top two teams in the Championship went head to head in a battle for superiority as Rangers played host to second placed Cardiff.

After a strong start by Rangers, a slip from Kaspers Gorkss proved costly as Jay Boothroyd played Craig Bellamy in on goal with only Paddy Kenny to beat and finished of Cardiff's only chance of the entire first half.
Gorkss soon made up for his slip as he expertly guided home Kyle Walker's pin point cross to level the game.
In the second half Adel Taarabt put the R's in front after a corner wasn't cleared properly and the Moroccan blocked Naylor's clearance and proceeded into the box before turning a few defenders inside out and rather than squaring the ball he instead smashed the ball into the roof of the net to seal all three points.

Lofty will return tomorrow to give a full expert analysis of the game and give an insight into what the Lofty Heights crew were up to before and after the game and will also name a man of the match.

Legs off to Reading.

This afternoon it was announced that Mikele Leigertwood was being loaned to Reading until 25th January.



Leigertwood joined Rangers in August 2007 for £900,000 from Sheffield United, who were managed by Neil Warnock at the time.
Legs has gone on to make 122 appearances for the Hoops, scoring 12 goals in the process.

Good Luck Mikele on your loan spell!!!

Taarabt's Too Good For You...

QPR 3-1 Preston

Adel Taarabt stole the show with two superb goals, as QPR returned to the top of the Championship with a more than comfortable victory over bottom club, Preston.



Again, the gang arrived in full strength at the Springbok, including Jo's nephew/Sam and Lee's cousin, 7 year old, Jack, for his first ever visit to Loftus Road. We all hope you had a great time, Jack and enjoyed the game - you certainly went home a lot richer than when you arrived! Another young Ranger in the making I'm sure, after today :)

With a few players missing due to injury and suspension, there seemed to be a little apprehension before the game, especially after seeing the team selection on arrival at the Stadium. But worry, we certainly shouldn't have as Rangers went about their work and simply destroyed Preston - it's also fair to say that it was almost embarrasing of just how dominant Rangers were. The only real dissappointment was that we only won 3-1, we could have had six, seven or maybe more and those at the game will agree that I am by no means exaggerating.

It took just four minutes for the R's to open the scoring - keeper Lonergan failed to hold a low cross from Kyle Walker and Rob Hulse tapped home his first goal for QPR! Rangers continued to create chance after chance with Mackie and Clarke both going close and Clarke also had a goal chalked off for a foul on the goalkeeper. Despite the dominance, Preston nearly drew level when Paddy Kenny failed to punch the ball clear but fortunately the ball was cleared. It was quite amazing that Rangers went in that break with just the one goal to show for their efforts.

Preston's best chance fell just after the break, but normal service was resumed in the R's goal with Kenny making a fine save from Adam Barton. Adet Taarabt then took over proceedings and the second goal duly arrived on 56 minutes in spectacular fashion - Taarabt picked up the ball in the Preston half and attacked the defence, before curling a superb 25 yard effort into the top right hand corner.



Rangers continued to pepper the Preston goal with Hulse and Gorkss both seeing their efforts cleared off the line, before Taarabt infuriated a few of his team mates by shooting for goal instead of squaring to Hulse, Mackie or Clarke - but he more than made up for his error on 84 minutes and another 25 yarder, this time a thunderbolt, that beat Lonergan, who got a touch but could only help the ball on it's way into the net.

The Lilywhites pulled back a consolation with two minutes to go when Matt Connolly diverted a wayward cross into his own net when there seemed no danger - to be honest, this was the ONLY way Preston were going to score today.

QPR: Kenny, Hill, Hall (Rowlands 81), Taarabt, Clarke, Faurlin, Mackie (Andrade 87), Gorkss, Walker, Connolly, Hulse (Agyemang 81). Subs: Cerny, Leigertwood, Helguson, Ephraim.

Lofty's Man of the Match - no real discussion today really - Adel Taarabt!!

The game may well have seen the end of Darren Ferguson's reign as Preston's Manager and on today's evidence, they looked a poor side with a severe lack of confidence - but you couldn't help but raise a smile or two with the banter directed at him from the R's fans on going 3-0 up - the maybe predictable - 'you're getting sacked in the morning' was followed by an absolute belter of a chant - 'you're Dad's ashmed of you'!! - CLASSIC!!

Bring on Cardiff and Come on You R'sssssssss!!!

The streak continues for both teams.

It was streak versus streak as Rangers' took their unbeaten start to the season to Nottingham Forest as the hosts were putting their 27 home match unbeaten streak on the line in this Championship fixture.

It was my turn to drive as Sam and Lofty were the other two Lofty Heights travellers to Robin Hood Country. The journey up the M1 was smooth and posed no real problems as we rolled into Nottingham at 1 and made our way to the Bridgeford Fish and Chip for a really highly rated lunch, definitely a place to visit next time the R's travel to Forest.
We made our way to the stadium and arrived unusually early for us and we met up with Michael before heading in and bumping into Tony Binks and family for a pre-match pint as we debated who would come in for the suspended Matt Connolly. We made our way to our seats having heard that Aston Villa had blown a 2-0 lead against Man United and drew 2-2, that meant that the R's needed at least a draw to remain with United as the only unbeaten teams in England.

Neil Warnock only made the one forced change due to Matt Connolly's suspension with Hogan Ephraim coming in to take the place.
This meant there was a reshuffle as Jamie Mackie moved to right back, Kyle Walker to left back and Clint Hill moved to centre back. Hogan played on the left side of midfield and Tommy Smith went out to the right hand side.



The first half was one of few thrills as Rangers' looked a tad reluctant to push too far up field and risk being caught by Forest on the counter, especially with the in-form Lewis McGugan as one of the home sides main threats.
Taarabt had the best of Rangers' chances as he put a free kick just wide and then forced Camp into a fantastic save after he curled one from around 30 yards out.

The game was anyone's to win if they wanted to put a little more at risk after the half time interval and we were hoping that after a Warnock half time team talk that this maybe work in our favour.



The second half showed much of the same as Rangers' were content to give Forest time and space but hold firm and be difficult to break down before trying to break away on the counter.
Again it was a half of few chances and it was that man Taarabt that had Rangers' best chance. Rangers' broke away and the ball made its way to Taarabt on the edge of the 18 yard box, he tried a delicate lob that seemed impossible to execute but as it looked as if the ball would loop into Lee Camp's goal the former R's keeper managed to tip the ball over the bar.
Forest had a bit more life in them in the final 15 minutes and created their own chances but McGugan found Paddy Kenny more than level to his long range effort.



With the game ending 0-0 I feel that both sets of supporters would've probably walked into the game thinking that a draw would've been a good result but having seen the 90 minutes it was disappointing to not see either of the teams try and commit a little more in an effort to snatch all three points. Rangers' definitely had an extra gear in them but maybe due to the reshuffle forced upon them then maybe we just wanted to be as solid as possible and just try and gain a clean sheet whilst trying to nick a sneaky goal on the break away.

Today's Man of the Match saw us have two contenders. Lofty selected Kaspers Gorkss after a fine performance at the heart of the R's back line but Sam and myself both voted for Shaun Derry after yet another battling performance at the heart of the midfield. Unfortunately the stalwart picked up his 5th yellow card of the season which means he will miss next weeks home game against Preston but will be back in time for the following weeks crunch game versus Cardiff, was this done on purpose with an eye on Cardiff? A wise man would say yes.


Nottingham Forest: Camp, Bertrand, Chambers, Morgan, Anderson, Cohen, McGugan (Tyson 79), Gunter, McKenna, Blackstock (Adebola 61), Majewski (Earnshaw 61).

Subs: Smith, McCleary, Moussi, Lynch.

Bookings: Blackstock (28), McKenna (85)

QPR: Kenny, Hill, Derry, Taarabt (Rowlands 89), Faurlin, Mackie, Gorkss, Walker, Hulse (Agyemang 68), Smith, Ephraim (Clarke 79).

Subs: Cerny, Hall, Borrowdale, Andrade.

Bookings: Hulse (65), Derry (90)

Referee: Mr A P D'Urso

Attendance: 22, 859 (2,076 QPR)

R's on the Road........... to Nottingham Forest

This Saturday two streaks are on the line as Rangers' 16 game unbeaten start of the season goes up against Forest 27 match unbeaten home run. Will one of the streaks come to an end or will both sides end up playing out a draw? The stats are on Forest's side as Rangers have never won at the City Ground. Will Warnock's charges re-write history? We shall see!
Here's a little guide of what to expect on your visit to the City Ground.



The Stadium.

Current Capacity - 30,576



The City Ground has been the home of Forest since 1898 and undergone some major redevelopments so that it could be one of the host stadiums for thr Euro 96 tournament. The stadium is the tenth largest outside the top division behind Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Leicester City, Leeds United, Southampton, Coventry City, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.
Contrary to popular belief the name "Forest" does not originate from Sherwood Forest, but from the Forest Recreation Ground just north of Nottingham City Centre which is where the club first played upon its formation in 1865 (though the name of the Forest Recreation Ground does in turn derive from a time when that ground was part of Sherwood Forest).
The club have announced plans for a brand new 50,000 seater stadium which would possibly be located in Gamston and is part of the FA's World Cup bid for 2018/2022.
Away fans are housed in the lower tier of the Bridgford End. Upto 4,750 fans can be held in the end. The facilities in this end are pretty good and the view of the pitch is unrestricted. A lot of noise can be made here so do make the most of it on your visit.

The History between the teams.

At Forest (28)

Forest 17
QPR 0
Draw 11

Amazingly Rangers' have never won on their travels to the City Ground.
Last season the R's, then managed by Paul Hart(yawn!), went to the City ground in high hopes as Nigel Quashie made his return to the R's starting eleven. Despite being totally outplayed and thrashed by an unstoppable Forest side that were flying high in the table 5-0, this was probably one of the most enjoyable away days of the season last year. The travelling support were superb and didnt stop signing even though the team were truly shocking! the old songs that were sung during the second half really made it a good laugh and the journey home was a bit less painful.
The streak was close to being broken two seasons ago as the R's drew 2-2 12months ago. An exciting end to the first half saw Forest score a penalty in injury time, only for Matteo Alberti to go up the other end and poke home an equalizer just 90 seconds later and ensured the teams went in level at the break. It was Alberti getting himself on the scoresheet once again early in the second half to set the R's on their way but a Chris Cohen leveller from close range made sure that the two teams shared the points.



How to get there.

By Car:- The postcode required for the City Ground today is NG2 5FJ
There are two routes you can use to get to the City Ground and I will quickly give you an oversight here now.
The most common route is to go up the M1 and leave at junction 24, heading down the A453 towards Nottingham and then joining the A52 heading towards Grantham and then join the A6011 into Nottingham. The ground is on the A6011 opposite the cricket ground.
The other way is as follows - Leave the M1 at Junction 21a (Leicester East) and follow the A46 dual carriageway towards Newark. After around 20 miles take the A606 towards Nottingham. At the first roundabout that is the junction with the A52, take the 4th exit onto the A52, signposted towards Grantham. At the next roundabout turn left onto the A6011 towards Nottingham. The ground is about a mile down this road.

As for parking, there is a large car pack situated at the ground and there are other car parks in and around the area of the ground to park in so it should be pretty easy to park up.

By Train:- The ground is walkable from Nottingham railway station (20mins). As you come out of the main station entrance, turn left and then left again. Follow the road down to the dual carriageway and then turn right. The ground is about 3/4's of a mile down the dual carriageway on the left, just over Trent Bridge.

Pubs 'n' Grub.

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.

A Tale Of Two Penalties

Tonight the R's travelled to the South Coast in search of extending our unbeaten start to the season. Portsmouth were looking to spoil the party and bounce back after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Derby at the weekend. How would things turn out? We're about to find out.

Lofty picked up Sam and myself just after 4pm and we steadily made our way through traffic as we arrived in Portsmouth at around 6.45. Having gone for a short walk to grab some money, we came back to Lofty and he had got direction off of a policeman and after following these we realised once we got to the entrance to the away stand that we had been sent the long way round, goes to show that sometimes you just cant trust anyone!
Having made our way inside the turnstile we walked up the stairs to find a small walkway that was about two people wide and was heavily crowded. Having met Michael and Luke, we made our way to our seats only to find that we were right behind the goal and 8 rows from the front and with the view very restricted by the net, so throughout the game we were ducking and weaving to try and get a decent view of what was happening at the other end.



The first half was a pretty even affair that flowed from end to end. John Utaka stood out for Portsmouth down their left hand side and he was giving Kyle Walker all sorts of problems with his pace and trickery.
Rangers' first real chance came when Rob Hulse knocked the ball back for Shaun Derry and he let fly with a left footed volley but Jamie Ashdown in the Portsmouth goal was more than equal to it.
Portsmouth then had the best effort of the half as Utaka cut in from the left hand side and curled a right foot effort on goal over Paddy Kenny but fortunately for the R's the ball bounced off the bar before being cleared to safety.

The teams went in at half time all square. The game could really go either way and Portsmouth may of shaded proceedings with the Utaka effort hitting the bar but this was a game that the R's could win providing they produced a moment of magic.



That moment of magic nearly came early in the half as Smith crossed into the Pompey box and Hulse went up with Ashdown and looked certain to beat the Portsmouth 'keeper to the ball and nod home from six yards out, however despite beating Ashdown to the ball he failed to get a contact of any conviction and saw the ball cleared by a Portsmouth defender.
The game was largely a midfield battle and the centre of the pitch was highly congested so it looked as if the game may be won on a decision, and on 70 minutes that decision came.
Matt Connolly collided with Dave Kitson and the ginger striker tumbled to win the hosts a penalty and in the process Connolly was sent off as he was the last man. I'll be honest, it was the right decision.
Lawrence stepped up to take the penalty and shot to Kenny's left and the Rangers' keeper saved once another penalty, much to the delight of the Rangers' fans but then referee Ward (who looked about 12!), for some reason ordered the spot kick to be retaken. Having seen the replay I'm still as baffled and frustrated as I was inside the ground. The decision was as bent as Alan Carr!
Lawrence stepped up and blasted home the retaken spot kick and put the home side 1-0.
Owing to the sending off Mr Warnock was forced into a change so he took off Taarabt, much to the surprise of us, and replaced him with Gary Borrowdale, which was an even bigger surprise!! Rob Hulse also came off and he was replaced by Patrick Agyemang.
Rangers played largely on the counter attackk and were more threatening of the two teams in the final 15 minutes and on the stroke of the end of normal time the R's were awarded a penalty.
As Mackie crossed the ball in Liam Lawrence jumped to block the cross with his arm raised and the ball looked to hit Lawrence's arm and the linesman immediately flagged to award the R's a last minute lifeline from the spot.
Lawrence fiercely protested his innocence by lifting his shirt and showing an inprint of the ball on his chest and because he wouldn't back down from his protest he picked up a second yellow card. At the time I thought it was the right decision, maybe after seeing it again I can understand the protest but sod it, Portsmouth had a dodgy decision to go 1-0 up so why cant we have one of our own to level the game?
Tommy Smith stepped up to take the penalty against his former club and shot low to Ashdown's right and the penalty hit the back of the net to send the travelling support wild!
Upon the final whistle the whole Rangers' team came over to show their appreciation to the R's faithful as the fans were superb all night and really helped drive the team on after the controversy of the Pompey penalty. Well done to everyone that were in attendance tonight.


All in all after all that happened I can honestly say that I'm delighted with the point gained tonight. Mr Ward nearly ended our unbeaten streak single handedly tonight butthe R's never say die attitude, and a bit of luck, meant that we got a point that was rightly deserved!
Having seen Neil Warnock's interview on Sky Sports news when we got home and seeing him say that it was a definite penalty really did make me laugh out loud, the man is a legend!

Tonight's Man of the Match award was discussed over a KFC after the match, having gone to great lengths to get it. The shop was closed so we had to go back to Lofty's car and took a different route to the KFC drive-through as Lofty mounted a kerb, drove over a path and through a gap in the boundary of the retail park and eventually got to order our food. Matt Connolly was my man of the match up until the sending off but in my eyes that cost him the accolade tonight. Shaun Derry had another strong outing for the R's but our man of the match is given to a man who gave a good second half performance and grabbed the all important equalizer, Tommy Smith.

Portsmouth: Jamie Ashdown, Greg Halford (Joel Ward 26), Carl Dickinson, Aaron Mokoena, Liam Lawrence, Hayden Mullins, Michael Brown, John Utaka (Nadir Ciftci 86), Dave Kitson, Ibrahima Sonko, Kanu (Hermann Hreidarsson 90).

Subs: Darryl Flahavan, Richard Hughes, Ricardo Rocha.

Goals: Lawrence (pen 70)

Bookings: Lawrence (54 & 90), Ashdown (84)

Red Cards: Lawrence (90)

QPR: Paddy Kenny, Clint Hill, Shaun Derry (Leon Clarke 80), Adel Taarabt (Gary Borrowdale 72), Alejandro Faurlin, Jamie Mackie, Kaspars Gorkss, Kyle Walker, Matt Connolly, Rob Hulse (Patrick Agyemang 72), Tommy Smith.

Subs: Radek Cerny, Martin Rowlands, Hogan Ephraim, Bruno Andrade.

Goals: Smith (pen 90)

Bookings: Derry (40)

Red Cards: Connolly (67)

Referee: Mr G L Ward

Attendance: 17, 818

R's on the Road To.......... Portsmouth.

On Tuesday the unbeaten record is once again on the line as QPR travel to the South Coast as Portsmouth play hosts.
With the R's getting back to winning ways over the weekend and Pompey losing for the first time in six games this looks to be an intriguing encounter and one that the R's will have to be at their best to gain any kind of result.
Here are a few hints and tips for the journey down to Portsmouth.



Club History.

Portsmouth are getting used to life in the second tier having been relegated from the Premier League last season under a cloud of money troubles and administration, which the club have just emerged from.
Portsmouth are no strangers to money troubles. During John Deacon’s time as Portsmouth Chairman the club found itself needing £25,000 to pay off debts and insolvency in 1976. Players were sold to pay off the debts and untried manager Ian St. John was appointed to the hot seat and only had a squad of inexperienced players to work with, as a result the club were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1978.
Alan Ball managed to get the club into the top flight in for the 1987/88 season but midway through the season financial trouble hit the club once more and ultimately played its part in Portsmouth getting relegated that season.
Former QPR Chairman Jim Gregory bought the club from Deacon in 1988.
Another former R joined Portsmouth in 1991 as Jim Smith was appointed manager and with Smith’s belief in the young stars that were emerging at Fratton Park, the club reached the FA Cup Semi Final in the 91/92 season, eventually losing to Liverpool on penalties. The same season saw Pompey miss out on promotion by a solitary goal, West Ham were the team that broke their hearts.
In 1996 Terry Venables took over the club for £1 but in the 1998/99 financial trouble hit the club once again and Milan Mandaric saved the club in May 1999 and under Mandaric the club gained Premier League status after appointing Harry Redknapp as manager. The club remained in the Premier League from then until their relegation last season.
In 2008 Portsmouth won the FA Cup after defeating Cardiff 1-0 in the final. This was Pompey’s second FA Cup success having previously won the competition in 1939.
Pompey’s two other major honours came when they won the First Division title in 1949 and 1950.

The Stadium.

Current capacity – 20,700



Portsmouth play their home games at Fratton Park, in Portsmouth. The ground has been home to the club throughout its entire history.
Plans for relocation were first mooted as long ago as the early 1990s, but due to various objections, the club has continued to play at Fratton Park. As of September 2008, a new stadium is planned for a site offered by the Royal Navy at Horsea Island, between Stamshaw and Port Solent. The new project is also a Herzog & De Meuron design and the plans include an adjacent 10000 capacity indoor arena.
At one end is the Fratton End, which is a new looking single tiered stand. It is of a good size and is the tallest stand at the ground. Opposite is the recently covered Milton End, which is all seated. Part of this stand us given to away fans. There is a small moat in front of this area. Both side stands are two tiered and originally had terracing at the front, which has now been replaced with seating. The South Stand dates back to 1925, and is starting to show its age. However, it still has some character with an old fashioned looking media gantry perched on its roof and raised team dugouts at its front. Opposite the North Stand looks somewhat plain and functional. Both the North & South Stands are two tiered and have a number of supporting pillars. The ground is completed with a superb looking set of tall floodlights that were first used in 1962.
Away fans are housed in the Milton End, which has finally had a roof put on now, so an atmosphere can really be created by the travelling R’s support.


The History between the teams.

At Portsmouth(17)

Portsmouth 7
QPR 5
Draw 5

This is the first time the two teams have met since the 2000/2001 season, where both games ended in 1-1 score lines. The season before the R’s took the spoils at Fratton Park when they triumphed 3-1courtesy of goals from

How to get there.

By Car: - The postcode for Fratton Park is PO4 8RA.
Go down the M27 and continue down until you join the A27. At the Junction with the A2030, turn right and head towards Southsea/Fratton. Continue down this road and you will see the floodlights ahead of you.
For parking there are a few recommendations, there is street parking down the A2030 before you reach the Good Companion pub, you could also park at Miltoncross School (five minutes from the ground) and i costs £6 to park there, postcode for this is PO3 6RB. There’s also a large car park on the corner of Velder Avenue/Milton Road, this costs £5 to park there.

By Train: - The closest station to the ground is Fratton and is a 10 minute walk from the ground. Fratton station has a footbridge as the only way out. At the top of the stairs from the platform turn left onto the footbridge and exit onto Goldsmith Avenue. Turn left along Goldsmith Avenue and walk about half a mile passing straight around a small roundabout. Continue on Goldsmith Avenue, passing Frogmore Road, shortly after this turn left into Apsley Road. The entrances to the Milton End are just ahead.


Pubs 'n' Grub.

Having read up on what pubs to go to I have seen that there are two pubs to avoid the Milton Arms and the Newcome Arms.
Pubs recommend are the Good Companion pub (on the main road A2030, five mins walk from the ground), the Brewers Arms and The Red, White and Blue pub (just off Fawcett Road and a mile away from the ground).
There are plenty of places to eat around the ground, there’s a KFC and McDonalds near the ground, a Harvester is close by and a variety of take-aways can be found down near Fawcett Road.

Ten Men, We Only Need Ten Men...

QPR 3-1 Reading

Okay, a somewhat smug title to this report, but there is no taking away what was a tremendous performance from Queens Park Rangers, which saw the R's return to the top of the Championship.

As always, the gang were at full strength, including an appearance from Jo's nephew/ Sam and Lee's cousin, Daniel - and descended on the Springbok for pre match and I must say, what with Reading's recent goalscoring form, there was a slight bit of nervousness amongst a few of us. I don't think any of us quite expected what was to come...

Rangers were superb at times and any neutral joining the match in the second half, would not have known who had the advantage of the extra man. It was a very lively opening and Rangers should have had the lead as early as 8 minutes, when Faurlin's shot crashed onto the underside of the bar and fell loose, to Rob Hulse, but his follow up barely trickled towards the line and was cleared easily.

There were further chances for Hulse and Smith before the R's finally took a deserved lead on 27 minutes - the outstanding, Adel Taarabt twisted and turned his way into the area before being bundled over - the resultant spot kick just oozed class and confidence as he cheekily chipped the ball down the middle.



There was a further chance for the R's to extend their lead but Hulse headed over Taarabt's cross. Almost on the stroke of half time, Bradley Orr was sent off for a challenge on Hal Robson-Kanu. At the time, it looked a hard but fair tackle, and the referee certainly appeared to let the game go until Kanu started rolling around on the floor. The ref then pulled out the red card to the amazement of the Loftus Road crowd. It was later mentioned by someone that Orr's foul and abusive language led to his sending off, which would make sense, but I guess we will never know for sure...

In the half time discussions, Mel had stated that Rangers had been dominant, but now we would have to hang on to get a result. Although he seemed correct in his statement, how wrong it turned out to be. Jamie Mackie slotted in at right back and Rangers looked more than comfortable, despite being a man down and on 61 minutes, Loftus Road went beserk as the R's doubled their advantage - Mackie was sent clear down the right by Taarabt and he laid a cross back into the area for Hulse, which was cleared away, but only as far Faurlin who blasted the ball home via a deflection.



The deficit was halved when Shane Long's superb 25 yard effort found the top corner - but Rangers clinched the points on 71 minutes when Tommy Smith blasted home his first goal for the R's, after Federici had kept out Adel Taarabt's superb free kick.



QPR: Paddy Kenny, Bradley Orr, Shaun Derry, Adel Taarabt (Leon Clarke 81), Alejandro Faurlin, Jamie Mackie, Kaspars Gorkss, Kyle Walker, Matt Connolly, Rob Hulse (Patrick Agyemang 81), Tommy Smith (Hogan Ephraim 90). Subs: Radek Cerny, Mikele Leigertwood, Martin Rowlands, Josh Parker.

Lofty's Man of the Match - Well, this caused a great amount of debate and discussion amongst the gang and to be honest, you could quite easily give this to the whole team on a performance such as today's. Jo called for Shaun Derry who was everywhere, especially during the first half. California Hoop named his as Jamie Mackie, who put in another great performance and that of a right back/winger in the second half. Lee and Corp both went for Faurlin, who had a superb match and it was great to see him on the scoresheet once more. But myself and PK both went for the Moroccan Magician that is Adel Taarabt who scored one and was more than involved in the other two. He was simply unplayable today and he often frustrated the Reading players into literally just kicking him over to stop him - and seeing as it's me that is writing the report for this one (sorry guys, hehe), the award goes to Adel Taarabt.


In summary - a great day had by all and the R's are back on Top of the League - GET IN THERE!!!

Lofty Heights will be at Fratton Park on Tuesday night for the clash against Portsmouth and Lee will return with the report, see you all then!

COME ON YOU R'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

A Corporate View...

Corp by name, Corp by nature... Well, for those of you that don't know Gordon, he is affectionately known amongst the gang as Corporate Hoop and his name speaks for itself, as he is no stranger to attending football matches in Corporate Hospitality.

Corp was lucky enough to attend the Spurs v Inter Milan, Champions League Group game on Tuesday night and has been kind enough to share his experience with us less than fortunate ones... Thanks Corp!

LIVING UP TO MY NAME...

On Tuesday night, I was taken to watch Tottenham Hotspur Vs Inter Milan

As the other others will tell you, I do not like watching other teams play as it brings back home how far we have fallen from grace. It now been 14 years since we dropped out of the Premier League - Which if you think about is a whole generation of young supporters missed?

Anyway back to the reason why I am doing this blog, I had said to Lofty a few times I would put one of my View from the Box down on paper and here we are...

Our history goes back a long way with Tottenham Hotspur - Founded in 1882 they played in the Southern League until 1908 when after finishing 7th in the league. Top of the League that year were Queens Park Rangers.

Tottenham were elected into the Football League Two, (as the previous year they won the FA Cup - the only non-League side to do this!!). When we won the League Cup in 66/67, we were the first Third Division club to do this. The other thing is they have in common is that both clubs were formed by grammar schools.

The view from the box was fantastic and included a three course meal of Soup (Brown Water with onion in), Roast leg of Lamb with all the trimmings, followed by Raspberry cheese cake. This was finished off handsomely by Cheese and Biscuits - which led nicely onto more beer - wine - more beer - coffee - more beer - I think you get the picture...

All in all, Tottenham's Hospitality was very good and the beer was in plentiful supply - I did put a bit of a dent in the bar stock!

Onto the game and Gareth Bale stole the show with another jaw-dropping performance. There were also excellent displays from the likes of Luka Modric, and Rafael van der Vaart, who combined to open the scoring in the 18th minute.

Bale brilliantly laid on the second for Peter Crouch, Samuel Eto'o's strike set up a nervy finish, but Bale was on fire and another cross saw substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko seal the points for Spurs.

A great night, but I must say, nothing compares to paying to watch the Queens Park Rangers!!!

You RRRRRrrrrrsssssssssssssssssssss


Corp

Rangers sign Tofas.

QPR announced today that they have taken up the opportunity to sign Georgios Tofas on a deal until the end of the season.

The 21 year old Cypriot joins outside of the transfer window as he is a free agent after being released by Anathorsis Famagusta.
Tofas also played for AEK Athens.

Neil Warnock describes the capture on the Official QPR website "Georgios is somebody who has excited me when I have watched him.

"He looks like our type of player - he can take men on, yet he knows he has to work hard for the rest of the team. He has got the right work ethic.

"The chance to bring him in until the end of the season was too good an opportunity for me to turn down."

Tofas is an attacking midfielder and will add to our attacking options once he has recovered from a slight hamstring injury, he is expected to return to full training in the next 10 days.


Welcome Georgios and we hope you enjoy your time here at QPR!!