Ahead of QPR’s trip to Stoke City this weekend, and in the wake of the much publicised recent incident at Sheff Wed v Leeds, LFW looks back at one of the more perverse FA rulings of recent times.
QPR 1 Stoke City 0, Sunday May 6, 2012, Premier League
QPR left it late, but managed to take the fight for Premier League survival down to the final day of the season with a victory against Stroke in the last home game of the 2011/12 season. Locked in a tussle with Bolton to steer clear of the final relegation spot, Rangers looked nervous and tense against a Stoke side that had won only one of its last ten games and came to West London with limited ambition. The mood around the place was dark when news came through that Bolton were 2-0 up at home to a West Brom side that had nothing to play for and knew manager Roy Hodgson was about to leave. But the whole situation swung in the final minute when Anton Ferdinand glanced on Adel Taarabt’s corner and substitute Djibril Cisse slammed the ball into the open goal. Amidst wild celebrations, news filtered through that the Baggies had equalised up in Lancashire . A week later Stoke held Bolton to a draw which meant the R’s survived despite a late defeat at Man City.
QPR: Kenny 6, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 7, Hill 7, Taiwo 6, Barton 7, Derry 6 (Wright-Phillips 81, -), Buzsaky 5 (Cisse 50, 7), Mackie 5, Taarabt 7, Zamora 5 (Bothroyd 81, -)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Hall, Gabbidon, Traore
Goals: Cisse 89 (assisted Taarabt/Ferdinand)
Stoke: Sorensen 7, Huth 7, Shawcross 7, Upson 6, Wilson 5 (Shotton 46, 6), Walters 6, Whelan 5, Delap 5, Jerome 6 (Jones 78, 6), Crouch 6, Fuller 6 (Whitehead 78, 6)
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Etherington, Woodgate, Palacios
Stoke City 2 QPR 3, Saturday November 19, 2011, Premiership
It’s hard to believe that QPR are even the same club from the one that went to Stoke and won back in November. A 3-2 win at the Britannia Stadium moved Neil Warnock’s team up to eighth in the league and was their third away win from the first six road trips of the season. They were good value for it as well, out passing and outplaying Stoke to recover from an early Jon Walters goal and not only equalise when Luke Young got on the end of a flowing move to score his first goal for the club but then take the lead when Traore crossed and Helguson rammed in an unstoppable header. The lead was extended still further after half time when Helguson got on the end of Barton’s excellent cross and moments later Shaun Wright-Phillips hit the post in pursuit of a fourth. A typically direct goal from Ryan Shawcross made for a nervous last 25 minutes but Stoke completed just 117 passes in the entire game and QPR were good value for the win. This remains their last away victory.
Stoke: Sorensen 6, Wilkinson 5, Shawcross 6, Huth 6, Higginbotham 6, Pennant 5 (Fuller 68, 6), Whitehead 5 (Whelan 85, -), Delap 5, Etherington 6, Walters 7, Crouch 6 (Jones 65, 6)
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Wilson, Upson, Palacios
Booked: Wilkinson (foul), Shawcross (foul), Delap (foul), Fuller (foul)
Goals: Walters 8 (assisted Crouch), Shawcross 64 (assisted Crouch)
QPR: Kenny 6, Young 7 (Orr 77, 6), Ferdinand 6, Gabbidon 7, Hill 7, Wright-Phillips 7, Barton 7, Faurlin 8, Traore 8, Mackie 7, Helguson 9
Subs Not Used: Derry , Buzsaky, Smith, Hewitt
Booked: Barton (handball), Helguson (foul)
Goals: Helguson 22 (assisted Traore), 54 (assisted Barton), Young 44 (assisted Mackie)
QPR 3 Stoke 0, Sunday March 2, 2008, Championship
Stoke City were second in the Championship when these sides last met at Loftus Road, and were heading for promotion to the Premiership. QPR were in the early throws of the Flavio Briatore reign and his first manager Luigi De Canio was doing an excellent job of hauling the R’s away from the bottom three – nevertheless they were only fifteenth in the table when Tony Pulis’ men arrived in W12 and were heavy odds against for the live Sky clash. Stoke dominated the early proceedings and, as at the Britannia Stadium in the earlier meeting that season, Rangers really struggled to deal with their set piece threat – Mamady Sidibe headed against the underside of the bar from an early corner. Within a minute of that near miss though Mikele Leigertwood had drilled a spectacular opener in from fully 30 yards out. The quickly became 2-0 as Vine headed Buzsaky’s cross back into the path of Leigertwood once more who lashed into the roof of the net after arriving in the penalty box unchecked. Stoke made much of a the harsh straight red card handed out to Andy Griffin by referee Andy D’Urso just before half time for what seemed to be a fair tackle on Hogan Ephraim but Rangers were already well on their way to victory by then and the game was over when a counter attack from a dire Liam Lawrence free kick ended with Agyemany teeing up Buzsaky for a crisply struck third.
QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 7, Connolly 7, Hall 7 (Stewart 79, -), Delaney 8, Buzsaky 8, Leigertwood 9, Rowlands 8 (Ainsworth 81, -), Ephraim 8, Agyemang 7, Vine 8 (Blackstock 75, 7)
Subs Not Used: Pickens, Lee
Booked: Mancienne (foul)
Goals: Leigertwood 12 (assisted Buzsaky) 21 (assisted Vine), Buzsaky 56 (assisted Agyemang)
Stoke: Simonsen 7, Griffin 3, Cort 5, Shawcross 5, Pugh 5, Lawrence 5 (Buxton 62, 6), Diao 6 (Gallagher 55, 5), Whelan 6, Cresswell 5, Sidibe 5 (Wilkinson 46, 5), Fuller 7
Subs Not Used: Hoult, Parkin
Sent Off: Griffin (two footed tackle)
Booked: Cresswell (dissent)
Head to Head >>> Stoke wins 8 >>> Draws 8 >>> QPR wins 17
2011/12 QPR 1 Stoke 0 (Cisse)
2011/12 Stoke 2 QPR 3 (Helguson 2, Young)
2007/07 QPR 3 Stoke 0 (Leigertwood 2, Buzsaky)
2007/08 Stoke 3 QPR 1 (Vine)
2006/07 QPR 1 Stoke 1 (Rowlands)
2006/07 Stoke 1 QPR 0
2005/06 QPR 1 Stoke 2 (Ainsworth)
2005/06 Stoke 1 QPR 2 (Furlong, Langley )
2004/05 QPR 1 Stoke 0 (Cook)
2004/05 Stoke 0 QPR 1 (Gallen)
2000/01 Stoke 0 QPR 1 (Peacock)
2000/01 QPR 1 Stoke 0 (Thomson)
1997/98 Stoke 2 QPR 1 (Barker)
1997/98 QPR 1 Stoke 1 (Barker)
1996/97 Stoke 0 QPR 0
1996/97 QPR 1 Stoke 1 (Sinclair)
1984/85 Stoke 0 QPR 2 (James, Fillery)
1984/85 QPR 2 Stoke 0 (Bannister, Gregory)
1983/84 Stoke 1 QPR 2 (Allen, Fereday)
1983/84 QPR 6 Stoke 0 (Charles 2, Stainrod, Gregory, Stewart, Fillery)
1976/77 Stoke 1 QPR 0
1976/77 QPR 2 Stoke 0 (Bowles, Givens)
1975/76 Stoke 0 QPR 1 (Webb)
1975/76 QPR 3 Stoke 2 (Webb, Masson, Clement)
1974/75 Stoke 1 QPR 0
1974/75 QPR 0 Stoke 1
1973/74 Stoke 4 QPR 1 (Leach)
1973/74 QPR 3 Stoke 3 (Bowles 2, Givens)
1968/69 QPR 2 Stoke 1 (Leach 2)
1968/69 Stoke 1 QPR 1 (R Morgan)
1947/48 QPR 3 Stoke 0* (Hatton 2, Ramscar)
* - FA Cup
Simon Stainrod >>> QPR 1980-1985 >>> Stoke 1987-1988
Simon Stainrod was the QPR number ten during the club’s revival in the early 1980s, led by manager Terry Venables.
He was also one of those rare players who turned out for both Sheffield clubs. Having been born in the Steel City he came through the ranks at Bramall Lane initially, signing professional terms in 1975 and scoring 14 goals in almost 67 appearances through to 1979 when he embarked on a spell on the other side of the Pennines with Oldham Athletic.
His time at United didn’t start well – his debut came in a 5-0 defeat at Spurs which sealed the Blades’ relegation to the Second Division. Given that they lost 14 and drew one of their first 16 league matches that season the demotion wasn’t a great surprise. Stainrod scored on his second appearance against Norwich a week later though – that 3-1 win was their first away maximum of the season just five games before the end of the campaign, and only their third win in total. Bizarrely the Blades actually won four and drew one of their last six.
Despite forging a good striking partnership with Keith Edwards during the following seasons Stainrod was sold to Oldham for a club record fee of £60,000 in March 1979. His debut for the Latics was somewhat better than his Sheffield United bow as he scored the second goal in a 2-0 home win against Blackburn. He was the top scorer for Oldham in the 1979/80 season with 11 goals but is better remembered by some for his antics in a game against Sheffield Wednesday where his play acting saw the Owls legend Terry Curran sent off and violent clashes on the terrace as a result.
Nevertheless, Venables spent £270,000 on him in November 1980. The former QPR midfielder didn’t get much wrong during his managerial reign in W12 and Stainrod proved to be an inspired signing as well, becoming the top scorer and focal point of the attack as the R’s reached the FA Cup final as a Second Division team in the 1981/82 campaign. Stainrod played in every round as Rangers fought through replays with Blackpool and Middlesbrough, then beat Grimsby and Crystal Palace, and finally defeated West Brom 1-0 at Highbury in the semi final thanks to a goal from Clive Allen at the North Bank end. Stainrod played both the final and the replay against Spurs at Wembley – Rangers were of course eventually beaten 1-0 having drawn the first game 1-1.
Prior to the final Stainrod gave a bullish interview in the press about his side’s chances. Transcribed by Steve Russell on Indy R’s, Stainrod said: “Over the last few weeks we’ve proved that we have the players capable of winning the trophy. Some of our performances have been fantastic. We’ve annihilated some teams as we’ve tried for the Cup and promotion double. This is the best footballing side I’ve ever had the privilege of playing for. We combine hard work and determination with skill. As well as myself and Clive Allen, the team has so many other players who can score goals and turn the game on their own.
“I’ve always had confidence in my own ability and I know that I’m good enough to play at the top level. Wembley gives me the chance to prove to people I’m right. But I’m not going out there to show the world how good I am. I’ll just be doing my very best to win the game for Queen’s Park Rangers. I want to play a good game for the team. If I get a chance to shine then all well and good. At the end of the day the most important thing is victory.
“Many people are surprised to see us at Wembley, but I had a sneaking feeling that we’d reach the final. During all the controversy about the synthetic pitch at Loftus Road and rumours that we wouldn’t be allowed to play an FA Cup-tie at home, I said to the lads that we’d win the Cup this year. It’s just the sort of ironic thing that happens in life.”
In the league he scored 24 times in 29 appearances as the R’s finished fifth – that included a hat trick against his home town club Sheffield Wednesday at Loftus Road in November to help the R’s to a 3-1 win.
A year later Venables led QPR to promotion and Stainrod made 33 appearances. He found goals a little harder to come by than the previous campaign, despite bagging two in an early 4-1 win at Derby and another a week later against Fulham. He missed nine matches midseason and finished the campaign with nine goals.
Stainrod appeared 60 times in the top flight for Rangers, scoring 16 goals in 45 appearances in the first year after promotion. The R’s finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Cup, but Venables left to manage Barcelona and was replaced by Alan Mullery who turned out to be a disaster for the club. Stainrod scored one of the six goals the R’s managed in a home tie against Partizan Belgrade – actually played at Highbury because of the plastic pitch at Loftus Road – but they were beaten 4-0 in the away leg and went out on away goals.
Mullery signed John Byrne from York City after he’d impressed against Rangers in the League Cup – one of the few decent things Mullery did – and as he struck up a partnership with Gary Bannister, Stainrod was deemed surplus to requirements. In December 1984, shortly after Byrne’s arrival Rangers sold Stainrod for £250,000.
Oddly, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, who he claimed to have supported his whole life despite starting with Sheffield United, scoring freely against the Owls when in hoops, and putting in that less than savoury performance against them back in his Oldham days. The Wednesday fans doubted his credentials, needless to say. He finished his QPR career with 62 goals in 143 starts and two sub appearances.
His stay at Hillsborough was short and bitter, lasting just 15 matches before a fall out with manager Howard Wilkinson sent him on his way to Aston Villa for £370,000. Although he scored four times on his debut, in a League Cup tie with Exeter, Stainrod’s time at Villa Park was also unhappy and ended when they were relegated. Villa cashed in by selling him to Second Division Stoke City.
His time at the Victoria Ground was not a particularly successful one either as he’d started to suffer with injuries by this stage
He then played for Strasbourg and Rouen in France before returning to these shores as player manager of Falkirk where he won the First Division and later Dundee and Ayr – famously scoring a goal directly from the kick off for Falkirk against St Johnstone in the SPL.
He had been working as a football agent based in France and was part of the deal that brought Hatem Ben Arfa to Newcastle but had his license suspended by the FA in May this year for failing to provide documents when requested.
Others >>>Jay Bothroyd, Stoke (loan) 2008, QPR 2011-present >>> Peter Crouch, QPR 2000-2001, Stoke 2011-present >>> Clint Hill, Stoke 2003-2008, QPR 2010-present >>> Jason Jarrett, Stoke (loan) 2005, QPR (loan) 2007-2008 >>> Chris Barker, Stoke (loan) 2004, QPR 2007-2008 >>> Andrew Davies, QPR (loan) 2005, Stoke 2008-present >>> Richard Johnson, Stoke 2004, QPR 2004-2005 >>> Paul Peschisolido, Stoke 1994-1996, QPR (loan) 2000 >>> Tony Scully, Stoke (loan) 1998, QPR 1998-2001 >>> Mike Sheron, Stoke 1995-1997, QPR 1997-1999 >>> Mark Stein, QPR 1988-1989, Stoke (loan) 1991, (loan) 1996-1997 >>> Gary Bannister, QPR 1984-1988, Stoke 1993 >>> Paul Barron, Stoke (loan) 1985, QPR 1985-1988 >>> Robbie James, Stoke 1983-1984, QPR 1984-1987 >>> George Mountford, Stoke 1946-1950, QPR 1953-1954 >>> Des Farrow, QPR 1948-1952, Stoke 1952-1954 >>> John Bowman, Stoke 1899-1900, QPR 1901-1905
Stoke City 1 QPR 2, Saturday December 3, 2005, Championship
One month ago nobody knew Aaron Cawley from the next man. The 21-year-old Leeds United fan from Cheltenham was recognised only by the police intelligence officers charged with keeping a lid on the club’s notorious travelling support as he’d previously breached two banning orders for other football violence related crimes.
That all changed on Friday October 19 during a bitter Yorkshire derby between Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. The away fans spent the majority of the game singing about previous accusations of child abuse – of which he was cleared – against Owls manager Dave Jones, while the home fans retorted with songs about two Leeds fans killed in Turkey during their Champions League campaigns a decade ago. On the field Michael Brown and Miguel Llera continued the abysmal behaviour and were both fortunate not to be sent off. It was a night to shame the sport long before Cawley entered the stage.
But, after a day downing beer and vodka, Cawley became the talking point of the evening after Michael Tonge struck a spectacular equaliser. In the post-goal euphoria he was one of several visiting supporters to invade the field, but he did not go there with celebration in mind. Cawley made a bee-line for Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, running up on his blind side and striking him hard, below the chin, with the balls of his hands. Kirkland collapsed to the ground – Neil Warnock later condemned the goalkeeper for going down too easily – and Cawley returned to the away end beaming and taking the back slapping congratulations from the other Leeds fans.
Social media sprang into action. Cawley’s picture was quickly distributed across Twitter and Facebook and he was swiftly identified. Within two days he’d been arrested and within a week (amazing how quickly these things are dealt with when you’re not the England captain) he was jailed and slapped with another six year ban from attending Leeds matches.
The QPR fans observed all this with wry smiles and knowing nods. They drew perplexed looks from work colleagues and questions on Twitter when they suggested that perhaps Sheffield Wednesday should be fined for the incident and Leeds let off altogether.
The reason for the cynicism was a game Rangers had played at Stoke City in November 2005. Things had not been going well for QPR prior to kick off: finances were tightening; Gianni Paladini had taken control of the boardroom and a serious of odd signings had been made; Ian Holloway’s men had lost four and drawn one of the previous three and life president Harold Winton had gone public saying that it was perhaps time for Olly to be replaced despite him winning promotion to the Championship 18 months previous.
Stoke is known as a tough place for visiting teams to go, but QPR have enjoyed their trips to the Britannia Stadium since it was built and came into this game on the back of a 1-0 win the season before thanks to a goal from Kevin Gallen. There was bad blood left over from that game however as Marc Bircham’s play acting had seen Gerry Taggert sent off before the goal went in. The QPR fans were pelted with missiles outside the away end after the final whistle. Stoke wanted revenge and were in good form – three wins from their previous four and five goals in four matches from striker San Bangoura.
The game, to be honest, was absolutely awful. Bangoura got his goal, after 26 minutes, but it was actually an equaliser rather than an opener because veteran striker Paul Furlong had bundled one in for the visitors during a goal mouth scramble in the opening minute.
Parity restored, it seemed like Stoke would go onto win, but Rangers stuck to their task and made a crucial breakthrough seven minutes after half time. Furlong thought he was in to score again but was hauled back by John Halls in the process of converting at the far post. Halls was sent off, Richard Langley converted the penalty, and Rangers hung on for the win.
As the QPR fans made their way out of the stadium, a commotion developed at the far end of the pitch. Two Stoke fans had run onto the field and one had set upon goalkeeper Simon Royce as he went to pick up his kit bag from the back of the net. Rather than a single punch, this was a prolonged scrap and Royce had to wrestle the man into the netting to protect himself. With no stewards in sight Danny Shittu, Ian Evatt and other QPR players moved in to protect their goalkeeper.
The attacker was jailed for three months but at the subsequent FA hearing Stoke City escaped without punishment because it was deemed that they couldn’t be held responsible for the action of one supporter – in complete contradiction to every fine ever handed out to clubs for crowd violence in the history of the sport and apparently creating a precedent whereby clubs could not be punished for fans running onto the field to attack players or officials in the future. QPR meanwhile were fined for failing to control the players who went to help Royce.
It’s a decision that still rankles among the QPR fans that were there, and the wounds were reopened by Mr Cawley’s pathetic actions in Sheffield last month.
Stoke: S Simonsen, M Broomes, M Duberry, C Hoefkens, J Halls (s/o 51), P Sweeney (H Sigurdsson , 76), D Brammer , K Henry, L Chadwick, S Bangoura, M Sidibe
Subs not used: E de Goey, M Kolar, L Buxton, Junior
Goals: Bangoura 26
Sent off: Halls 52
Bookings: Brammer, Sigurdsson
QPR:S Royce, M Bignot, D Shittu, M Milanese , L Dyer (I Evatt, 59), M Bean , R Langley, M Rowlands , G Ainsworth (L Cook, 88), S Moore (S Baidoo, 89), P Furlong
Subs not used: S Donnelly, J Cole
Goals: Furlong 1, Langley 52
Bookings: Milanese, Bean, Rowlands, Ainsworth
Referee: Andre Marriner
Highlights >>> QPR 3 Stoke 2 1975 >>> QPR 0 Stoke 1 1974
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Pictures - Action Images