Ahead of the long Friday night trip to Preston we're looking back at a rousing QPR comeback at Deepdale in 2010, when a young Adel Taarabt showed new manager Neil Warnock what he was capable of.

Memorable Match

Preston 2 Queens Park Rangers 2, Saturday March 27, 2010, Championship

Neil Warnock says that when he enquired about the fat Moroccan with all the tricks during his first training session as QPR manager he was told “That’s Adel. He’ll get you the sack.”

Warnock’s immediate predecessors had agreed. Paul Hart, who Ale Faurlin describes as the worst manager he’s worked under in the UK, picked Patrick Agyemang in attack instead of Adel Taarabt. In fact, in one memorable second half against a relegation-threatened Bristol City team when QPR played for half an hour with two right backs, two left backs, three centre backs and two defensive central midfielders he picked only Patrick Agyemang in attack. Mick Harford who followed him recognised the stupidity of that, but responded by loaning in Marcus Bent and Tamas Priskin rather than turning to the mercurial talent within. Jim Magilton had tried, and in one glorious fortnight when Barnsley, Preston, Reading and Derby were all vanquished and seventeen goals were scored the potential shone brightly, but it all blew up in his face — or rather, on the end of his forehead.

Neil Warnock is not a noted lover of temperamental, flair players. Warnock is the former Sheffield United manager who used to make Phil Jagielka stand up in the dressing room so everybody could look at their role model during his team talk. He’s the man who, needing a win from the final two matches of the Premier League season to stay up, went to Aston Villa who had nothing to play for and played with a single striker and lost. Ronnie Jepson, who Warnock had at Bury and Huddersfield, is Neil Warnock’s sort of striker — one headed goal, three elbows into the gob of the nearest centre back, five cigs in the changing room after the game and back on the bus home. Warnock made Jepson his reserve team manager at QPR.

But Neil Warnock is a man who knows how to win promotions — QPR’s fabulous, tear-jerking 2010/11 season would be his seventh. In Adel Taarabt, one afternoon at Deepdale, Warnock saw a man who could win him that title, and how he could get him to do it.

QPR were just about safe by the time they journeyed north to face Preston North End, and given the money they’d spent and the quality of player available to them it was ridiculous that this was the sum total of their ambition. Only the arrival of Warnock, the upturn in results he brought, and the meltdown occurring back at the club he’d left behind in South London made it so. The QPR fans, who’d seen megalomaniac Italian owner Flavio Briatore rattle through seven managers in two and a half seasons prior to Warnock’s arrival, were grateful for small mercies.

Preston were 2-0 up just before the hour. David Jones before the break, a typically emphatic Callum Davidson penalty after it. Pretty standard stuff. But QPR, with Taarabt playing a withdrawn role behind a central striker, came roaring back in the second half.

The game finished 2-2 and QPR should have won it. Taarabt assisted both goals and the names of the scorers highlighted the quality of the balls played — Peter Ramage and Tamas Priskin. Taarabt had been so good, even they couldn’t miss. Mind you, saying that, he repeated the trick a third time at the death and Rowan Vine skewed the resulting sitter wide.

Preston couldn’t cope with him, it was a total one man show and they had no answers to it. Such a single-handed demolition job was a spectacle even the most loyal fan of either team would struggle to recall happening before. It was something the Championship would quickly become used to.

With a minute to go, Warnock took Taarabt off even though the game, locked at 2-2, was still there to be won. The Moroccan didn’t stick around for the stoppage time — instead he walked straight down the sideline, into the dressing room, quickly showered, and left.

The QPR fans who scooted out on full time and took taxis back to the railway station were surprised to see their man of the match for the day had beaten them there and was racing down the platform to catch the next train to the airport, leaving his team mates behind to head off to sunnier climes for a few days. He'd asked his manager's permission, and had it granted on the condition of a decent display. Warnock would even substitute him early so he could make his train, if he played to his full potential.

Warnock had hit upon a formula — build a team around Taarabt on the field, and indulge him more than he ever had any other player before off it. Within 18 months, QPR were champions and Taarabt was the Championship's Player of the Year,

Preston: Lonergan 8, Jones 7, St. Ledger 6, Ward 5, Davidson 5, Wallace 6, James 7, Chaplow 6, Carter 6 (Sedgwick 59, 7), Mellor 6, Parkin 7 (Brown 71, 6)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hart, Mawene, Chilvers, Barton

Booked: Carter (foul), Chaplow (kicking ball away), St. Ledger (foul), Mellor (foul)

Goals: Jones 37 (assisted Wallace), Davidson 56 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 5, Gorkss 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 7, Priskin 6, Ephraim 7, Taarabt 9 (Buzsaky 90), German 6 (Vine 46, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Balanta, Tosic, Oastler

Booked: Hill (repetitive fouling), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Ramage 57 (assisted Taarabt), Priskin 66 (assisted Taarabt)

Classic encounters

LFW regular and AKUTR’s columnist Dave Barton has set up a QPR Memories YouTube channel, with a mixture of clips, classic games, and old highlights packages. His three recent meetings with Preston are embedded below, give him a subscribe on YouTube or follow @QPR_Memories on Twitter.

Recent Meetings:

QPR 0 Preston 2, Friday April 7, 2023, Championship

Things turned toxic at Loftus Road as QPR’s unprecedented 22/23 tank from top to bottom of the Championship started to really feel like it could end in relegation for the first time on Good Friday. Ilias Chair’s horrible miss when through on goal in the first half set up a second in which a variety of defensive calamities, often involving the returning Leon Balogun, set Everton loanee Tommy Cannon away for an embarrassingly easy double. In fairness, Troy Parrott should really have scored in the first half when Balogun put him clean through by falling over the ball in the centre circle. Balogun had summoned a group of critics from the support base to the training ground to explain his actions after the defeat at Wigan the week before and deny their assertions that he was just marking time before going back to Rangers with Mick Beale. Oh how we laughed.

QPR: Dieng 5; Laird 3 (Adomah 67, 3), Dickie 3, Balogun 2, Dunne 2, Paal 3 (Lowe 67, 3); Johansen 2 (Amos 74, 3), Field 3; Chair 3, Willock 3, Dykes 4 (Martin 80, -)

Subs not used: Archer, Dozzell, somebody called Richards it says here

PNE: Woodman N/A, Storey 6, Lindsay 6, Hughes 6; Potts 6, Browne 7 (Onomah 45+2, 7), Johnson 7 (Ledson 88, -), Whiteman 8, Brady 7 (Fernandez 80, -); Cannon 8, Parrott 6 (Woodburn 80, -)

Subs not used: Diaby, Cornell, Slater

Goals: Cannon 59 (assisted Brady), 63 (assisted Onomah)

Preston 0 QPR 1, Saturday December 17, 2022, Championship

QPR won for the first, and as it would turn out only, time in the Neil Critchley era at Deepdale in December. Rangers were oddly impressive in the first half, with three midfielders pressing high and hard behind lone striker Lyndon Dykes, and the stand out player on the day Tim Iroegbunam went closest to scoring with a long range shot off the inside of the post. He, Andre Dozzell, Sam Field and Dykes all could/should have scored in a very positive first half. That pressure paid off when Jimmy Dunne headed the game’s only goal from a second half corner, and although the hosts fought back hard and forced, going close on several occasions and drawing a brilliant late save from Seny Dieng, the R’s held on for what felt like a direction-changing victory.

PNE: Woodman 6; Storey 5, Lindsay 5, Cunningham 5 (O’Neill 86, -); Potts 4 (Diaby 90, -), Whiteman 6, Ledson 5 (Cross-Adair 68, 5), Fernandez 7; Johnson 6, Woodburn 5, Evans 6

Subs not used: Bauer, Cornell University, Slater, Mawene

Bookings: Lindsay 74 (handball)

QPR: Dieng 7; Laird 7, Dunne 7, Clarke-Salter 7, Paal 7; Dozzell 6 (Dickie 90+2, -), Field 7, Iroegbunam 7; Adomah 7, Dykes 7, Willock 6 (Shodipo 78, 6)

Subs not used: Kakay, Thomas, Archer, Richards, Armstrong

Goals: Dunne 58 (assisted Paal)

Bookings: Dozzell 2 (foul), Dykes 27 (repetitive fouling), Dieng 77 (time wasting)

Preston 2 QPR 1, Saturday April 9, 2022, Championship

QPR’s 2021/22 collapse continued in early April at Preston despite an improved performance. The R’s lost their fourth senior goalkeeper in as many months when Keiren Westwood pulled out in the warm up using young Murphy Mahoney facing a first team debut with no notice. He did himself proud, but unfortunately Daniel Iversen was in flying form at the other end to keep QPR’s efforts at bay. The R’s then conceded immediately before and after half time with defensively limp efforts allowing the home front pairing Riis and Archer to net game killing goals. Andre Gray pulled back a consolation in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

PNE: Iversen 8; McCann 6, van den Berg 7, Bauer 6, Hughes 6, Cunningham 6 (Murphy 70, 6); Whiteman 7, Browne 6, Johnson 6; Archer 7 (O’Neill 90, -), Riis 6 (Maguire 45+1, 6)

Subs not used: Rafferty, Ripley, Sinclair, Diaby

Goals: Riis 42 (assisted Hughes), Archer 50 (assisted Johnson)

QPR: Mahoney 7; Odubajo 6, Dunne 5, Sanderson 6, McCallum 5; Field 6, Dozzell 5, Amos 5 (Thomas 57, 5), Johansen 5; Chair 6 (Gray 69, 5), Dykes 5 (Austin 68, 5)

Subs not used: Kakay, Ball, Adomah

Goals: Gray 90+3 (penalty, won Field)

Bookings: Field 85 (foul)

QPR 3 Preston 2, Saturday October 2, 2021, Championship

Preston’s annual attempt to shithouse a result out of Queens Park Rangers came unstuck at Loftus Road in early October. Rangers cleared the first hurdle by taking the lead in the game when Seny Dieng’s quick release set Ilias Chair away for an 80-yard dash that finished with Lyndon Dykes poking home an opener. They then, however, committed the cardinal sin of falling behind to North End with Riis making the most of some shambolic defending to equalise before half time and Earl making it 2-1 within seconds of the restart. And so began the usual farcical theatrics and referee baiting from Maguire and co to try and see the game out. Lyndon Dykes had an equaliser of his own harshly disallowed for offside before Jimmy Dunne bundled in a leveller from an Ilias Chair free kick. With the visitors reeling and appealing for all sorts of nonsense, referee Jeremy Simpson allowed Dykes to hassle Cunningham running back towards his own goal and although Charlie Austin’s shot was blocked Chair followed up with a memorable winner.

QPR: Dieng 5; Odubajo 5, Dickie 7, Dunne 7, Barbet 6, Willock 6 (De Wijs 80, 6); Ball 6, Johansen 6 (Amos 69, 7), Chair 8; Dykes 8, Gray 5 (Austin 69, 7)

Subs not used: Kakay, Archer, Dozzell, Adomah

Goals: Dykes 17 (assisted Gray), Dunne 71 (assisted Chair), Chair 74 (assisted Dykes)

Bookings: Amos 90+5 (foul)

PNE: Iversen 6; van den Berg 6, Storey 6, Bauer 6 (Lindsay 45, 4), Cunningham 5, Earl 7; McCann 5 (Browne 25, 6), Ledson 7, Johnson 7; Riis 6, Maguire 7 (Potts 73, 4)

Subs not used: Rudd, Whiteman, Sinclair, Murphy

Goals: Riis 27 (assisted Maguire), Earl 46 (assisted Maguire)

Preston 0 QPR 0, Wednesday February 24, 2021, Championship

Anthony Gordon’s twentieth birthday.

PNE: Iversen 7; van den Berg 7, Storey 6, Hughes 6, Cunningham 0; Browne 6, Whiteman 7; Sinclair 5, Potts 6 (Johnson 87, -), Gordon 20 (Barkhuizen 80, -); Evans 6 (Jakobsen 87, -)

Subs not used: Bayliss, Rafferty, Molumby, Huntington, Ripley, Rodwell-Grant

QPR: Dieng 7; Dickie 6, Cameron 6, Barbet 6; Kane 5, Ball 7, Johansen 6 (Field 78, 6), Chair 6, Wallace 6; Dykes 5 (Willock 67, 6), Austin 6 (Bonne 78, 6)

Subs not used: Lumley, Kakay, Hämäläinen, Kelman, Adomah

Bookings: Johansen 70 (foul), Dickie 72 (foul)

QPR 0 Preston 2, Wednesday October 21, 2020, Championship

Rangers were soundly beaten by Preston in the first meeting between the sides at Loftus Road back in October — one of the R’s worst performances of the season so far. Both goals were penalties, both conceded by Lee Wallace, the first for a trip on Scott Sinclair coolly converted by Daniel Johnson, the second for a clumsy foul on Jakobsen which Sinclair took the responsibility for himself.

QPR: Dieng 6; Kakay 5, Dickie 5, Barbet 4, Wallace 3; Cameron 4, Ball 4 (Adomah 57, 6); Osayi-Samuel 5, Chair 5 (Willock 71, 6), Carroll 5; Bonne 5

Subs not used: Kane, Masterson, Hamalainen, Bettache, Kelly

PNE: Rudd 6; Rafferty 6, Bauer 7, Storey 7, Hughes 7; Browne 7, Ledson 8; Sinclair 7 (Stockley 90+1, -), Johnson 8 (Barkhuizen 73, 6), Potts 7; Jakobsen 8 (Maguire 84, -)

Subs not used: Harrup, Gallagher, Huntington, Ripley

Goals: Johnson 24 (penalty, won Sinclair), Sinclair 60 (penalty, won Jakobsen)

Bookings: Ledson 15 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 3, Saturday March 7, 2020, Championship

QPR won the final match played before the Covid-19 lockdown on a traditionally unhappy hunting ground at Deepdale. A poor first half performance saw them go in one behind at the break thanks to Marc Pugh’s lazy tackle on Darnell Fisher which wrought a nineteenth minute penalty converted by Daniel Johnson. The second half was a different story however, quickly levelled up by Grant Hall with his final act for the club and then won with spectacular goals by Ryan Manning and Ebere Eze despite Geoff Cameron being sent off with the score still at 1-1.

PNE: Rudd 6; Fisher 5, Davies 6, Bauer 6, Hughes 5; Gallagher 5 (Stockley 73, 5), Harrop 5 (Ledson 81, -), Johnson 5, Barkhuizen 5 (Sinclair 81, -); Maguire 7.

Subs not used: Rafferty, Huntington, Ripley, Nugent

Goals: Johnson 19 (penalty, won Fisher)

Bookings: Gallagher 44 (foul), Davies 61 (foul)

QPR: Kelly 6; Rangel 7, Hall 8, Barbet 7, Manning 6; Ball 6 (Amos 46, 7), Cameron 6; Pugh 4 (Chair 46, 7), Eze 8, Osayi-Samuel 8; Hugill 7

Subs not used: Lumley, Clarke, Kane, Shodipo, Oteh

Red Cards: Cameron 67 (two yellows)

Bookings: Cameron 56 (foul), Cameron 67 (foul), Amos 83 (foul)

QPR 2 Preston 0, Saturday December 7, 2019, Championship

QPR secured their first clean sheet of the season, and a rare win against Preston, when these sides met at Loftus Road at the start of December. Ebere Eze got the ball rolling with an emphatic finish at the second attempt down at the School End after Geoff Cameron had chipped him in. He made it two from the spot in the second half after Marc Pugh was adjudged to have been taken out by visiting keeper Declan Rudd — a decision PNE protested vehermently.

QPR: Lumley 7; Kane 7, Leistner 8, Hall 7, Manning 7; Cameron 7; Osayi-Samuel 8, Eze 8 (Amos 87, -), Pugh 7; Hugill 7, Wells 7 (Scowen 68, 6)

Subs not used: Wallace, Barnes, Smith, Ball, Chair

Goals: Eze 17 (assisted Cameron), 67 (penalty, won Pugh)

Bookings: Scowen 79 (foul), Osayi-Samuel 90 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 6; Rafferty 5, Huntington 6, Storey 6, Hughes 5; Pearson 5, Browne 6; Barkhuizen 6 (Nugent 62, 4), Potts 5 (Harrop 66, 5), Maguire 6; Stockley 6 (Bodin 57, 5)

Bookings: Rudd 65 (foul, penalty concession), Bodin 90+2 (foul)

QPR 1 Preston 4, Saturday January 19, 2019, Championship

QPR’s 2018/19 campaign really started to unravel in earnest when Preston came to Loftus Road in January. Joe Lumley and Josh Scowen’s doomed play-out-from-the back routine created a first half goal for Jayden Stockley and the defence folded altogether in the second period, caught out by two set pieces flicked on at the near post for first Storey and then Browne to make it 2-0 and 3-0. Matt Smith got a consolation goal at the Loft End with time running down but there was a further kick in the teeth to come as Potts returned a Joe Lumley parry into the far corner for a 4-1 away win.

QPR: Lumley 4; Furlong 5, Leistner 5, Lynch 5, Bidwell 5; Scowen 4, Cousins 4 (Smith 46, 5); Wszolek 5 (Osayi-Samuel 76, 5), Eze 5 (Smyth 85, -), Freeman 5; Wells 5

Subs not used: Ingram, Hall, Manning, Oteh

Goals: Smith 84 (assisted Bidwell)

Bookings: Scowen 9 (foul), Furlong 90+2 (foul), Lynch 90+3 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 6; Fisher 7, Storey 8, Davies 7, Hughes 7; Pearson 8; Gallagher 7, Browne 8, Maguire 8 (Barkhuizen 68, 7), Potts 8; Stockley 7 (Nmecha 77, 6)

Subs not used: Johnson, Woods, Ledson, Huntington, Ripley

Goals: Stockley 14 (assisted Browne), Storey 68 (assisted Davies), Browne 82 (assisted Storey), Potts 87 (assisted Nmecha)

Bookings: Maguire 23 (foul), Fisher 90+5 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 0, Saturday August 4, 2018, Championship

QPR got their annual niggly, frustrating, irritating single goal defeat at Deepdale in early that season, losing 1-0 in Lancashire in the opening day of the season. Alan Browne’s looping header catching Matt Ingram out five minutes after half time was enough to settle a dire game, though substitute Idrissa Sylla drew brilliant save from Declan Rudd in front of the away fans in injury time.

PNE: Rudd 7; Fisher 6, Clarke 6, Davies 6, Hughes 6; Pearson 8, Browne 7; Barkhuizen 7 (Horgan 71, 6), Harrop 6 (Ledson 83, -), Robinson 7; Moult 6 (Gallagher 77, 6)

Subs not used: Woods, Burke, Maxwell, Huntington

Goals: Browne 50 (assisted Harrop)

QPR: Ingram 5; Kakay 6, Leistner 7, Lynch 6, Bidwell 5; Scowen 6, Luongo 6 (Smyth 66, 6); Osayi-Samuel 5 (Manning 46, 6), Eze 6, Freeman 5; Smith 4 (Sylla 77, 5)

Subs not used: Cousins, Washington, Lumley, Baptiste

Yellow Cards: Manning 66 (foul), Scowen 73 (foul)

QPR 1 Preston 2, Saturday April 14, 2018, Championship

Preston did their usual number on QPR at Loftus Road back in April 2018, outfoxing Rangers tactically and beating them up physically as Ian Holloway once again paid the price for changing a winning team. Rangers had been rampant during the week, winning 4-2 against Sheff Wed, but Idrissa Sylla who scored twice and Paul Smyth who got one and the Man of the Match award were both benched for the Saturday game. It didn’t look like it would matter when Matt Smith tapped in a great Ryan Manning cross early on, but Preston have a formidable recent record on this ground and scrambled a deserved equaliser through Callum Robinson before half time. Their winner, headed over stand in keeper Matt Ingram and into the far corner by Robinson once more, had been coming.

QPR: Ingram 6; Furlong 6, Baptiste 6, Robinson 6, Bidwell 6; Cousins 5 (Freeman 73, 5), Luongo 5, Manning 6; Eze 5, Osayi Samuel 5 (Smyth 63, 6), Smith 5 (Sylla 63, 5)

Subs not used: Smithies, Scowen, Wszolek, Kakay

Goals: Smith 13 (assisted Manning)

Bookings: Ingram 38 (foul), Robinson 70 (foul), Luongo 83 (foul)

Preston: Rudd 7; Fisher 7, Clarke 6, Huntington 6, Cunningham 6; Pearson 7, Browne 8; Barkhuizen 6, Johnson 7 (Harrop 63, 6), Bodin 6 (Gallagher 63, 6); Robinson 7 (Horgan 90+4, -)

Subs not used: Davies, Moult, Maxwell, Earl

Goals: Robinson 45 (assisted Fisher), 72 (assisted Browne)

Bookings: Cunningham 41 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 0, Saturday December 2, 2017, Championship

QPR had Jamie Mackie harshly sent off in the first half when these sides met at Deepdale back in December 2017. Having fallen victim to that questionable bit of refereeing, Rangers defended stoically for the rest of the game before conceding the only goal to Jordan Hugill with two minutes of normal time remaining. Alex Baptiste was sent off for dissent after the final whistle, although Rangers claimed he was actually swearing at a former Preston team mate not referee Jeremy Simpson.

PNE: Maxwell; Fisher, Clarke (O’Connor 45), Huntingdon, Davies; Gallagher, Pearson, Barkhuizen, Browne (Harrop 45); Robinson, Hugill

Subs not used: Rudd, Boyle, Horgan, Pringle, Welsh

Goals: Hugill 88 (assisted Gallagher)

Yellow cards: Huntingdon 79 (foul), Pearson 79 (dissent)

QPR: Smthies 7; Wszolek 6, Baptiste 8, Robinson 8, Bidwell 7; Luongo 6, Scowen 6, Wheeler 5 (Smith 73, 6); Chair 6 (Sylla 90, -), Mackie 4, Washington 6

Subs not used: Lumley, Cousins, Smyth, Manning, Goss

Red Cards: Mackie 22 (serious foul play), Baptiste 90+6 (two yellows)

Yellow cards: Luongo 86 (foul), Bidwell 90 (foul), Baptiste 90+5 (dissent), Baptiste 90+6 (dissent)

Preston 2 QPR 1, Saturday February 20, 2017, Championship

QPR had Luke Freeman harshly sent off for two bookings, and slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Deepdale in February 2017. Things had started so well when Kazenga LuaLua turned in Matt Smith’s flick on from a long throw to give the R’s a lead. But the standard Aiden McGeady 20-yarder on the stroke of half time swung the game back in Preston’s favour and Jordan Hugill got a winner at the second attempt from a late corner after Alex Smithies had saved the first.

PNE: Maxwell 6; Huntington 6, Clarke 6, Spurr 6, Cunningham 6; Browne 8, Johnson 7; McGeady 7, Robinson 7, Horgan 7 (Barkhuizenat 86, -); Hugill 6

Subs not used: Lindegaard, Makienok, Beckford, Gallagher, May, Boyle

Goals: McGeady 44 (unassisted), Hugill 77 (assisted Horgan)

Bookings: Clarke 66 (foul)

QPR: Smithies 7; Furlong 6 (Ngbakoto 67, 5), Onuoha 6, Lynch 4, Bidwell 5; Freeman 6, Perch 7, Manning 6; Wszolek 6, Smith 6 (Sylla 67, 5), Lua Lua 6 (Mackie 73, 6)

Subs not used: Ingram, Goss, Ingram, Petrasso

Goals: Lua Lua 36 (assisted Furlong/Smith)

Red Cards: Freeman 78 (two bookings)

Bookings: Onuoha 21 (foul), Freeman 41 (foul), Lua Lua 62 (foul), Freeman 78 (stamping)

QPR 0 Preston 2, Saturday August 20, 2016, Championship

Preston did a proper tactical number on QPR at Loftus Road in August 2016, comfortably winning 2-0 in one of the first major indications that the Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink era wasn’t going to have a happy ending after all. Rangers had already beaten Leeds and Cardiff in the opening month of the season but with Jon Welsh detailed to crowd the space Tjaronn Chery was operating in, and centre half Bailey Wright the best player on the pitch, the visitors were rarely troubled by the home team. They scored either side of half time — Beckford making the most of a rare Smithies flap to divert a follow up into the net, then Callum Robinson finishing from close range at the end of a sweeping counter attack. Johnson curled one wide and Smithies tipped over an outrageous lob attempt to prevent the scoreline being more severe. PNE hadn’t won a game, or scored a goal, in the league prior to this.

QPR: Smithies 4; Perch 5, Onuoha 5, Caulker 4, Bidwell 5; Henry 4 (Washington 54, 6), Luongo 5; Ngabokto 5 (El Khayati 64, 6), Chery 5, Cousins 5; Polter 5

Subs not used: Ingram, Shodipo, Kakay, Paul, Grego-Cox

Bookings: Perch 45+1 (foul)

Preston: Lindegaard 6; Humphrey 7 (Huntington 87, -), Clarke 7, Wright 8, Cunningham 6; Welsh 6, Gallagher 7 (Browne 74, 6); Johnson 8; Robinson 7, Beckford 6 (Hugill 73, 6)

Subs not used: Makienok, Doyle, Pringle, Maxwell

Goals: Beckford 21 (assisted Gallagher, mistake Smithies), Onuoha own goal (assisted Beckford, mistake Onuoha/Henry)

Bookings: Welsh 58 (foul), Browne 85 (foul)

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday March 19, 2016, Championship

While there was little at stake for either side when they met in March 2016, a combination of the pressure being off and the referee being under the influence of some bad acid made for a lively encounter at Deepdale. QPR took the lead early on when Seb Polter headed a corner home, and should have sealed the game in the second half when Tjaronn Chery ran through one on one with Anders Lindegaard but failed to convert. Amidst some farcical officiating from Andy Woolmer, PNE bagged a last minute equaliser from Doyle but there were four yellow cards in injury time alone and in the end most were relieved the game was called to a halt before anybody was killed.

Preston: Lindegaard 7; Woods 6, Wright 6, Clarke 5, Cunningham 7; Johnson 7; Gallagher 6, Pearson 6 (Doyle 61, 7), Reach 6 (Beckford 85, -), Robinson 6 (Welsh 79, 6); Hugill 5

Subs not used: Vermijl, Kilkenny, Smith, Kirkland

Goals: Doyle 90+3 (assisted Cunningham)

Bookings: Clarke 81 (denying a goalscoring opportunity), Beckford 90+5 (fighting)

QPR: Smithies 6; Onuoha 6, Angella 6, Hill 7, Perch 6; Faurlin 6, Henry 7, Mackie 6 (Luongo 78, 5), Chery 6 (Hall 89, -), Hoilett 6 (El Khayati 90+3, -), Polter 7

Subs not used: Washington, Tozser, Ingram, Petrasso

Goals: Polter 5 (assisted Faurlin)

Bookings: Hoilett 71 (not sure), Angella 90+5 (fighting), Faurlin 90+5 (not sure), Hall 90+8 (foul-ish)

QPR 0 Preston 0, Saturday November 7, 2015, Championship

The first meeting between these sides that season was something of a perfect storm. It fell into the brief period of Neil Warnock's caretaker charge, when Rangers had surrendered almost all of their attacking intent in order to tighten up a defence that had been shipping two goals a game on average for the first three months of the season. Preston meanwhile, with Jermaine Beckford injured and Joe Garner out of form, were also relying on a tight backline to establish them following promotion from League One. Absolutely nothing of any real note happened in the entire match.

QPR: Green 7; Henry 6, Onuoha 6, Hall 7, Konchesky 6; Phillips 5, Faurlin 6, Sandro 5 (Emmanuel-Thomas 64, 5), Hoilett 6 (Chery 74, 5); Fer 6, Austin 6

Subs not used: Luongo, Smithies, Angella, Tozser, Polter

Yellow Cards: Onuoha 69 (dissent), Austin 78 (foul)

Preston: Pickford 6; Vermijl 6, Woods 6, Wright 7, Huntington 6; Reach 6, Browne 6, Gallagher 6, Johnson 7 (Kilkenny 90+4, -), Doyle 5 (Keane 75, 6); Garner 5 (Hugill 88, -)

Subs not used: Davies, Brownhill, May, Kirkland

Preston 1 QPR 1, Saturday February 19, 2011, Championship

Although Neil Warnock's QPR were runaway Championship leaders in February 2011, the club still had the ability to struggle against the division's lesser lights as it always had done before. Preston would go on to be relegated that year, and had already been swept aside by Rangers 3-1 at Loftus Road, but had much the better of this encounter once Ishmael Miller's powerful run down the left had set up Heidar Helguson for an emphatic opener. Phil Brown's side equalised through Barry Nicholson and had numerous chances to win. Later, Rangers lost 4-1 at one of the other relegated teams Scunthorpe.

Preston: I Turner, B Jones, S St Ledger, L Cort, D Gray, B Nicholson, I Ashbee, K Treacy, A Barton (P Parry, 75), E Johnson (P Hayes, 55), N Ellington (J Proctor, 82)

Subs not used: A Lonergan, D Carter, C Morgan, D Russell

Goals: Nicholson 62

Bookings: Ashbee, Treacy, Gray

QPR: P Kenny, C Hill, B Orr, M Connolly, K Gorkss, W Routledge (A Buzsaky, 86), S Derry, A Taarabt, A Faurlin, I Miller (P Vaagen Moen, 61), H Helguson (R Hulse, 74)

Subs not used: F Hall, P Chimbonda, D Shittu, R Cerny

Goals: Helguson 16

Bookings: Gorkss, Routledge, Derry

QPR 3 Preston 1, Saturday November 20, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt did always seem to quite enjoy playing against Preston. After registering QPR’s goal of the season in a 4-0 win against the Lily Whites at Loftus Road the previous season, the Moroccan scored two more breathtaking goals against them in W12 here. Taarabt made it 2-0 and then 3-0 from long range at the Loft End after Rob Hulse had scored from close range in the opening ten minutes. A soft own goal from Matt Connolly in injury time ruined Paddy Kenny’s clean sheet and gave the scoreline a flattering look when the gulf between the two sides on the day was taken into account.

QPR: Kenny 6, Walker 8, Hall 7 (Rowlands 81, -), Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Connolly 6, Faurlin 7, Mackie 7 (Andrade 88, -), Taarabt 8, Clarke 6, Hulse 7 (Agyemang 80, -)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Helguson, Ephraim

Goals: Hulse 4 (assisted Walker), Taarabt 56 (assisted Hulse), 84 (assisted Clarke)

Preston: Lonergan 3, Gray 5, Brown 5, St. Ledger 4, De Laet 5, Tonge 5, Barton 6, Russell 5, Pugh 4, Parkin 5, Hume 5

Subs Not Used: Arestidou, Morgan, James, Mayor, Parry, Jones, McLaughlin

Booked: St. Ledger (play acting/fighting)

Goals: Connolly 88 og (assisted Hume)

Preston 2 QPR 2, Saturday March 27, 2010, Championship

Adel Taarabt, promised an early substitution and trip home to France if he played well, was at his imperious best at Deepdale as Rangers battled back from two down to draw, and almost win. Static defending cost the R’s the opening goal before half time when Billy Jones had time for two touches and a finish in the area after Ross Wallace’s low free kick made it right through the box. Then after half time further defensive hesitancy allowed Jon Parkin in behind Kaspars Gorkss and when he was subsequently wrestled to the ground a penalty was the obvious result — Callum Davidson almost ripped the net off the back of the posts with the kick. So far so predictable, but then Taarabt started to play. He mesmerised the Preston defence time after time after time teeing up identical goals for first Peter Ramage and then Tamas Priskin before laying in Rowan Vine for what should have been a certain winner — Vine cleared the bar with his shot.

Preston: Lonergan 8, Jones 7, St. Ledger 6, Ward 5, Davidson 5, Wallace 6, James 7, Chaplow 6, Carter 6 (Sedgwick 59, 7), Mellor 6, Parkin 7 (Brown 71, 6)

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Hart, Mawene, Chilvers, Barton

Booked: Carter (foul), Chaplow (kicking ball away), St. Ledger (foul), Mellor (foul)

Goals: Jones 37 (assisted Wallace), Davidson 56 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 8, Ramage 7, Stewart 5, Gorkss 5, Hill 5, Faurlin 6, Leigertwood 7, Priskin 6, Ephraim 7, Taarabt 9 (Buzsaky 90), German 6 (Vine 46, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Balanta, Tosic, Oastler

Booked: Hill (repetitive fouling), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Ramage 57 (assisted Taarabt), Priskin 66 (assisted Taarabt)

Previous Results

Head to Head >>> Preston wins 20 >>> Draws 17 >>> QPR wins 14

2022/23 QPR 0 Preston 2

2022/23 Preston 0 QPR 1 (Dunne)

2021/22 Preston 2 QPR 1 (Gray)

2021/22 QPR 3 Preston 2 (Dykes, Dunne, Chair)

2020/21 Preston 0 QPR 0

2020/21 QPR 0 Preston 2

2019/20 Preston 1 QPR 3 (Hall, Manning, Eze)

2019/20 QPR 2 Preston 0 (Eze 2)

2018/19 QPR 1 Preston 4 (Smith)

2018/19 Preston 1 QPR 0

2017/18 QPR 1 Preston 2 (Smith)

2017/18 Preston 1 QPR 0

2016/17 Preston 2 QPR 1 (LuaLua)

2016/17 QPR 0 Preston 2

2015/16 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Polter)

2015/16 QPR 0 Preston 0

2010/11 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Helguson)

2010/11 QPR 3 Preston 1 (Taarabt 2, Hulse)

2009/10 Preston 2 QPR 2 (Priskin, Ramage)

2009/10 QPR 4 Preston 0 (Taarabt, Buzsaky, Simpson, Routledge)

2008/09 Preston 2 QPR 1 (Agyemang)

2008/09 QPR 3 Preston 2 (Helguson 2, Blackstock)

2007/08 QPR 2 Preston 2 (Blackstock, Ainsworth)

2007/08 Preston 0 QPR 0

2006/07 QPR 1 Preston 0 (Blackstock)

2006/07 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Ainsworth)

2005/06 QPR 0 Preston 2

2005/06 Preston 1 QPR 1 (Shittu)

2004/05 QPR 1 Preston 2 (Furlong)

2004/05 Preston 2 QPR 1 (Santos)

2000/01 Preston 5 QPR 0

2000/01 QPR 0 Preston 0

1980/81 QPR 1 Preston 1 (Stainrod)

1980/81 Preston 3 QPR 2 (Roeder, Neal)

1979/80 Preston 0 QPR 3 (Allen, Roeder, Goddard)

1979/80 QPR 1 Preston 1 (Goddard)

1978/79 Preston 1 QPR 3* (Eastoe 2, Baxter og)

1972/73 QPR 3 Preston 0 (Givens 2, Francis)

1972/73 Preston 1 QPR 1 (O’Rourke)

1971/72 Preston 1 QPR 1 (O’Rourke)

1971/72 QPR 2 Preston 1 (McCulloch, Saul)

1969/70 QPR 0 Preston 0

1969/70 Preston 0 QPR 0

1967/68 QPR 1 Preston 3** (Keen)

1967/68 QPR 2 Preston 0 (Marsh 2)

1967/68 Preston 0 QPR 2 (R Morgan, Leach)

1962/63 QPR 1 Preston 2* (Collins)

1950/51 Preston 1 QPR 0

1950/51 QPR 1 Preston 4 (Waugh)

1949/50 Preston 3 QPR 2 (Addinall, Robertson og)

1949/50 QPR 0 Preston 0

* - League Cup

** - FA Cup

Connections

Patrick Agyemang >>> QPR 2008-2012 >>> Preston 2004-2008

Walthamstow-born Patrick Agyemang was a product of the academy at Wimbledon when the club was still based at Selhurst Park. He scored a respectable 22 goals for the Dons in 79 starts and 57 sub appearances between 1998 and 2004. Then-First Division Gillingham paid £150k for him in January 2004 and he scored eight times for the Gills in 30 starts and four sub apps before departing for Preston in November for £350k.

At Deepdale he was mostly used as an impact substitute. He came on, along with another shared charge Danny Dichio, to join David Nugent and Michael Ricketts in an enormous, physical attack to chase the 1-0 deficit at Loftus Road in the aforementioned Dexter Blackstock game. There were occasional moments of brilliance — a bicycle kick goal against West Brom manager Paul Simpson said “only Patrick would have believed that possible” — mixed with a lot of drudge. His season total goals across his time with the Lilywhites read more like a central midfield player — four in 04/05, six in 05/06, seven in 06/07, four in 07/08 — and certainly didn’t make him an immediately obvious candidate to lead the attack at newly minted QPR.

The Flavio Briatore takeover at Loftus Road had injected some much needed investment into a club on the bones of its arse with a team surely destined for relegation to League One. A side including the likes of John Curtis, Ben Sahar, Danny Nardiello won none of its first nine games and manager John Gregory was quickly jettisoned by the new owners. The deal was done right at the end of the summer transfer window, with just enough time to squeeze Mikele Leigertwood through for £1m from Sheff Utd. Loans, such as the imperious Akos Buzsaky, followed in the autumn but the first big intake of talent occurred as soon as the window opened in January — Matt Connolly, Fitz Hall, permanent deals for loanees Rowan Vine, Hogan Ephraim and Buzsaky, and, of course, Patrick Agyemang.

Now, here’s where it starts to get strange. Agyemang, out of contract at Preston at the end of the season, only required a nominal transfer fee, but also walked out of Loftus Road with a four-and-a-half-year deal worth a rumoured £12k a week, when he’d apparently come in looking for two years at half that. He quickly took to arriving at games in a large Bentley, with a P AGYE number plate. Not many people complaining initially though as he scored on his debut in a 2-1 loss at Sheff Utd, again in a 2-0 home win against Barnsley, and once more in a 3-1 loss at Cardiff. The goals, remarkably, kept coming: two, in a three nil demolition of Bristol City at Loftus Road; two more, in a brilliant and memorable 3-2 win away to Southampton. Another gave Rangers the lead at home to Burnley before Andy Cole decided to turn up and play for the second half. It was a career-best hot streak. We found ourselves living in a world where Patrick Agyemang and Rowan Vine were the best strike force outside the Premier League.

On the LFW message board, a debate was convened on a nickname — Big Pat already taken at that time by youth team centre back Pat Kanyuka. The natives settled on “Dave”, and Agyemang would then get out of his Bentley and walk to the stadium with fans walking past saying “hi Dave” and “can we get an autograph Dave”. His Wikipedia entry was edited to suggest this was a nickname that had followed him from Preston because of his love of Only Fools and Horses. Either way, Dave didn’t like it. He told somebody outside the ground one day to pack that shit in. Returned to his previous identity as Patrick, he also regressed to his previous status as a distinctly mediocre Championship forward. From eight in his first six games, Agyemang scored only once more in the final dozen games, and that in a home gimme against lowly Scunthorpe.

As with Mike Sheron, QPR really shouldn’t have been surprised given his career record to this point, but Agyemang’s scoring record for the club thereafter was little short of shocking. In 2008/09 he scored twice in 23 appearances. The following season he got three in 21. He spent some time on loan at Bristol City (no goals in seven apps) and Millwall (no goals in two apps). It’s only right and proper that we do pay tribute to a pair of crucial goals he contributed to the 2010/11 promotion season under Neil Warnock — setting up the injury time comeback from 2-0 down at Derby with a cleverly taken first, and grabbing another point with a close range finish in a televised 1-1 at Bristol City. But, soon, the Bentley was taking a trip up the A1 to Stevenage for another loan (one goal in 15 apps) and he moved there permanently when his contract finally expired in 2012. He ended with 16 goals in 43 starts and 40 sub outings for QPR, eight of those goals coming in his first six games — a run that was later attributed to a tear in the fabric of reality.

The rest of his career followed pretty much this path. Two separate spells with Portsmouth delivered eight goals in two years and 69 games. He retired with a knee injury but did put in scoreless appearances for Dagenham and Redbridge, Baffins Milton Rovers (yes really) in a 4-1 FA Vase defeat to Horley Town, and Cray Valley Paper Mills (shut up). He’s now a personal trainer.

Others >>> Gareth Ainsworth, QPR (manager) 2023, 2003-2010, Preston 1993-1995, 1992 >>> Scott Sinclair, Preston 2020-2022, QPR (loan) 2007 >>> Todd Kane, QPR 2019-2021, Preston (loan) 2012-2013 >>> Jordan Hugill, QPR (loan) 2019-2020, Preston 2014-2018 >>> Alex Baptiste, QPR 2017-2019, Preston (loan) 2016-2017 >>> Will Keane, Preston (loan) 2015, QPR (loan) 2014 >>> Max Ehmer, QPR 2009-2015, Preston (loan) 2011 >>> Clarke Carlisle, Preston (loan) 2011-2012, QPR 2000-2004 >>> Leon Clarke, Preston (Loan) 2011, QPR 2010-2011, (loan) 2006 >>> Tamas Priskin, QPR (loan) 2010, Preston (loan) 2008 >>> Matt Hill, QPR (loan) 2010, Preston 2005-2008 >>> Jason Jarrett, QPR (loan) 2007-2008, Preston 2006-2009 >>> Danny Dichio, Preston 2005-2007, QPR 1993-1997 >>> John Curtis, QPR 2007, Preston (loan) 2004 >>> Marlon Broomes, Preston 2002-2005, QPR (loan) 2000 >>> Chris Day, QPR 2001-2005, Preston (loan) 2005 >>> Brett Angell, QPR 2002-2003, Preston (loan) 2000 >>> Michael Robinson, QPR 1984-1986, Preston 1974-1979 >>> Paul McGee, Preston 1984, 1979-1981, QPR 1977-1979 >>> Clive Clark, Preston 1970-1973, QPR 1969-1970, 1958-1960

The Twitter @loftforwords

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hoops_legend added 07:40 - Dec 2 Such good memories to see that Taarabt performance versus Preston. That chance he gave Rowan Vine was insane. Lovely touches and perfectly weighted
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