Ahead of QPR’s meeting with near neighbours Chelsea, LFW looks back at a bizarre pre-season friendly between the two when a man from Hampton and Richmond Borough ripped Marcel Desailly apart.

Recent Meetings

Chelsea 6 QPR 1, Sunday April 29, 2012, Premier League

Chelsea exacted revenge for a controversial league defeat at Loftus Road earlier in the season with a comprehensive demolition of the R’s at Stamford Bridge in the return fixture. They took the lead in the opening minute when Daniel Sturridge fired in from long range after QPR had conceded possession from their own kick off and things didn’t improve much from that point onwards. John Terry, mired in racism claims from the first game, headed home a second and Fernando Torres added two before half time to give the hosts an unassailable 4-0 lead. Any hopes of one of Rangers’ patented come backs from a four goal deficit evaporated when Torres completed his hat trick on the hour and Florent Malouda made it six before Djibril Cisse netted a late consolation.

Chelsea: Cech 6, Ferreira 7, Bosingwa 8 (Hutchinson 81, -), Terry 8, Cole 7, Mata 9 (Malouda 67, 7), Essien 8, Lampard 8, Sturridge 8, Torres 9, Kalou 8 (Ramires 73, 7)

Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Romeu, Drogba, Meireles

Goals: Sturridge 1 (unassisted), Terry 13 (assisted Mata), Torres 19 (assisted Kalou), 25 (unassisted), 64 (assisted Mata), Malouda 80 (assisted Ramires)

QPR: Kenny 3, Onuoha 4, Ferdinand 3, Hill 2, Taiwo 2, Barton 4, Derry 2, Buzsaky 2 (Traore 66, 3), Mackie 4, Cisse 4, Zamora 2 (Wright-Phillips 78, -)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Gabbidon, Campbell, Young, Smith

Booked: Barton (repetitive fouling)

Goals: Cisse 84 (assisted Onuoha)

QPR 0 Chelsea 1, FA Cup, Saturday January 28, 2012

With all the furore surrounding the first meeting between these sides at Loftus Road earlier in the year the last thing anybody really needed was for them to meet again three months later in the FA Cup. Rangers scraped through a replay against League One MK Dons, a first FA Cup win of any sorts for 11 years, to set up a lunchtime showdown in W12. Once again the post game focus was on controversial refereeing decisions, although this time it was Chelsea who benefitted having felt aggrieved at their treatment in the league match. Midway through the second half of a poor game Daniel Sturridge took a dive at the far post under a cross that had already passed him by and referee Mike Dean fell for it hook line and sinker. Juan Mata converted the resulting spot kick and Chelsea have since progressed all the way to the final.

QPR: Kenny 7, Hill 6, Ferdinand 7, Hall 7, Young 7, Mackie 6, Buzsaky 6 (Hulse 79, 7), Barton 6, Wright-Phillips 5, Helguson 7 (Macheda 46, 4), Smith 6

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Derry, Ephraim, Onuoha

Booked: Wright-Phillips, Hall

Chelsea: Cech 7, Ivanovic 6, Luiz 6, Terry 7, Cole 7, Meireles 6, Ramires 7 (Romeu 79, 6), Sturridge 7, Malouda 6, Mata 8 (Essien 90, -), Torres 3

Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Lukaku, Cahill, Bertrand

Booked: Cole, Romeu

Goals: Mata 62 (penalty, won Sturridge)

QPR 1 Chelsea 0, Premiership, Sunday October 23, 2011

Rarely has there been a game like the first meeting between these sides this season. The first competitive meeting with Chelsea in the Bush for more than 15 years turned into a controversial humdinger with Rangers eventually coming out on top by a single goal. That strike, a penalty from Heidar Helguson after David Luiz had foolishly shoved him in the back, was one of the first key moments on an afternoon of high drama in W12. Rangers were in with a good chance of making it two when Shaun Wright-Phillips accelerated away from Jose Bosingwa and the Portuguese defender was sent off for hauling him down. By half time Chelsea’s discipline had gone completely in the face of a hostile atmosphere and Didier Drogba was also dismissed for a dreadful two footed tackle on Adel Taarabt. Playing with nine men Chelsea should have been on a damage limitation exercise but when Helguson missed a great chance to make it 2-0 it left the door open and Andre Villas-Boas’ side came close to equalising on several occasions. They had two large penalty shouts of their own when Luiz and Lampard were hauled back by Helguson and Hall in the QPR box and there were several near misses apart from that. Ashley Cole was lucky not to be the third man sent off for a poor challenge in stoppage time but referee Chris Foy decided to draw the game to a close instead. The after match discussion was dominated by an alleged racist remark made by Chelsea captain John Terry to QPR’s Anton Ferdinand – the subsequent court case will be heard in July.

QPR: Kenny 7, Young 7, Ferdinand 9, Hall 8, Hill 8, Derry 7 (Mackie 81, -), Faurlin 7, Wright-Phillips 7, Barton 7, Taarabt 7 (Smith 61, 6), Helguson 8

Subs Not Used: Murphy, Orr, Bothroyd, Buzsaky, Puncheon

Booked: Derry (foul), Barton (foul)

Goals: Helguson 10 (penalty, won Helguson)

Chelsea: Cech 6, Bosingwa 5, Terry 6, Luiz 5, Cole 6, Mikel 6, Meireles 7 (Malouda 72, 6), Lampard 7, Sturridge 6 (Ivanovic 36, 6), Drogba 5, Mata 6 (Anelka 45, 7)

Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Romeu, McEachran, Kalou

Sent Off: Bosingwa (33), Drogba (41)

Booked: Mikel (foul), Lampard (foul), Ivanovic (foul), Luiz (repetitive fouling), Meireles (dissent), Cole (foul), Terry (ungentlemanly conduct)

Previous Results

2011/12 Chelsea 6 QPR 1 (Cisse)

2011/12 QPR 0 Chelsea 1**

2011/12 QPR 1 Chelsea 0 (Helguson)

2009/10 Chelsea 1 QPR 0*

2007/08 Chelsea 1 QPR 0**

1995/96 Chelsea 1 QPR 1 (Barker)

1995/96 QPR 1 Chelsea 2** (Quashie)

1995/96 QPR 1 Chelsea 2 (Allen)

1994/95 Chelsea 1 QPR 0

1994/95 QPR 1 Chelsea 0 (Gallen)

1993/94 QPR 1 Chelsea 1 (Ferdinand)

1993/94 Chelsea 2 QPR 0

1992/93 QPR 1 Chelsea 1 (Allen)

1992/93 Chelsea 1 QPR 0

1991/92 Chelsea 2 QPR 1 (Allen)

1991/92 QPR 2 Chelsea 2 (Wilson, Peacock)

1990/91 Chelsea 2 QPR 0

1990/91 QPR 1 Chelsea 0 (Wegerle)

1989/90 QPR 4 Chelsea 2 (Ferdinand 2, Falco, Clarke)

1989/90 Chelsea 1 QPR 1 (Clarke)

1987/88 Chelsea 1 QPR 1 (Kerslake)

1987/88 QPR 3 Chelsea 1 (Bannister 3)

1986/87 QPR 1 Chelsea 1 (Bannister)

1986/87 Chelsea 3 QPR 1 (Byrne)

1985/86 QPR 6 Chelsea 0 (Bannister 3, Byrne 2, Rosenior)

1985/86 Chelsea 1 QPR 0

1985/86 Chelsea 0 QPR 2* (McDonald, Robinson)

1985/86 QPR 1 Chelsea 1* (Byrne)

1984/85 Chelsea 1 QPR 0

1984/85 QPR 2 Chelsea 2 (Bannister, McDonald)

1982/83 Chelsea 0 QPR 2 (Sealy, Gregory)

1982/83 QPR 1 Chelsea 2 (Sealy)

1981/82 Chelsea 2 QPR 1 (Gregory)

1981/82 QPR 0 Chelsea 2

1980/81 QPR 1 Chelsea 0 (Langley)

1980/81 Chelsea 1 QPR 1 (Langley)

1979/80 Chelsea 0 QPR 2 (Busby, Burke)

1979/80 QPR 2 Chelsea 2 (C Allen 2)

1978/79 Chelsea 1 QPR 3 (Busby, Goddard, Roeder)

1978/79 QPR 0 Chelsea 0

1977/78 Chelsea 3 QPR 1 (James)

1977/78 QPR 1 Chelsea 1 (Masson)

1974/75 QPR 1 Chelsea 0 (Thomas)

1974/75 Chelsea 0 QPR 3 (Givens 2, Francis)

1973/74 Chelsea 3 QPR 3 (Bowles 2, Givens)

1973/74 QPR 1 Chelsea 0**(Bowles)

1973/74 Chelsea 0 QPR 0**

1973/74 QPR 1 Chelsea 1 (Bowles)

1969/70 QPR 2 Chelsea 4** (Bridges, Venables)

1968/69 Chelsea 2 QPR 1 (Bridges)

1968/69 QPR 0 Chelsea 4

* - League Cup

** - FA Cup

Memorable Match

QPR 3 Chelsea 1, Pre-Season Friendly, Saturday July 28, 2001

Now, it may seem strange to be picking out a pre-season friendly as a memorable match, and no doubt any Chelsea fans looking in will relish the small-man-syndrome they no doubt think is behind the pick, but having written about our 6-0 and 4-2 home wins from the 1980s during last season’s columns this game, along with the night of Kevin Gallen’s magic hat, was the one that stood out for me.

In the summer of 2001 QPR were in an absolute mess. They had just been relegated from the First Division, placed in administration and released or sold all but seven of their first team squad members. Of those that remained two – Richard Langley and Clarke Carlisle – had serious knee injuries ruling them out of almost all of the following campaign. New manager Ian Holloway had to find 15 players to make up a squad, and he had to do it on a budget set by the administrators.

This was made all the harder to bear by what was going on down the road at Stamford Bridge. A Chelsea side that Rangers had regularly beaten and finished above in the league just six short years previously was now spending big and playing European football. Even in these pre-Abromovic days the Blues had spent extravagantly that summer to bring in Emmanuel Petit and Boudewijn Zenden from Barcelona (£15m the pair), Frank Lampard from West ham for £11m and William Gallas from Marseille for £6.2m. They were in addition to the previous summer’s acquisitions that included Jesper Gronkjaer (£7.8m) from Ajax, Bolton’s Eidur Gudjohnsen and Athletico Madrid forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (£15m).

The big spenders agreed to return to Loftus Road for the first time since 1996 for pre-season friendly game that would spin money QPR desperately needed. Rarely has there been such an extreme case of the haves and have nots in British football and when Gronkjaer, played in behind Terrell Forbes in the Chelsea left channel, finished into the top corner with the time still in single figures a rout looked on.

But this game signalled the start of a new dawn at Loftus Road. Sure, we’ve had plenty of troubled times since but nothing quite as bad as we had that summer and steady improvement that now sees us back in the Premiership, and capable of beating Chelsea in competitive matches once more, began that afternoon. Ian Holloway’s collection of misfits and free transfers fought back in tremendous fashion and scored an equaliser after 25 minutes that will forever live on in the memories of those who saw it.

Leroy Griffiths, who had spent most of his career to this point with Corinthian Casuals and joined Rangers on the cheap after impressing against them in a friendly for Conference South outfit Hampton and Richmond Borough, was about to announce his arrival at Loftus Road in spectacular fashion. A long ball down the line from left back Paul Bruce didn’t look, initially, like it would pose too many problems for French World Cup-winning centre back Marcel Desailly but before he had time to settle Griffiths steamed in front of him, nudged the ball into position with his head and then beat De Goey with an outrageous volley that flew from the left corner of the penalty box, over the keeper and into the far bottom corner of the net in spectacular fashion.

Chelsea should have retaken the lead when Hasselbaink stole in behind Chris Day as he fumbled a corner but he guided his half volley wide of the gaping target. Day was in better form on the hour when Eider Godjohnsen got in around the back of the QPR defence but saw his shot saved and that laid the platform for Rangers to take the game with two goals in the final 20 minutes.

First Karl Connolly, in what was probably the finest moment of an otherwise dire QPR career, collected his own failed through ball from Winston Bogarde and shanked a volley into the corner of Mark Bosnich’s net from 25 yards with his unfavoured right foot.

Then, after Chris Day had denied Gudjohnsen once from long range and again in a one on one situation, Gavin Peacock scored a fine third goal against his former club from the edge of the area after a give and go with Sammy Koejoe. Day made a final outstanding save in injury time when Gudjohnsen headed a corner goalwards from close range.

The final whistle brought about a mini pitch invasion and one or two unpleasant scenes in front of the School End. The Chelsea fans probably wondered what the QPR supporters were getting so het up about but the significance and symbolism of the win for Rangers was there for all to see. They finished eighth that season with the makeshift side Holloway cobbled together before reaching the play off final in 2003 and achieving automatic promotion in 2004. And it all really began in earnest that day.

QPR: Day, Forbes, Palmer, Ben-Askar, Bruce, Perry, Peacock, Bonnot (Cochrane), Connolly (Walshe), Griffiths (Koejoe), Thomson

Chelsea: De Goey (Bosnich), Gallas, Desailly (Bogarde), Babayaro (Harley), Melchiot, Zola (Stanic), Lampard, Morris (Jokanovic), Le Saux, Hasselbaink (Forsell), Gronkjaer (Gudjohnsen).

Attendance: 11,988

Highlights >>> QPR 1 Chelsea 0, 1995 >>> QPR 2 Chelsea 2, 1991 >>> QPR 4 Chelsea 2, 1989 >>> QPR 6 Chelsea 0, 1986 >>> Chelsea 0 QPR 2, 1986 >>> Paul Furlong QPR career highlights

Player Connections

Terry Venables rose up through the ranks at Chelsea representing England at every level from schoolboy and amateur level through to the senior side where he won his first full cap in 1965. Venables was a League Cup winner with the Blues that season, scoring in a final win against Leicester, after initially joining them as a 15-year-old in 1958 and winning promotion from the Second Division in 1963.

The League Cup win and England call up was followed by an £80,000 move across town to Tottenham Hotspur after he, and several other players, fell out with manager Tommy Docherty over a breach of pre-match curfew rules . At White Hart Lane he haunted his former club by helping to beat them in the 1967 FA Cup final.

Which all made his decision to join newly relegated Queens Park Rangers for £70,000 in the summer of 1969 rather strange. It took four years for the R’s to regain their spot in the top division but Venables was captain when it finally happened in 1973. After helping Rangers to a creditable eighth place finish in their first season back, Venables decamped to Crystal Palace despite starting five of the first six games for Rangers at the beginning of the 1974/75 season – Don Rogers came the other way in part exchange.

Venables played infrequently for the Eagles but became the manager at Selhurst Park in 1976 after serving an apprenticeship under Malcolm Allison. Palace won promotion from the Third Division in Venables’ first season in charge, scoring two goals in injury time at Wrexham on the final day to secure the two goal margin required at the start of play. Rachid Harkouk, briefly a Ranger himself, scored one of the crucial goals. Three years later they were Second Division champions and dubbed the ‘team of the eighties’ because of the high number of young players forming the backbone of the side. The Eagles finished thirteenth in their first top flight season but became mired in financial difficulties at the start of the 1980/81 campaign and sat bottom of the table in October.

A friendship with the QPR chairman Jim Gregory saw Venables leave Palace and join QPR as their new manager in the division below. Using revolutionary training methods and a strictly drilled defence operating a sweeper system Venables took Second Division QPR to Wembley for an FA Cup final against Spurs which went to a replay before going the North London side’s way. A year later he promoted Rangers as champions of the Second Division and once back in the top tier they immediately recorded a fifth place finish and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Around this time Gregory offered Venables the chance to buy the club from him but funds could not be gathered by his consortium and the deal fell through. At the end of the campaign Gregory’s usual trick of laughing people out of his office when they came to him for more money, only to then have his secretary send them back in just as they were about to walk out the door, back fired when it turned out Venables’ outlandish claim that he was about to become the Barcelona manager was in fact true. This was all compounded by QPR’s decision to appoint the hapless Alan Mullery as his replacement.

In Spain Venables secured the 1985 La Liga title for Barcelona, their first since 1974, and won the domestic cup competition as well. They reached the 1986 European Cup final but lost to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. Venables was fired in September 1987 after failing to retain the league title, and crashing out of the UEFA Cup against Dundee United.

Venables returned to Spurs as manager, winning the FA Cup in 1991 and finishing third in the league in 1990 but he was ignored for the England job when it came up in 1990 when Graham Taylor was appointed instead. Venables became Spurs CEO alongside chairman Alan Sugar in the early 1990s but the arrangement was doomed to failure. He got the England job second time around following the failure to qualify for USA 1994 and led the team to a memorable semi-final appearance at Euro 96 on home soil. Sadly he left at the end of the tournament to concentrate on defending his name in court against allegations of fraudulent business dealings. In 1998 he was disqualified from acting as a company director for seven years for mismanaging four companies, including Tottenham.

His record since then has been mixed. He lost a World Cup qualifying play off to Iran while manager of Australia, and left Portsmouth bottom of the First Division and heavily in debt after an 11 month spell as chairman at Fratton Park. A return to Crystal Palace under Mark Goldberg in 1998 always looked doomed to failure, but he restored his reputation with a recue act at Middlesbrough in 2001 when he was appointed as head coach to assist beleaguered Bryan Robson and lead the team away from the Premiership relegation zone. He managed Leeds at the beginning of their financial crisis but was sacked before completing the 2002/03 season with the Whites facing relegation.

Venables has worked since as a singer, writer, pundit and figure head for various betting companies.

Others >>> Shaun Wright Phillips, Chelsea 2005-2008, QPR 2011-present >>> Scott Sinclair, Chelsea 2005-2010, QPR (loan) 2007 >>> Ben Sahar, Chelsea 2006-2009, QPR (loan) 2007 >>> Michael Mancienne, Chelsea 2006-2011, QPR (loan) 2006-2008 >>> Jimmy Smith, Chelsea 2005-2009, QPR (loan) 2006-2007 >>> Paul Furlong, Chelsea, 1994-1996, QPR (loan) 2000, (loan) 2002, 2002-2007 >>> Leon Knight, Chelsea 1999-2003, QPR (loan) 2001 >>> Gavin Peacock, QPR 1984-1987, 1996-2002, Chelsea 1993-1996 >>>John Spencer, Chelsea 1992-1997, QPR 1997-1998 >>> Ray Wilkins, Chelsea 1973-1979, (coach) 2000, (coach) 2009-2010, QPR 1989-1994, (player-manager) 1994-1996 >>> Clive Wilson, Chelsea 1987-1990, QPR 1990-1995 >>> Vinnie Jones, Chelsea 1991-1992, QPR 1998-1999 >>> Mick Harford, Chelsea 1992-1993, QPR (coach) 2006-2007, (manager) 2010 >>> Paul Parker, QPR 1987-1991, Chelsea 1997 >>> Mark Stein, QPR 1988-1989, Chelsea 1993-1998 >>> Nigel Spackman, Chelsea 1983-1987, 1992-1996, QPR 1989 >>> Roy Wegerle, Chelsea 1986-1988, QPR 1990-1992 >>> Steve Wicks, Chelsea 1974-1978, 1986-1988, QPR 1979-1981, 1981-1986 >>> Clive Walker, Chelsea 1976-1984 QPR 1986-1987 >>> Tommy Langley, Chelsea 1974-1980, QPR 1980-1981 >>> Derek Richardson, Chelsea 1974-1976, QPR 1976-1979 >>> Gary Chivers, Chelsea 1978-1983, QPR 1984-1987 >>> Mike Fillery, Chelsea 1978-1982, QPR 1983-1986 >>> Clive Allen, QPR 1978-1980, 1981-1984, Chelsea 1991-1992 >>> Tommy Cunningham, Chelsea 1973-1975, QPR 1975-1979 >>> Terry Venables, Chelsea 1960-1966, QPR 1969-1974, (manager) 1980-1984 >>> John Hollins, Chelsea 1963-1975, 1983-1984, (manager) 1985-1988, QPR 1975-1979, (coach) 1993-1997 >>> Dave Webb, Chelsea 1968-1974, (manager) 1993, QPR 1974-1977 >>> Dave Sexton, Chelsea (manager) 1967-1974, QPR (manager) 1974-1977 >>> Alan Mayes, QPR 1971-1974, Chelsea 1980-1983 >>> Tommy Docherty, Chelsea 1961-1962, (manager) 1962-1967, QPR (manager) 1968, (manager) 1979-1980 >>> Barry Bridges, Chelsea 1958-1966, QPR 1968-1970 >>> Allan Harris, Chelsea 1960-1964, QPR 1967-1971 >>> Les Allen, Chelsea 1954-1959, QPR 1965-1969, (manager) 1968-1971 >>> Allan Harris, Chelsea 1960-1964, 1966-67, QPR 1967-1971 >>> Alan Wilks, Chelsea 1963-1965, QPR 1965-1971

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Pictures – Action Images

Photo: Action Images

ozexile added 23:28 - Sep 12 Karl Connolly now that's brought back some memories.
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smegma added 00:14 - Sep 13 All 4 goals were crackers that day with Leroys being the pick of the bunch. Got absolutely mullered with my Chelsea brother and his mates in the blue and white bar. We sat there watching some home fans literally frothing at the mouth every time Chelsea players came near the loft end. The pitch invasion at the final whistle with our fans legging it to the school end and some dropping their strides to the great unwashed. More of the same on Saturday please.

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18StoneOfHoop added 01:02 - Sep 13 Fantastic to read once again an account of the momentous incident-packed events of the 28th July 2001 'friendly'. Don't forget Graeme Le Saux's corner in front of the R Block when he took time out to stop play to sanctimoniously lecture a Dad in the Lower Loft from swearing at GLS in front of his kids. Sophie Anderton's charlie-addled erstwhile boyfriend never even moved when Karl Connoly's sweetly-shanked volley hit the net. And then the cherry-on-the-top pitch invasion at the end whereby 2 or 3 R's fans graphically illustrated - using the method of moonie - where The Scum supporters should place their flags & as they understandably legged it back towards The Loft,a middle-aged knuckle-dragger's attempted kung-fu kick led to him assuming - 10 years ahead of his time - the forlorn Terry looking at RVP's arse position. Laugh? I nearly watched Neighbours. What a day! Good luck,God Bless Leroy Griffiths whatever you do,where ever you are..

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silky added 07:33 - Sep 13 Great read Clive, was there any vid footage of that pre season game? Would love to see it again!
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Northernr added 09:28 - Sep 13 Silky - There are highlights on the season video, but I couldn't find any on You Tube. Didn't spend a lot of time looking though to be fair. 18stone - Leroy turned up on my TV last year or the year before playing for Sutton I think in an FA Cup early round match v Notts County.
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silky added 10:11 - Sep 13 Ah great cheers for letting me know, I don't have the season vid of that year, hopefully one day it may surface up.....
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CiderwithRsie added 12:16 - Sep 14 Interesting reminder there that before Abramovich had joined them Chelsea were spending sums that would have people on here and in the press doing their collective nut if Fernandes were to spend them now. "Big Club" though they may have always been, ultimately it was that level of expenditure that put Chelsea ahead of Spurs, Everton and eventually Arsenal, all bigger and more successful clubs at the time.

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TacticalR added 21:59 - Sep 14 Great stuff!
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