Familiar foe awaits Rangers in League Cup - History Tuesday, 15th Aug 2023 14:58 by Clive Whittingham QPR have played Norwich more than any other side, and as the two lock horns again in the League Cup on Wednesday we're looking back to 1967 for the memorable match as Alec Stock's great side set off on a second consecutive promotion campaign with a home win. Memorable MatchQPR 2 Norwich 0, Saturday August 26, 1967, Second Division QPR had been standard Third Division, and Third Division South, fodder for their entire existence until the 1960s when Jim Gregory took over as chairman and started to build the club, and the stadium, into the modern Rangers we see today. The 1966/67 campaign was the one that really put a marker down, with Rangers winning the Third Division championship and the League Cup at Wembley by beating First Division West Brom 3-2 having trailed 2-0 at half time. The core of that team — Mark Lazarus who scored the winning goal at Wembley in his third spell with the club, the Morgan twins, former Spurs double-winning striker Les Allen — was still in place for an assault on the Second Division in 1967/68 and although talismanic striker Rodney Marsh was injured and didn’t feature at all for the R’s until November it didn’t bother Stock’s men as they ripped into the higher division. Stock added Allan Harris from Chelsea for £30,000 to strengthen the side during the summer and an opening day draw at Portsmouth was followed by a 2-0 win at Bristol City where Mick Leach scored both goals. Leach led the attack for the opening home match of the campaign against Norwich City for which 14, 526 packed into the old style Loftus Road. The Canaries were stalwarts of the division, promoted in 1959/60 and resident there ever since. They’d begun with two home games — a 1-0 win against Aston Villa and 3-1 loss to Preston — but would prove to be no match for newly promoted QPR on their first road game of the season. Rangers opened the scoring when leach fed Allen on the edge of the box and despite being out by the corner of the area with his back to goal and with two defenders for company he managed to control the ball, turn the first man, beat the second and then collapse to ground under challenge from a third. Leach followed up with a shot that was well saved by Kevin Keelan but it wouldn’t have counted as the referee had already awarded a penalty. Keelan made a staggering 571 appearances for Norwich in goal, playing for the club from 1963 right the way through until 1980 having come through the ranks at Aston Villa initially, but he was no match for Rangers skipper Mike Keen who calmly sent him the wrong way from the penalty spot and scored with a right footed shot into the keeper’s bottom left hand corner. If he’d been pretty helpless to prevent that one, there was certainly no excuse for what was to come. Ian Morgan, with support from his brother to the left and several other team mates to his right, almost lazily decided to try his luck with a left footed shot from the best part of 25 yards that carried little venom but somehow squeezed under Keelan as he dived on top of it, rolled a foot over the line and stopped dead. That made it 2-0 and Rangers were on their way to a second win of the season. The R’s won ten of their first 14 matches to lay the platform for a second consecutive promotion — they finished second to champions Ipswich while Norwich ended up ninth. The pace of change in W12 was clear when they kicked off a First Division campaign for the first time in their history the following year in front of a building site on the South Africa Road side of the ground — perhaps not surprisingly they were relegated with just 18 points and four wins (all at home) but they returned to the top flight in 1973 under Gordan Jago and went agonisingly close to winning the whole thing in 1976 with Dave Sexton in charge only to blow it late in the campaign with a 3-2 defeat to Norwich at Carrow Road. A win there and the R’s would have been champions of England for the only time in their history. QPR: Springett, Clement, Hunt, Hazell, Harris, Keen, I Morgan, Lazarus, Allen, Leach, R Mogan Sub: Watson Attendance: 14,526 Classic EncountersLFW 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 Norwich packages are embedded below, give him a subscribe on YouTube or follow @QPR_Memories on Twitter. Recent MeetingsQPR 1 Norwich 1, Wednesday April 19, 2023, Championship The game felt pretty much up in QPR’s 22/23 battle against relegation when they were forced to cling grimly on to a solitary point against injury hit Norwich at Loftus Road in their penultimate home game. With away trips to Burnley and Stoke to come, a win felt imperative in this fixture and Lyndon Dykes’ scored off Ilias Chair’s brilliant assist to open the scoring and build hope. But Norwich equalised immediately after half time through Idah and Seny Dieng wasting time at 1-1 through the final ten minutes told you everything about where QPR were in the fixture. Remarkably, they won the following two away games to survive regardless. QPR: Dieng 5; Drewe 5, Dunne 5, Clarke-Salter 5 (Dickie 60, 5), Paal 5; Lowe 4, Iroegbunam 7 (Amos 69, 6), Field 7, Chair 6 (Richards 90+1, -); Dykes 7, Martin 4 (Adomah 82, -) Subs not used: Willock, Archer, Dixon-Bonner Goals: Dykes 9 (assisted Chair) Yellow Cards: Dykes 30 (foul), Dunne 41 (kicking ball away), Chair 55 (foul), Martin 76 (foul), Amos 90+3 (foul) Norwich: Gunn 6; Aarons 6 (Tzolis 87, -), Omobamidele 5, Sorensen 5, Giannoulis 5 (McCalleum 34, 6); Hayden 4 (Nunez 84, -), Sara 6; Marquinhos 5 (Idah 46, 7), Gibbs 5, Hernandez 7 (Pukki 75, 6); Sargent 6 Subs not used: Krul Goals: Idah 46 (unassisted) Yellow Cards: Omabamidele 19 (foul), Hernandez 32 (foul) Norwich 0 QPR 0, Wednesday November 2, 2022, Championship Substitute Chris Willock striking the foot of the Norwich post late on was as much action as anybody got from a dour goalless draw between these sides at Carrow Road in November, bar one six foot tall 18-year-old. Norwich: Gunn 8; Byram 6 (Dowell 84, -), Hanley 6, Gibson 6, McCallum 7 (McLean 70, 6); Hayden 6 (Aarons 84, -), Gibbs 6; Gomes 6 (Hernandez 66, 7), Ramsey 6, Cantwell 5 (Nunez 70, 6); Pukki 6 Subs not used: Krul, Hugill Bookings: Byram 35 (foul) QPR: Dieng 8; Laird 7, Dickie 7, Balogun 7, Paal 7; Dozzell 6 (Willock 57, 7), Iroegbunam 8, Field 7; Amos 6 (Shodipo 85, -), Chair 7 (Adomah 85, -), Dykes 7 (Bonne 85, -) Subs not used: Archer, Trävelmän, Kakay Bookings: Iroegbunam 1 (foul), Field 48 (foul), Dykes 75 (foul) QPR 1 Norwich 3, Saturday April 24, 2021, Championship A rare defeat for red hot Rangers at the end of the 2020/21 season came at the hands of champions elect Norwich, behind closed doors at Loftus Road. From looking set for a relegation battle when the teams met at Carrow Road at Christmas, Rangers transformed their season through the second half of the campaign and could have pushed for the play-offs had the run started a few games earlier. Against Norwich they paid for two individual errors — Seny Dieng allowing Quintilla’s 30 yarder to squirm through his hands for the opening goal, and then Lyndon Dykes missing a penalty for the first time in our colours at the start of the second half which would have made it 1-1. Dykes did later succeed in finding the net but Aarons and Buendia scored either side of that goal to make it 3-1 to the visitors. QPR: Dieng 4; Dickie 4, De Wijs 5 (Ball 76, 6), Barbet 6; Kakay 6 (Adomah 66, 7), Johansen 6 (Bettache 89, -), Thomas 5 (Field 46, 6), Chair 6 (Austin 66, 5), Wallace 6; Willock 7, Dykes 6 Subs not used: Kane, Bonne, Hämäläinen, Walsh Goals: Dykes 71 (assisted Austin) Bookings: Field 68 (foul) Norwich: Krul 8; Aarons 7, Omubamedele 6, Hanley 6, Quintilla 7 (Tettey 89, -); McLean 8, Skipp 7; Buendia 7 (Placheta 89, -), Dowell 7 (Sorensen 74, 6), Cantwell 7 (Hernandez 85, -); Pukki 5 (Hugill 85, -) Subs not used: Vrancic, Nyland, Stiepermann, Mumba Goals: Quintilla (assisted Buendia), Aarons 57 (assisted Mclean), Buendia 82 (assisted McLean) Norwich 1 QPR 1, Tuesday December 29, 2020, Championship QPR hadn’t won in eight and were coming off a comprehensive Boxing Day defeat at home to Swansea when they travelled to league leaders Norwich on a hiding to nothing at the end of December. Although it was backs to the wall for long periods, Rangers actually stood up pretty well and it took one of Norwich’s numerous questionable penalty appeals, all screamed for like they were the worst tackle you’d ever seen in your life, to finally break the deadlock when Todd Cantwell crashed to earth and Teemu Pukki rolled home. That looked like being that until late in the day when Bright Osayi-Samuel was fouled in the box to level the penalty count and he converted the equaliser himself. Bright then had an incredible chance to win the game in injury time, slid onto a plate for him by Albert Adomah and somehow skied over from a yard out. Norwich: McGovern 6 (Barden 46, 6); Aarons 7, Zimmerman 6, Hanley 7, Sorensen 5 (Hugill 89, -); Crane 7, McLean 6; Buendia 6, Vrancic 6, Cantwell 7 (Dowell 89, -); Pukki 6 Subs not used: Quintilla, Martin, Tettey, Omobamidele, Gibson, Omotoye Goals: Pukki 75 (penalty, won Cantwell) Bookings: Zimmermann 84 (foul), McClean 87 (foul), Skipp 90 (foul) QPR: Dieng 8; Dickie 8, Cameron 7, Barbet 7; Kane 5, Ball 6, Carroll 6, Chair 6 (Adomah 71, 6), Hämäläinen 5; Dykes 5 (Bonne 71, 6), Osayi-Samuel 6 Subs not used: Thomas, Willock, Masterson, Bettache, Kelman, Kelly, Duke-McKenna Goals: Osayi-Samuel 84 (penalty, won Osayi-Samuel) Bookings: Kane 22 (foul), Ball 73 (foul), Dickie 75 (dissent), Carroll 88 (time wasting), Osayi-Samuel 90+1 (foul) Bonne 90+4 (foul) Norwich 4 QPR 0, Saturday April 6, 2019, Championship Steve McClaren had been sacked and John Eustace was in caretaker charge when QPR travelled to Premier League-bound Norwich in early April 2019. The change of manager did little to alter Rangers’ fortunes, as an abject display and defensive horror show led to a 4-0 defeat that should have been far worse. Buendia swept in from close range and Stiepermann beat Joe Lumley too easily from long range in the first ten minutes. The Canaries missed a catalogue of first half chances thereafter before eventually making it 3-0 when Toni Leistner’s suicidal pass played Teemu Pukki clean through on goal. It toom until the 85th minute for Pukki to add the fourth with his second of the game, but had this finished seven or eight nil there could have been few complaints from West London. Norwich: Krul 6; Aarons 7, Zimmermann 7, Godfrey 7, Lewis 7; Trybull 7 (Rhodes 90, -), McLean 7; Buendia 8, Stiepermann 8 (Cantwell 80,-), Hernandez 8; Pukki 8 (Leitner 88,-) Subs not used: McGovern, Vrancic, Leitner, Rhodes, Klose, Hanley, Cantwell Goals: Buendia 6, Stiepermann 10, Pukki 38, 85 Red Cards: Buendia 71 (serious foul play) QPR: Lumley 3; Rangel 3, Furlong 3, Lynch 2, Bidwell 2 (Leistner 34,, 3); Cameron 2 (Scowen 58, 5), Cousins 2; Wszolek 3 (Osayi-Samuel 74, 5), Eze 3, Freeman 3; Wells 3 Subs not used: Ingram, Manning, Hemed, Smith Bookings: Lynch 43 (being a dick) QPR Star Man N/A QPR 0 Norwich 1, Saturday September 22, 2018, Championship A late Teemu Pukki goal won the first meeting between these sides this season, breaking the deadlock in a shocking match that had seemed destined to finish 0-0 really from the very moment it began. In teaming rain the two teams set about boring the tits off a Saturday night television audience, apparently both quite happy with the 0-0 they started with until Pukki opened the scoring with 20 minutes to go. There then followed a period of time wasting even more flagrant and blatant than something Preston or Sheffield United might try, aided an abetted by referee Darren Bond who put the tin hat on the whole sordid mess by denying QPR a fairly obvious penalty in injury time when Massimo Luongo was shoved to the ground in the act of shooting. And it pissed with rain all afternoon. QPR: Lumley 6; Baptiste 5 (Cousins 77, 5), Leistner 6 (Smith 87, -), Lynch 6, Bidwell 5; Eze 5, Luongo 5, Scowen 5 (Osayi-Samuel 77, 6), Freeman 6; Hemed 5, Wells 6 Subs not used: Ingram, Cameron, Wszolek, Kakay Norwich: Krul 6; Aarons 6, Zimmerman 6, Klose 6, Lewis 7; Leitner 6 (Trybull 90, -), Tettey 8; Buendia 6 (Vrancic 68, 6), Stiepermann 7, Cartwell 7; Pukki 7 (Rhodes 90+2, -) Subs not used: Godfrey, Srbeny, McGovern, Thompson Goals: Pukki 71 (assisted Stiepermann) Yellows: Aarons 61 (foul), Lewis 67 (foul) QPR 4 Norwich 1, Saturday April 2, 2018, Championship Rangers ran riot against Norwich at Loftus Road in April 2018, after initially falling behind. Matt Smith had hit the post with a header before a Norwich counter attack caused problems in the QPR penalty area and the ball bobbled into the net off Ryan Manning. Massimo Luongo equalised with a cute shot past Angus Gunn almost straight from the kick off and it was one way traffic thereafter. Smith headed past Gunn after initially deflecting a Scowen shot up in the air, then nodded down a back post cross for Ebere Eze to control and finish from close range. Freeman curled a free kick wide with the keeper beaten and then Manning atoned for his earlier own goal with a late diving header for four. QPR: Smithies 6; Furlong 7, Onuoha 8, Lynch 6, Bidwell 6; Luongo 8, Scowen 8, Manning 7, Freeman 7 (Wszolek 81, -), Eze 8 (Smyth 89, -); Smith 8 (Sylla 77, 6) Subs not used: Cousins, Washington, Ingram, Robinson Goals: Luongo 39 (assisted Smith), Smith 55 (assisted Scowen), Eze 60 (assisted Smith), Manning 80 (assisted Bidwell) Bookings: Luongo 41 (unsporting), Lynch 56 (foul) Norwich: Gunn 4; Pinto 5, Zimmerman 5, Hanley 5, Husband 5 (Lewis 75, 6); Reed 5, Vrancic 5; Hoolahan 6, Maddison 5, Murphy 6; Oliveira 5 Subs not used: Watkins, Klose, Edwards, Tettey, Srbeny, McGovern Goals: Manning own goal 38 (assisted Murphy) Bookings: Husband 41 (unsporting), Vrancic 68 (foul), Hanley 77 (foul), Zimmerman 80 (foul) Norwich 2 QPR 0, Wednesday August 16, 2017, Championship A quickfire return to Carrow Road after the dire 4-0 defeat on the final day of the 2016/17 season didn’t afford much by way of revenge and comfort for QPR. City broke the deadlock in that witching hour straight after half time which Rangers have conceded in for fun that season — Nelson Oliveira breaking clear and finishing crisply beyond Alex Smithies. Luke Freeman should have equalised straight from the kick off but with that chance missed it was left to Harrison Reed to seal the victory with a 30-yard banger late on. Norwich: Gunn 6; Pinto 6 (Martin 68, 6), Zimmermann 6, Franke 6; Husband 5, Reed 7, Hoolahan 6, Maddison 7, Vrancic 7; Murphy 6 (Watkins 79, 6), Oliveira 8 (Stiepermann 85, -) Subs not used: Naismith, Jerome, Tettey, McGovern Goals: Oliveira 48 (assisted Vrancic), Reed 82 (unassisted) Bookings: Martin 72 (foul) QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Lynch 6 (Furlong 65, 5); Wszolek 5 (Lua Lua 29, 5), Bidwell 7; Scowen 6, Freeman 6, Luongo 6; Mackie 6 (Smith 71, 5), Washington 5 Subs not used: Ingram, Manning, Borysiuk, Robinson Bookings: Lynch 15 (foul) Norwich 4 QPR 0, Sunday May 7, 2017, Championship QPR slumped to an embarrassing four goal defeat on the final day of 2016/17 at Carrow Road. Neither side had anything to play for with Norwich’s play-off hopes long since dead and QPR safe from relegation courtesy of the previous week’s victory against Forest at Loftus Road. Norwich used that freedom to open up from the kick off, and could have scored three in the first three minutes before finally taking the lead with a deflected Wes Hoolahan shot. Further goals from the man of the match Pritchard, Josh Murphy and another from Hoolahan followed. QPR fans got a brief sight of youngster Josh Bowler on his senior debut — an ‘I was there’ moment if he goes on to be a success at Everton. Norwich: Ruddy 6; Pinto 6 (Godfrey 86, -), Martin 6, Klose 6, Dijks 6; Howson 7, Dorrans 7; Hoolahan 7, Pritchard 8 (Maddison 71, 6), Murphy 8; Oliveira 6 (Jerome 61, 5) Subs not used: Wildschut, Tettey, McGovern, Murphy Goals: Hoolahan 22 (unassisted), 90+2 (assisted Jerome), Pritchard 60 (assisted Hoolahan), Murphy 85 (unassisted) QPR: Smithies 5; Perch 5, Onuoha 6, Lynch 6, Robinson 5 (Bowler 69, 7); Luongo 5, Doughty 4, Manning 4; Wszolek 4, Smith 4 (Freeman 45, 6), Washington 5 (Grego-Cox 81, -) Subs not used: Goss, Ingram, Petrasso, Furlong QPR 2 Norwich 1, Saturday November 19, 2016, Championship QPR won a frenetic first meeting between these sides in the first match of Ian Holloway’s second spell in charge. It looked like it was going to be easy when a first minute long throw from Jack Robinson caused chaos in the area and Martin Olsson handled the ball on the goal line to prevent it going in. An early red card, but Tjaronn Chery rolled the subsequent penalty wide. That didn’t look like it would matter too much when Conor Washington tapped in from a corner and Seb Polter slid home a lovely second off an outstanding through ball from Chery. But Naismith pulled one back for the ten men with plenty of time remaining and despite a numerical advantage QPR were fortunate to hang on. QPR: Smithies 7; Onuoha 6, Hall 7, Lynch 8; Perch 7, Robinson 7 (Sandro 46, 6); Luongo 7 (Shodipo 66, 6), Cousins 6, Chery 6; Polter 7 (Sylla 82, -), Washington 8 Subs not used: Ingram, Borysiuk, El Khayati, Ngbakoto Goals: Washington 21 (assisted Chery/Polter), Polter 27 (assisted Chery) Bookings: Lynch 80 (foul) Norwich: Ruddy 7; Martin 6, Bennett 6, Bassong 5, Olsson -, Tettey 6, Dorrans 5, Murphy 6, Brady 5; Naismith 7 (Murphy 88, -), Oliveira 4 (Jerome 75, 7) Subs not used: Whittaker, Klose, Hoolahan, McGovern Goals: Naismith 78 (assisted Murphy) Red Cards: Olsson 1 (deliberate handball on the goal line) Bookings: Tettey 2 (dissent), Naismith 37 (foul), Dorrans 45+3 (foul) QPR 0 Norwich 0, Saturday February 2, 2013, Premier League I pride myself on an almost encyclopaedic knowledge and memory of every QPR game in the last 25 years, but honest to God I'd forgotten this one ever happened. A goalless draw, with Adel Taarabt's second half penalty miss the headline act, as Harry Redknapp struggled to turn around his new team's form despite the expensive January arrivals of Chris Samba, Loic Remy, Jermaine Jenas, Andros Townsend and others. If you can remember anything more than that you're a better man than I. QPR: Cesar 7, Da Silva 6 (Ben Haim 74, 6), Samba 7, Hill 6, Traore 6, Wright-Phillips 5 (Zamora 54, 7), Derry 6, Mbia 5 (Jenas 69, 6), Townsend 7, Taarabt 6, Mackie 6 Subs not used: Green, Park, Granero, Bothroyd Bookings: Mbia 38 (repetitive fouling), Hill 70 (foul) Norwich: Bunn 7, Martin 6, Turner 6, Bassong 6, Garrido 5, Snodgrass 7, Johnson 6, Pilkington 6 (E Bennett 20, 6), Tettey 7, Hoolahan 6 (Becchio 88, -) Holt 6 Subs not used: Camp, Whittaker, R Bennett, Howson, Jackson Bookings: Garrido 51 (foul), Bunn 54 (foul), Johnson 57 (dissent), Tettey 66 (foul), Turner 80 (foul), Bassong 84 (foul) Norwich 1 QPR 1, Saturday August 25, 2012, Premier League QPR and Norwich had both been given stark reality checks on the opening day of that campaign as they both embarked on that difficult second season in the top flight. At Loftus Road the R’s had been thrashed 5-0 by Swansea while the Canaries lost by the same scoreline down the road at Fulham. There were plenty of nerves around therefore as the teams met for their second games of the season at Carrow Road. Norwich settled quicker and opened the scoring in the eleventh minute when a slick move around a static defence allowed Anthony Pilkington to cross for Simeon Jackson to head in from almost on the goalline. Rangers could have caved in — and in fact for the next three months that’s pretty much all they did — but they fought their way back into this one and equalised ten minutes after going behind when Djibril Cisse was felled in the area and Bobby Zamora slotted in the rebound from the resulting penalty after the Frenchman’s initial effort had been saved by John Ruddy. Replays showed Zamora was several yards inside the area when the kick was taken and the goal should not have stood but given how poor and shambolic the QPR performance was on the day, the London side didn’t need asking twice and were grateful for a point they scarcely deserved. Norwich: Ruddy 6, R Martin 6, Barnett 6, Bassong 6, Garrido 6, Snodgrass 7, Johnson 6, Howson 6, Pilkington 6, Holt 7 (Morison 87, -), Jackson 7 (C. Martin 87, -) Subs: Rudd, Surman, Hoolahan, Tierney, R. Bennett Goals: Jackson 11 (assisted Pilkington) QPR: Green 6, Fabio 6, Ferdinand 5, Hill 4 (Onuoha 6), Traore 6 (Bosingwa 70, 6), Mackie 6, Diakite 5 (Derry 85, -), Park 6, Hoilett 6, Cissé 5, Zamora 6 Subs: Murphy, Johnson, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips Goals: Zamora 19 (unassisted) Bookings: Hill 24 (repetitive fouling), Ferdinand 82 (foul) QPR 1 Norwich 2, Monday January 2, 2012, Premier League QPR suffered a frustrating home defeat to Norwich the season before as Neil Warnock’s reign as manager came to a sad end. Things had started well for the home team when Joey Barton lashed in a well executed volley to give them an early lead, but Barton quickly turned from hero to villain. At the midway point of the half he squared up to Norwich midfielder Bradley Johnson after being kicked in an off the ball incident. Johnson jerked his head back, pretending he’d been headbutted, but referee Neil Swarbrick and linesman Dave Richardson initially played on with QPR in possession suggesting they’d seen nothing wrong. When play came to a halt Grant Holt and the Norwich players surrounded the officials and after prolonged discussion Barton was sent off. Anthony Pilkington scored a fine equaliser before half time and it came as no surprise when former Millwall man Steve Morrison won the game with seven minutes remaining. QPR: Kenny 6, Young 7, Ferdinand 7, Gabbidon 6, Hill 6, Derry 6, Faurlin 6, Barton 6, Taarabt 7 (Campbell 85, -), Mackie 5 (Wright-Phillips 46, 7), Helguson 6 (Macheda 80, -) Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Connolly, Hulse Sent Off: Barton 36 (“attempted headbutt”) Booked: Helguson (foul), Wright-Phillips (foul) Goals: Barton 11 (assisted Hill) Norwich: Ruddy 7, Martin 6, Whitbread 7, Ayala 7, Drury 6 (Fox 66, 6), Bennett 6, Johnson 6, Lappin 6 (Hoolahan 66, 6), Pilkington 7, Holt 7 (Morison 66, 7), Jackson 6 Subs Not Used: Rudd, Surman, Wilbraham, Naughton Booked: Ayala (foul) Goals: Pilkington 42 (unassisted), Morison 83 (assisted Bennett) Norwich 2 QPR 1, Saturday November 26, 2011, Premier League QPR suffered their annual defeat at Carrow Road in late November 2011. Buoyed by a surprise victory on the road at Stoke the week before Rangers came into the match against their fellow newly promoted side full of confidence but found themselves tormented by Norwich striker Grant Holt once again. Holt stooped to head home a late winner minutes after coming off the bench just at the point that it seemed QPR were the more likely side to go on and win the game. Russell Martin, as he did in this fixture the previous season, gave Norwich an early lead with a fine finish after poor defending but Luke Young scored a deserved equaliser when Jamie Mackie’s long range drive rebounded out to him off the base of the post. That set the scene for Holt’s super sub act that left Rangers empty handed. Norwich: Ruddy 7, Martin 8, Barnett 5, De Laet 6 (Naughton 58, 6), Tierney 5, Pilkington 7 (Hoolahan 70, 7), Johnson 6, Crofts 6, Surman 7, Morison 8, Jackson 7 (Holt 70, 7) Subs Not Used: Rudd, Fox, Bennett, Wilbraham Booked: Naughton (foul) Goals: Martin 15 (unassisted), Holt 73 (assisted Hoolahan) QPR: Cerny 6, Young 8, Gabbidon 5, Ferdinand 5, Hill 6 (Bothroyd 57, 7), Wright-Phillips 6 (Smith 79, 6), Derry 5 (Buzsaky 77, 6), Faurlin 8, Traore 7, Mackie 7, Helguson 6 Subs Not Used: Putnins, Orr, Hall, Puncheon Goals: Young 59 (assisted Mackie) Norwich 1 QPR 0, Saturday January 1, 2011, Championship Rangers met Norwich at Carrow Road in the first game of 2011. Norwich were in great form and closing in on QPR at the top of the Championship table at the time. They’d overhauled Leeds at the top of League One the season before the home supporters spent most of this game taunting the visitors that the same thing was about to happen. It didn’t, QPR went onto win the division, but Norwich did beat Rangers thanks to a fabulous early strike from full back Russell Martin. QPR’s cause wasn’t helped by Matthew Connolly’s second sending off in as many visits to Norfolk for fouling Grant Holt as he ran through on goal but the R’s should have equalised late on when Patrick Agyemang hit the post with a header that should have been scored. Norwich were promoted in second behind QPR. Norwich: Ruddy 7, R Martin 7, Nelson 6, Whitbread 6, Drury 6, Smith 7, Crofts 7, Hoolahan 8, C Martin 7, Holt 8, Wilbraham 6 (Gill 82,-) Subs Not Used: Rudd, Jackson, Johnson, McNamee, Tudur Jones, Berthel Askou Goals: R Martin 10 (assisted C Martin) QPR: Kenny 8, Walker 6, Gorkss 6, Connolly 5, Hill 6 (Orr 46, 6), Derry 7, Faurlin 6, Clarke 4, Mackie 6, Taarabt 6 (Tofas 62, 6), Helguson 5 (Agyemang 46, 7) Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Hulse, Borrowdale Sent Off: Connolly 51 (denying obvious goal scoring opportunity) Booked: Hill (foul), Taarabt (foul)
Wes Hoolahan’s first half penalty miss was the headline of a goalless draw between these two sides when they met at Loftus Road during their promotion season. The Irishman drilled a spot kick wide of Paddy Kenny’s left hand post midway through the first half after a theatrical fall by striker Grant Holt under meagre contact from Matt Connolly in the penalty area. In truth both teams seemed happy with a point from pretty early in the second half and a goalless draw was a fair result from a drab fixture. QPR: Kenny 7, Walker 8, Connolly 8, Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Derry 6, Buzsaky 7 (Leigertwood 27, 4), Mackie 6, Taarabt 6 (Smith 76), Ephraim 5 (Agyemang 69, 5), Helguson 6 Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Clarke, Faurlin Booked: Derry (dissent), Mackie (foul) Norwich: Ruddy 7, R Martin 7, Barnett 6, Ward 7, Drury 6 (Steven Smith 58, 6), Crofts 7, Hoolahan 5 (C Martin 69, 6), Smith 6, Lappin 6, Holt 7, Jackson 5 Subs Not Used: Rudd, Fox, Johnson, McNamee, Berthel Askou Booked: Ward (foul), Barnett (impeding throw in), Lappin (foul) Previous ResultsHead to Head >>> QPR wins 41 >>> Draws 38 >>> Norwich wins 50 2022/23 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Dykes) 2022/23 Norwich 0 QPR 0 2020/21 QPR 1 Norwich 3 (Dykes) 2020/21 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Osayi-Samuel) 2018/19 Norwich 4 QPR 0 2018/19 QPR 0 Norwich 1 2017/18 QPR 4 Norwich 1 (Luongo, Smith, Eze, Manning) 2017/18 Norwich 2 QPR 0 2016/17 Norwich 4 QPR 0 2016/17 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Washington, Polter) 2012/13 QPR 0 Norwich 0 2012/13 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Zamora) 2011/12 QPR 1 Norwich 2 (Barton) 2011/12 Norwich 2 QPR 1 (Young) 2010/11 Norwich 1 QPR 0 2010/11 QPR 0 Norwich 0 2008/09 QPR 0 Norwich 1 2008/09 Norwich 0 QPR 1 (Rowlands) 2007/08 Norwich 3 QPR 0 2007/08 QPR 1 Norwich 0 (Rowlands) 2006/07 Norwich 1 QPR 0 2006/07 QPR 3 Norwich 3 (Rowlands 2, Smith) 2005/06 Norwich 3 QPR 2 (Ainsworth, Cook) 2005/06 QPR 3 Norwich 0 (Furlong, Santos, Nygaard) 2000/01 Norwich 1 QPR 0 2000/01 QPR 2 Norwich 3 (Carlisle, Wardley) 1999/00 QPR 2 Norwich 2 (Kiwomya 2) 1999/00 Norwich 2 QPR 1 (Wardley) 1998/99 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Murray, Peacock) 1998/99 Norwich 4 QPR 2 (Sheron, Peacock) 1997/98 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1997/98 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Peacock) 1996/97 QPR 3 Norwich 2 (Peacock, Dichio, McDermott) 1996/97 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Impey) 1994/95 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Ferdinand, Gallen) 1994/95 Norwich 4 QPR 2 (Barker, Gallen) 1993/94 Norwich 3 QPR 4 (Barker, Penrice, Peacock, White) 1993/94 QPR 2 Norwich 2 (Sinclair, Ferdinand) 1992/93 QPR 3 Norwich 1 (Ferdinand 2, Wilson) 1992/93 Norwich 2 QPR 1 (Allen) 1991/92 Norwich 0 QPR 1 (Bailey) 1991/92 QPR 0 Norwich 2 1991/92 Norwich 1 QPR 2** (Sinton, Impey) 1990/91 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1990/91 QPR 1 Norwich 3 (Wegerle) 1989/90 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Falco, Clarke) 1989/90 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1988/89 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Falco) 1988/89 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1987/88 QPR 3 Norwich 0 (Channing, Coney, Fereday) 1987/88 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Allen) 1986/87 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Rosenior) 1986/87 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1984/85 QPR 2 Norwich 2 (Fereday, Wicks) 1984/85 Norwich 2 QPR 0 1983/84 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Dawes, Waddock) 1983/84 Norwich 0 QPR 3 (Stainrod, Fenwick 2) 1981/82 Norwich 0 QPR 1 (Roeder) 1981/82 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Stainrod, Gregory) 1978/79 QPR 0 Norwich 0 1978/79 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (G Francis) 1977/78 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Eastoe, Cunningham) 1977/78 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Needham) 1976/77 Norwich 2 QPR 0 1976/77 QPR 2 Norwich 3 (Masson, Webb) 1975/76 Norwich 3 QPR 2 (Thomas, Powell og) 1975/76 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Masson, Bowles) 1973/74 QPR 1 Norwich 2 (Bowles 1973/74 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1971/72 QPR 0 Norwich 0 1971/72 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1970/71 Norwich 3 QPR 0 1970/71 QPR 0 Norwich 1 1969/70 QPR 4 Norwich 0 (Marsh, Venables, Clarke, Bridges) 1969/70 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1967/68 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1967/68 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Keen, I Morgan) 1959/60 QPR 0 Norwich 0 1959/60 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1958/59 Norwich 5 QPR 1 (Longbottom) 1958/59 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Longbottom, Kerrins) 1957/58 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Cameron) 1957/58 Norwich 2 QPR 0 1956/57 Norwich 1 QPR 2 (Longbottom, Painter) 1956/57 QPR 3 Norwich 1 (Angell, Locke, Quigley) 1955/56 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1955/56 QPR 2 Norwich 3 (Petchley, Smith) 1954/55 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Angell, Cameron) 1954/55 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Smith) 1953/54 QPR 0 Norwich 2 1953/54 Norwich 2 QPR 2 (Clayton, Hawkins) 1952/53 QPR 3 Norwich 1 (Waugh 2, Tomkys) 1952/53 Norwich 2 QPR 0 1947/48 Norwich 5 QPR 2 (Hatton, Smith) 1947/48 QPR 3 Norwich 1 (Hatton, McEwan, Pettison) 1946/47 Norwich 0 QPR 1 (Mills) 1946/47 QPR 2 Norwich 0*(Hatton, Mills) 1946/47 Norwich 4 QPR 4* (Mills 2, McEwen, Pattison) 1946/47 QPR 1 Norwich 1 (Hatton) 1933/34 Norwich 1 QPR 0 1933/34 QPR 5 Norwich 2 (Blackman 2, Emmerson 2, Clarke) 1932/33 QPR 2 Norwich 2 (Goodier, Howe) 1932/33 Norwich 3 QPR 2 (Marcroft, Goddard) 1931/32 QPR 2 Norwich 2 (Blackman, Cribb) 1931/32 Norwich 2 QPR 1 (Lewis) 1930/31 QPR 3 Norwich 1 (Goddard 2, Rounce) 1930/31 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Goddard) 1929/30 QPR 3 Norwich 2 (Goddard 3) 1929/30 Norwich 3 QPR 0 1928/29 Norwich 3 QPR 1 (Goddard) 1928/29 QPR 3 Norwich 0 (Coward 2, Rounce) 1927/28 QPR 0 Norwich 0 1927/28 Norwich 3 QPR 1 (Johnson) 1926/27 Norwich 0 QPR 1 (Lofthouse) 1926/27 QPR 4 Norwich 0 (Goddard 2, Lofthouse, Vargo) 1925/26 QPR 0 Norwich 1 1925/26 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Whitehead) 1924/25 Norwich 5 QPR 0 1924/25 QPR 1 Norwich 2 (Ogley) 1923/24 Norwich 5 QPR 0 1923/24 QPR 2 Norwich 1 (Parker, Johnson) 1922/23 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Gregory, Birch) 1922/23 Norwich 1 QPR 1 (Davis) 1921/22 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Gregory, Smith) 1921/22 Norwich 0 QPR 0 1920/21 QPR 2 Norwich 0 (Gregory, Birch) 1920/21 Norwich 2 QPR 0 1909/10 QPR 3 Norwich 0* (Steer, McNaught, Whyman) 1909/10 Norwich 0 QPR 0* * - FA Cup ** ZDS Trophy ConnectionsJamie Cureton >>> Norwich 1993-1996, 2007-2010 >>> QPR 2004-2005 Although born a West Country boy of Bristol, Cureton actually started his footballing career over in Norfolk with Norwich City. He made his debut for the Canaries in their last Premier League season before relegation and scored an impressive eight goals in just 17 games for City. However Cureton struggled to get into the team the following season and despite becoming a cult-hero at Carrow Road for dying his hair green and yellow for a match against rivals Ipswich in 1996, Cureton moved onto Second Division Bristol Rovers under manager Ian Holloway. It was at The Memorial Stadium that Cureton really showed his goal-scoring prowess, twice scoring more than twenty goals in one season to finish as Rovers top scorer. A move to promotion hopefuls Reading followed and he continued his goal-scoring feats with the Royals and helped them gain promotion to the First Division in 2002. A year later though Cureton decided to try his luck abroad and signed for South Korean club Buscan Icons, turning down a summer move to Loftus Road in the process. The gamble never really paid off for Jamie though and a year on with just four goals to his name in Asia, Cureton decided to come back to England. It look as though it would be with Peterborough until former gaffer Ian Holloway got his man at the second attempt with the help of the ‘Our QPR’ fund. This was somewhat controversial at the time as the fund had initially been started to pay bills and keep the threat of administration away from a potentially promotion winning QPR side — chief executive David Davies had said earlier in the season that players may have to be sold to meet costs. QPR had also bought Tony Thorpe after being rejected by Cureton that summer so the move was a strange one all round. He struggled to get into the side that won promotion back to the Championship that season with a last day win over Sheffield Wednesday, but did contribute two vital goals, including one with the last kick of the game, to a 3-2 win against Port Vale at Loftus Road without which Bristol City would have beaten us to second place. The goals never quite came for him, mainly due to Holloway repeatedly playing him out of a position on the right-wing to accommodate Tony Thorpe along with Kevin Gallen and Paul Furlong. His only goals in the Championship the following season strangely came against Coventry, with a memorable hat-trick that included a Van Basten like volley at Loftus Road and another at Highfield Road but he soon found himself surplus to requirement and was farmed out first on loan to Swindon then Colchester before landing a permanent moved to Layer Road in 2006. It was here he rediscovered his shooting boots winning the Championship Golden Boot award with 24 in the 2006/07 season and securing a move back to his first club Norwich City. Cureton has been very hit and miss for his entire career — enjoying great spells with Bristol Rovers and Reading, and poor ones with QPR and then Norwich second time around. Cureton managed just 48 starts, and a further 28 substitute appearances across three years in his second spell with the club — a time that saw Norwich quickly rattle through four managers and sink down into League One. He spent time on loan with Barnsley and then Shrewsbury looking for first team football before joining Exeter City in 2010. His time at St James’ Park was prolific, he scored 17 League One goals but left to join Leyton Orient where he managed just one in 23 suggesting his career was winding down. A second spell at Exeter was even more prolific than the first and he then scored 29 goals in just shy of 100 appearances for Dagenham and Redbridge between 2014 and 2016. Now 45, he was appointed player manager at Enfield in September after a prolific spell with Bishop’s Stortford and brief stops at Farnborough, Eastleigh and Hornchurch. Others >>> Sam McCallum, Norwich 2020-present, QPR (loan) 2021-2022 >>> Jordan Hugill, Norwich 2020-2023, QPR (loan) 2019-2020 >>> Lee Camp, QPR (loan) 2004, (loan) 2007, 2007-2009, Norwich (loan) 2006, Norwich 2013-2014 >>> Jimmy Smith, QPR (loan) 2006-2007, Norwich (loan) 2007 >>> Jason Jarrett, Norwich 2005-2006, QPR (loan) 2007-2008 >>> Zesh Rehman, Norwich (loan) 2006, QPR 2006-2009 >>> Jamie Cureton, Norwich 1993-1996, 2007-2010, QPR 2004-2005 >>> Dean Marney, QPR (loan) 2004, Norwich (loan) 2005 >>> Robert Taylor, Norwich 1990-1991, QPR (loan) 2001 >>> Peter Crouch, QPR 2000-2001, Norwich (loan) 2003 >>>Paul Peschisolido, QPR (loan) 2000, Norwich (loan) 2001>>> Brian McGovern, QPR (loan) 1999-2000, Norwich 2000-2002 >>> Bruce Rioch, QPR (coach) 1996-1997, Norwich (manager) 1998-2000 >>> Matt Jackson, QPR (loan) 1996, Norwich 1996-2001 >>> Mike Sheron, Norwich 1994-1995, QPR 1997-1999 >>> Andy Linighan, Norwich 1988-1990, QPR (loan) 1999 >>> Dean Coney, QPR 1987-1989, Norwich 1989-1991 >>> John O’Neill, QPR 1987, Norwich 1987-1988 >>> Glenn Roeder , QPR 1978-1983, Norwich (manager) 2007-2009 >>> Chris Woods, QPR 1979-1981, Norwich 1981-1986 Tweet @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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