With QPR at Reading this weekend LFW looks back at a meeting between the two sides at Elm Park in 1996 when John Spencer announced his arrival in the grand manner, but his fine goal turned out to be another false dawn.
QPR 1 Reading 1, Sunday November 4, 2012, Premier League
QPR’s winless run at the start of the season stretched out to ten league matches with another poor performance and result against lowly Reading at Loftus Road in November. The Royals had already been to W12 and triumphed 3-2 in the League Cup the month before, and those familiar defensive fragilities were on display again when former QPR favourite Kaspars Gorkss scored from a set piece after a quarter of an hour – his second goal in as many appearances against his former employers. Rangers rallied slightly after half time and Djibril Cisse seized on a through ball from Jose Bosingwa to notch an equaliser, but the display and scoreline left a lot to be desired. Things deteriorated further with subsequent defeats against Stoke and Southampton which ultimately saw Mark Hughes sacked as manager.
QPR: Cesar 6, Bosingwa 4, Ferdinand 4, Nelsen 8, Traore 5 (Onuoha 84 -), Hoilett 6, Granero 6, Diakite 7, Taarabt 7, Mackie 5 (Zamore 81,-), Cisse 6
Subs Not Used: Green, Hill, Derry, Wright-Phillips, Faurlin
Goals: Cisse 66 (assisted Bosingwa)
Reading: McCarthy 8, Gunter 6, Morrison 6, Gorkss 7, Shorey 6, McCleary 5 (Kebe 62, 7), Tabb 7, Leigertwood 7, McAnuff 6 (Robson-Kanu 79, 6), Roberts 7 (Le Fondre 88, -), Hunt 6
Subs: Federici, Pearce, Cummings, Pogrebnyak
Goals: Gorkss 16 (assisted Morrison)
Bookings: Hunt 33 (foul), Le Fondre 90 (diving)
QPR 2 Reading 3, Wednesday September 26, 2012, League Cup
After a patchy start to the campaign, QPR’s 2012/13 season really started to come off the rails in September when newly promoted West Ham and Reading both came to Loftus Road and won, scoring six goals between them in the process. The Royals went first, without a win themselves in the league and fielding a mixture of first and reserve teams for a League Cup clash. QPR stuck their first choice 11 out there and seemed to be on course for due reward when Junior Hoilett powered through the visiting defence and scored his first QPR goal. Although Reading subsequently equalised when former QPR defender Kaspars Gorkss headed in a free kick, the home side restored their advantage after half time with a fabulous long range strike from Djibril Cisse. That looked like being that, but a physical Reading side forced their way back in and a mixture of their persistence and QPR’s defensive incompetence allowed first Nicky Shorey to curl in a long range free kick and then Pavel Pogrebnyak to back heel in from close range. The Russian subsequently missed a stoppage time penalty that would have made it 4-2. Reading went on to lose 7-5 in remarkable circumstances in the next round.
QPR: Cesar 6, Dyer 6 (Nelsen 64, 5), Mbia 6, Hill 7, Onuoha 5, Mackie 5, Granero 6, Faurlin 7 (Diakite 87, -), Park 5 (Zamora 67, 6), Hoilett 6, Cisse 6
Subs not used: Green, Derry, Wright Phillips, Ehmer
Goals: Hoilett 14 (unassisted), Cisse 71 (unassisted)
Bookings: Mbia 26 (foul), Cisse 71 (over celebrating)
Reading: McCarthy 7, Cummings 6, Gorkss 7, Mariappa 6 (Morrison 79, -), Shorey 7, Kebe 6 (McCleary 69, 6), Karacan 6, Tabb 6, Robson Kanu 6, Pogrebniak 6, Hunt 7
Subs not used: Taylor, Gunter, McAnuff, Le Fondre, Church
Goals: Gorkss 15 (assisted Shorey), Shorey 76 (unassisted – free kick), Pogrebnyak 81 (assisted Hunt)
Bookings: Kebe 60 (foul), Robson Kanu 84 (dissent)
Reading 0 QPR 1, Friday February 4, 2011, Championship
QPR secured a crucial 1-0 away win at play off chasing Reading in a live Sky match on their way to winning the Championship in 2010/11. This was a game won against the odds as the omnipresent three man refereeing committee that Brian McDermott’s Reading are famed for took control of the game from the appointed official Russell Booth. First Matt Mills deliberately upended Hogan Ephraim on his way through on goal but after the committee surrounded the referee and screamed in his face he escaped with a yellow card when it was an obvious red. Frustrated and wronged, Ephraim lunged into a tackle a moment later and Mills et al surrounded Booth once more and persuaded him to issue a red card. Down to ten against an in form team, QPR dug in and stuck it so far up Mills’ arse you could see it at the back of his throat when Ale Faurlin played Wayne Routledge in with eight minutes left and he took the shot on early, beating Federici who should have done better.
Reading: Federici 5, Griffin 5, Ingimarsson 6, Mills 5, Harte 6, McAnuff 6, Tabb 6 (Robson-Kanu 76, 6), Karacan 6, Kebe 6, Long 5, Church 5 (Manset 68, 7)
Subs Not Used: McCarthy, Gunnarsson, Hunt, Khizanishvili, Cummings
Booked: Griffin (foul), Mills (foul)
QPR: Kenny 8, Orr 7, Connolly 7, Gorkss 7, Hill 7, Routledge 8 (Hall 90, -), Derry 8, Faurlin 9, Ephraim 6, Taarabt 7 (Moen 86, -), Hulse 6 (Miller 66, 7)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Chimbonda, Shittu
Sent Off: Ephraim 42 (serious foul play)
Booked: Hill (foul), Connolly (foul)
Goals: Routledge 82 (assisted Faurlin)
QPR 3 Reading 1, Saturday November 6, 2010, Championship
Controversial refereeing decisions have punctuated our recent clashes with Reading and it was no different when these sides met at Loftus Road in November 2010. The R’s won 3-1 despite Bradley Orr receiving a straight red card before half time for a tackle on Hal Robson-Kanu that was crude, but barely merited a red. QPR were already in the lead by that stage thanks to a penalty from Adel Taarabt after Brian Howard had hacked him down in the penalty area during a typically mazy dribble. Reading must have fancied their chances against ten men in the second half but Rangers, and Taarabt in particular, were irresistible. Ale Faurlin rammed in a second and Tommy Smith converted after Taarabt’s free kick had been saved either side of a fine goal from Shane Long.
QPR: Kenny 7, Orr 6, Connolly 7, Gorkss 7, Walker 7, Derry 8, Faurlin 9, Mackie 8, Taarabt 9 (Clarke 80, 7), Smith 8 (Ephraim 90, -), Hulse 6 (Agyemang 81, 7)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Rowlands, Parker
Sent Off: Orr (serious foul play)
Booked: Derry (ungentlemanly conduct), Clarke (handball)
Goals: Taarabt 27 (penalty won by Taarabt), Faurlin 61 (assisted Mackie), Smith 71 (assisted Taarabt)
Reading: Federici 7, Griffin 6, Khizanishvili 6, Mills 6, Harte 6, McAnuff 5, Tabb 6 (Antonio 81, 6), Karacan 6 (Church 62, 5), Howard 6, Robson-Kanu 7 (Hunt 72, 6), Long 7
Subs Not Used: McCarthy, Cummings, Pearce, Armstrong
Booked: Mills (foul), Karacan (foul), Antonio (foul)
Goals: Long 68 (unassisted)
Reading 1 QPR 0, Tuesday March 16, 2010, Championship
QPR didn’t get the best of luck with refereeing decisions in their two meetings with Reading the previous season either, particularly in the game at the Madejski Stadium where our old friend Gavin Ward was in vintage form with the whistle. At the time both teams were enjoying resurgences under new management with Neil Warnock and Brian McDermott leading their sides up the table after winter relegation fights. Young referee Ward took centre stage by sending Damion Stewart off just before half time under heavy duress from Reading ’s three man refereeing committee and then awarding the Royals a late penalty which was converted by Gylfi Sigudsson for a 1-0 win.
Reading: Federici, Griffin , Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, Kebe,Tabb, Sigurdsson, Howard (Rasiak 61), McAnuff, Long (Church 67)
Subs Not Used: Hamer, Gunnarsson, Matejovsky, Robson-Kanu, Khizanishvili
Booked: Rasiak (diving)
Goals: Sigurdsson 85 (penalty)
QPR: Ikeme 7, Connolly 7, Stewart 6, Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Faurlin 7, Leigertwood 6, Priskin 6 (German 87), Taarabt 7 (Ramage 80, -), Ephraim 6 (Cook 90, -), Simpson 7
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Vine, Buzsaky, Borrowdale
Booked: Faurlin (foul), Leigertwood (repetitive fouling), Hill (foul), Connolly (dissent)
Sent Off: Stewart (two bookings – foul, obstructing goalkeeper)
2012/13 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Cisse)
2012/13 QPR 2 Reading 3** (Hoilett, Cisse)
2010/11 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Routledge)
2010/11 QPR 3 Reading 1 (Taarabt, Faurlin, Smith)
2009/10 Reading 1 QPR 0
2009/10 QPR 4 Reading 1 (Buzsaky, Simpson, Vine, Agyemang)
2008/09 QPR 0 Reading 0
2008/09 Reading 0 QPR 0
2005/06 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Furlong)
2005/06 QPR 1 Reading 2 (Cook)
2004/05 QPR 0 Reading 0
2004/05 Reading 1 QPR 0
2001/02 Reading 1 QPR 0
2001/02 QPR 0 Reading 0
1997/98 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Spencer)
1997/98 Reading 1 QPR 2 (Spencer, Swales og)
1996/97 QPR 0 Reading 2
1996/97 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Spencer)
1966/67 QPR 2 Reading 1 (Marsh, R Morgan)
1966/67 Reading 2 QPR 2 ( Langley pen, I Morgan)
1965/66 Reading 2 QPR 1
1965/66 QPR 0 Reading 2
1964/65 Reading 4 QPR 0**
1964/65 Reading 5 QPR 3 (Keen 2, Bedford)
1964/65 QPR 0 Reading 1
1963/64 QPR 4 Reading 2 (Bedford, Kean, Leary, Vafiadis)
1963/64 Reading 1 QPR 2 (McLeod 2)
1962/63 Reading 1 QPR 1 ( Bedford )
1962/63 QPR 3 Reading 2 (Large, Collins, Malcolm)
1961/62 Reading 0 QPR 2 (Towers 2)
1961/62 QPR 3 Reading 6 (Lazarus 2, Angell)
1960/61 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Longbottom)
1960/61 QPR 5 Reading 2 (Bedford 2, Lazarus 2, Barber)
1959/60 Reading 2 QPR 0
1959/60 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Andrews, Bedford )
1958/59 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Kerrins, Pearson)
1958/59 Reading 2 QPR 2 (Longbottom 2)
1957/58 QPR 3 Reading 0 (Woods, Longbottom, Petchey)
1957/58 Reading 3 QPR 0
1956/57 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Peacock)
1956/57 Reading 1 QPR 0
1955/56 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Cameron)
1955/56 QPR 3 Reading 3 (Smith 2, Angell)
1954/55 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Kerrins)
1954/55 QPR 2 Reading 3 (Shepherd, Smith)
1953/54 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Smith, Tomkys)
1953/54 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Shepherd)
1952/53 Reading 2 QPR 0
1952/53 QPR 1 Reading 0 ( Harrison )
1947/48 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Boxshall, Hatton)
1947/48 Reading 3 QPR 2 (Durrant, Boxshall)
1946/47 Reading 1 QPR 0
1946/47 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Heath, McEwen)
1938/39 QPR 2 Reading 2 (Bott, Devine)
1938/39 Reading 2 QPR 4 (Fitzgerlad 2, Bott, Fulwood og)
1937/38 QPR 3 Reading 0 (Fitzgerald 2, Stock)
1937/38 Reading 1 QPR 0
1936/37 Reading 2 QPR 0
1936/37 QPR 0 Reading 0
1935/36 QPR 0 Reading 1
1935/36 Reading 1 QPR 2 (Cheetham 2)
1934/35 Reading 0 QPR 0
1934/35 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Dutton, Watson)
1933/34 Reading 5 QPR 0
1933/34 QPR 0 Reading 0
1932/33 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Goddard)
1932/33 QPR 0 Reading 3
1931/32 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Wiles 2)
1931/32 Reading 3 QPR 2 (Blackman 2)
1925/26 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Burgess)
1925/26 QPR 1 Reading 2 ( Campbell )
1924/25 QPR 1 Reading 0 (Johnson)
1924/25 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Hart)
1923/24 Reading 4 QPR 0
1923/24 QPR 1 Reading 4 (Birch)
1922/23 Reading 0 QPR 0
1922/23 QPR 1 Reading 0 ( Davis )
1921/22 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Birch)
1921/22 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Gregory)
1920/21 Reading 0 QPR 0
1920/21 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Gregory, Smith)
1907/08 QPR 1 Reading 0* (Barnes)
* - FA Cup
** - League Cup
Reading 2 QPR 1, Saturday November 23, 1996, First Division
A somewhat morbid choice perhaps – indicative of the mood around Loftus Road at the moment when even the memorable match in the history column ends in defeat – but whenever I think of trips to Reading with QPR it’s this one that springs immediately to mind.
QPR were newly relegated from the Premier League. The pre-season loss of Clive Wilson and Les Ferdinand without adequate replacement had left the R’s relying too heavily on youngsters like Kevin Gallen and Danny Dichio while making poor big money signings like Ned Zelic and Mark Hateley. They’d finished the campaign reasonably well – with big home wins against Everton, West Ham and Southampton – but a lousy run of form over Christmas coupled with damaging defeats on the road and a late set back at relegation rivals Coventry relegated Ray Wilkins’ men with a game to spare.
Reading, despite playing in one of the First Division’s most run down stadiums, could count themselves unfortunate not to be a Premier League side by this point. The prior 1995/96 season had ended with a disappointing seventeenth place finish but the year before they’d finished second in the First Division which, uniquely, was good enough for only a play-off spot that year as the top flight slimmed down its number from an initial 22 teams. They recovered from the disappointment of missing out on the title by a single point to Middlesbrough by beating Tranmere over a two legged play off semi final which set up a final with Bolton. The Royals, managed jointly by experienced player Jimmy Quinn and Mick Gooding, surged into a two goal lead inside the first 12 minutes but eventually lost 4-3 after extra time with Fabian de Freitas coming at half time with Bolton two goals down and scoring twice in the victory.
By the time 1996/97 rolled around Reading were bobbing around in lower midtable with just four wins to their name in the league from the first 17 league games. Crystal Palace had already been to the dilapidated Elm Park and won 6-1.
QPR had endured a tumultuous start to their attempt to bounce back to the big time. Ray Wilkins had kept his job despite the relegation and begun to spend some of new owner Chris Wright’s millions on the team. The R’s won their first two matches but lost striker Gallen in the act of scoring the winning goal at Portsmouth and then drew at Wolves before losing at home to Bolton. Wilkins was then either sacked, or resigned, depending on who you believe.
Nick Blackburn, brought on board by Wright and later chairman of the club, told A Kick Up The R’s: “What happened was, we asked Ray to come to the board meeting. We were nearly all new directors, and we asked him to set out how he worked, how many scouts he had, was he watching games, did he prefer playing, how could he play and keep himself fit and watch players, all this kind of thing. It was fine. At the end of the meeting, when Ray had gone, Clive Berlin said, ‘I don’t think Ray will make a manager’. We all said, ‘Look, come on, let’s give him a chance.’ Next morning, Ray rang up and resigned. He’d booked a flight that day to go and see a midfield player in Scotland called Dave Bowman, who played for Dundee United. But Ray cancelled the flight and resigned. We think one of the directors rang him up and told him about those comments. I know for certain it wasn’t one of the new directors. We were new to it. We didn’t really know the inside of football that well and however much you think you know about it, nothing really prepares you for it. When Ray resigned, he then went out and told people he had been sacked.”
A pursuit of Alan Curbishley from Charlton fell flat and Rangers eventually plumped for Arsenal assistant boss Stewart Houston who had impressed during several caretaker manager spells at Highbury. Houston however brought his former boss at Arsenal Bruce Rioch in as assistant and initially laboured in the transfer market despite having money to spend and obvious problems with the squad to fix.
Blackburn said: “We had Matt Jackson on loan at the time, who I thought was a decent player, and Stewart said, ‘I’m not going to sign him until I’ve watched him a few more times.’ So Matt said, “I’m not going to stay here on trial” and went back to Everton. I always remember, Stewart started quite well and then the club slipped down the table, yet he had money available. But he just wouldn’t sign anyone. Chris was away and he rang me up one day and said; ‘Tell Stewart, if he doesn’t sign anybody, I’m going to sign some fucking players’, because we were still slipping down the table.”
The cheque book finally came out in mid-November. Rangers had won just two of the previous 12 and had lost the previous two games 3-0 at Crystal Palace and 2-1 at home to Charlton for whom former QPR favourite Bradley Allen scored a late winner. The Loftus Road faithful needed a pick-me-up and it arrived in the form of a double signing from Chelsea: striker John Spencer for a club record £2.25m, and former Rangers youth team graduate Gavin Peacock on loan with a view to a £1m permanent transfer. Expectation shot through the roof, and the terrace behind the Elm Park goal was absolutely heaving that Saturday as the new look Super Hoops emerged into the watery autumn sunshine.
My grandfather was never much of a tipster. The old regulars of The Goldhawk still reminisce about the time he took a score from each of them to place on a “dead cert” greyhound tip he’d had from his Asian barber back at home in Cleethorpes only to have a late change of heart in the bookies when the odds drifted out on a rival which he subsequently backed instead and then watched in horror as it banged its head on the roof of the trap on the way out and collapsed while the dog he should have backed won by several dozen lengths. Or the infamous seven horse accumulator at Aintree that got progressively worse as the day went on culminating in the last race of the day where his nag fell at the first and had the screens brought out. Later, in the 500s Club at Goodison Park, he told new Everton chairman Peter Johnson he thought he’d be a tremendous success – six months later the home fans were invading the pitch demanding Johnson resigned.
Dear old Tom died three days after the Reading game. We’d found him, somewhat bizarrely, disorientated and breathless in the toilets of a Little Chef on the way down to the game but thought nothing of it as he continued with the day’s drinking as usual. That Tuesday he had a heart attack while picking my cousin up from school. He died happy though, both with his life and his football. He’d tipped Houston as the best man for the manager’s job a long time before he was appointed and while disappointed we hadn’t signed his other tip – one of his few good ones – Grimsby’s Clive Mendonca he liked Spencer as well.
Four minutes after half time the tiny Scottish striker lashed an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Thomas Wright – who’d replaced previous incumbent Shaka Hislop between the sticks at Reading – and raced off towards the jubilant QPR fans pointing to the name on his back and screaming “I’m your fucking man.” It was a wonderful moment. It felt like QPR were finally getting things together, and in Spencer they had a genuine goal scoring threat who could fire them up the league. The R’s subsequently won eight and drew two of their next 11 games and Spencer scored three goals in his first four appearances. He finished the season with 18 goals from 29 starts for the Hoops.
But, as usual, my grandfather was wrong, and as ever the dawn over Loftus Road proved false: Rangers only finished eighth, and subsequently bankrupted themselves trying to get back into the top flight; Houston proved a poor manager, unable to make the step up from assistant and coach to number one and undermined by his decision to appoint Rioch as his assistant; Spencer lost interest after a falling out with Rioch and actually ended up out on loan at Everton in the Premier League while Rangers struggled against relegation in the league below. It took the club 15 years to recover from that disastrous spell between 1995 and 1997.
And that day at Reading didn’t end well either. Inspired by former R’s trainee Michael Meaker and striker Trevor Morley, who seemed to be a perennial scourge of QPR around this time, Reading rallied. Morley scored after 73 minutes and his strike partner Lee Nogan got a second ten minutes from time. A seemingly certain victory drained away almost as quickly as the feel good factor. Twas ever thus.
Reading: Wright, Bernal (Parkinson 82), Bodin, Hunter, McPherson, Gooding, Gilkes, Caskey (Lambert 66), Meaker, Morley, Nogan
Subs not used: Quinn
Goals: Morley 73, Nogan 80
Bookings: Meaker, Hunter
QPR: Roberts, Maddix, McDonald, Ready, Brevett, Impey, Barker, Peacock, Sinclair, Charles (Dichio 81), Spencer
Subs not used: Dykstra, Brazier
Goals: Spencer 49
Bookings: Barker, McDonald
Highlights >>> Reading 0 QPR 1, 2010/11 >>> QPR 4 Reading 1, 2009/10 >>> Reading 2 QPR 1, 2006
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