As QPR prepare to host Manchester United at Loftus Road this Saturday, LFW looks back at the career of Ray Wilkins who played for both teams and a memorable meeting from 1977.
Man Utd 3 QPR 1, Saturday November 24, 2012, Premier League
QPR played Manchester United for the first time this season back in November just a day after Mark Hughes had been sacked as manager and with Harry Redknapp in the directors’ box and already poised to take over. The team was picked by Hughes’ coaching staff, and it said a lot about their opinion of their former boss’ team selection that they immediately returned the likes of Kieron Dyer, Shaun Derry, Clint Hill and Ale Faurlin to the starting line up. The result was a performance far more spirited than anything Hughes had managed to coax from his overpaid big name stars for months. Mackie had a first half goal disallowed before giving Rangers the lead after half time with a close range finish. Ultimately United blew their beleaguered visitors away in ten blistering minutes that featured goals from Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher and Javier Hernandez and in the end the highlight of the game was Ashley Young trying to con a penalty out of Clint Hill and Shaun Derry for the second season running only to be turned down by the referee and slapped about a bit by QPR’s veteran pairing. It seemed at this stage, with Hughes gone, that Redknapp had plenty to build on.
Man Utd: Lindegaard 6, Rafael 6, Ferdinand 7, Evans 7, Evra 6, Young 6 (Anderson 59, 7), Scholes 6 (Hernandez 59, 7), Fletcher 6, Welbeck 5 (Powell 79, 7), Rooney 6, Van Persie 6
Subs not used: De Gea, Jones, Smallin, Cleverley
Goals: Evans 64 (assisted Rooney/Welbeck), Fletcher 68 (assisted Rooney), Hernandez 72 (assisted Anderson)
Bookings: Scholes 54 (repetitive fouling)
QPR: Cesar 6, Mbia 8, Nelsen 7, Hill 7, Traore 7 (Ferdinand 60, 4), Dyer 7, Derry 7, Faurlin 7 (Granero 84, -), Taarabt 6 (Hoilett 73, 6), Cisse 6, Mackie 8
Subs not used: Green, Diakite, Wright-Phillips, Ephraim
Goals: Mackie 52 (assisted Dyer)
Bookings: Mbia 58 (foul)
Man Utd 2 QPR 0, Sunday April 8, 2012, Premier League
QPR’s hopes of springing an upset at Old Trafford in April were over before they’d ever really begun thanks to an outrageously bad piece of officiating. An early United onslaught culminated in a penalty, scored by Wayne Rooney, after 15 minutes but it was the decision to award the spot kick that sparked the controversy. Ashley Young was three yards offside when he received the ball, and barely touched at all by Shaun Derry who was, nevertheless, dismissed for bringing him down. With only ten men on the field Rangers could do little to trouble their hosts and United won 2-0 when they could, had they been in the mood, have bagged two or three times that amount. Paul Scholes got the second, Michael Carrick hit the bar from long range, and Paddy Kenny made a series of excellent saves to keep the score down.
Man Utd: De Gea 6, Rafael 6 (Jones 74, 6), Ferdinand 6, Evans 6, Evra 7, Valencia 8, Scholes 7 (Cleverley 74, 6), Carrick 8, Young 7 (Giggs 61, 7), Rooney 7, Welbeck 7
Subs Not Used: Amos, Park, Hernandez, Pogba
Booked: Rafael (repetitive fouling)
Goals: Rooney 15 (penalty, won Young), Scholes 68 (unassisted)
QPR: Kenny 8, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 7, Hill 8, Taiwo 7, Diakite 7 (Wright-Phillips 71, 6), Derry 6, Mackie 7, Taarabt 6 (Smith 71, 6), Buzsaky 6, Bothroyd 5 (Campbell 81, -)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Gabbidon, Young, Zamora
Sent Off: Derry 14 (denying goal scoring opportunity)
QPR 0 Man Utd 2, Sunday December 18, 2011, Premier League
QPR were taught some harsh lessons by Manchester United at Loftus Road back in December last season. The visitors left town with a comfortable 2-0 victory despite never really getting out of third gear. They took the lead within a minute of kicking off through Wayne Rooney and never once looked like relinquishing that. QPR barely threatened the goal and after an hour or so of cat and mouse type football United finally went in for the big kill when Michael Carrick was allowed to run 50 yards through the heart of the home team’s midfield and score from the edge of the box. But for the performance of goalkeeper Radek Cerny it could have been twice as bad for Neil Warnock’s side.
QPR: Cerny 8, Young 6, Gabbidon 7, Connolly 7, Traore 6, Mackie 6, Barton 5, Faurlin 5, Wright-Phillips 5 (Taarabt 65, 6), Bothroyd 6 (Hill 75, 6), Helguson 6 (Campbell 65, 6)
Subs Not Used: Kenny, Orr, Derry, Smith
Booked: Gabbidon (foul)
Man Utd: De Gea 6, Smalling 7, Evans 7, Ferdinand 7, Evra 6, Valencia 7, Jones 8, Carrick 8, Nani 7(Young 88, -), Rooney 8 (Giggs 78, 6), Welbeck 7 (Hernandez 63, 6)
Subs Not Used: Lindegaard, Berbatov, Park, Fryers
Booked: Ferdinand (dissent), Jones (foul)
Goals: Rooney 1 (assisted Valencia), Carrick 56 (unassisted)
Man Utd 1 QPR 0, Tuesday November 11, 2008, League Cup Fourth Round
QPR aren’t exactly a team famed for their cup runs in the modern era but in 2008, under the guidance of Iain Dowie and newly flushed with Flavio Briatore’s millions, they successfully negotiated three rounds of the League Cup. That included a memorable upset in round three at Aston Villa where Damion Stewart’s flying header saw Rangers through. Of course, we all know that between the Villa and United games Briatore swung his axe and removed Dowie from the hot seat which meant that QPR went to Old Trafford under the caretaker guidance of Gareth Ainsworth – a short sighted move, considering Dowie had won 2-0 at Old Trafford with Coventry at the same stage of the same competition a year previously. Ainsworth set QPR up not to lose and the result was 80 minutes of siege being laid to the QPR goal where Radek Cerny was in the form of his life to keep the home side at bay. In the end only the award of the obligatory questionable penalty at the Stretford End, converted by Carlos Tevez, saved United’s blushes. Rangers were left to reflect on what might have been had they given the game more of a go – in the final ten minutes after conceding Sam Di Carmine had a goal disallowed for offside and Emmanuel Ledesma missed an absolute sitter with the last kick of the game.
Man Utd: Kuszczak 6, Rafael Da Silva 7, Neville 7 (Vidic 89, -), Evans 7, O'Shea 7, Gibson 7, Possebon 7 (Welbeck 72, 8), Anderson 7, Nani 7, Tevez 8, Park 8
Subs Not Used: Foster, Carrick, Manucho, Cleverley, Gray
Goals: Tevez 76 pen (assisted Nani)
QPR: Cerny 9, Ramage 7, Stewart 9, Hall 9, Connolly 7, Mahon 8, Rowlands 8, Buzsaky 5 (Agyemang 7), Parejo 4 (Ledesma 7) Cook 5 (Di Carmine 7) Blackstock 5
Subs Not Used: Cole, Delaney, Gorkss, Ephraim
QPR 1 Man Utd 1, Saturday March 16, 1996, Premiership
The last meeting of any sort prior to that League Cup tie was during our 1995/96 relegation season and was seen by many as the seminal moment of that campaign. QPR, embarking on a Premier League season for the first time without talismanic striker Les Ferdinand and under the inexperienced stewardship of Ray Wilkins, were struggling badly. They’d won just one of 11 league games during a barren winter and were deep in the relegation mire when title chasing Man Utd arrived in town on a ten straight winning run. But this wasn’t a QPR team entirely without talent and having already clocked up hard luck stories against Newcastle (played superbly, lost 3-2) and Spurs (lead 2-0, had a ridiculous penalty given against them, lost 3-2) at Loftus Road they were to suffer another here. QPR were excellent on the day and after weathering a heavy first half storm lifted the roof off a packed Loftus Road with a deserved opening goal just past the hour mark. Dennis Irwin is often credited with the own goal, diving despairingly to try and divert Danny Dichio’s shot over the bar but only finding the roof of his own net, but it’s always been Dichio’s goal for me. And then the infamous moment. Referee Robbie Hart, who has grown through myth and legend into a Manchester United fan given the game as a gesture by the league prior to his retirement, refused to blow the full time whistle. On and on the game went. On and on and on and on. Finally, just before the second reading of the classified football results, Eric Cantona scored at the School End. The final whistle duly sounded almost the second the ball hit the back of the net. It was a scandal then and it remains so today – a crucial nail in the QPR coffin from which it took them 15 years to recover.
QPR: J Sommer, D Bardsley, R Brevett, A McDonald, S Yates, S Barker, I Holloway, N Quashie (A Impey, 45), D Dichio (M Hateley, 80), K Gallen (K Ready, 84), T Sinclair
Goals: Dichio 63
Man Utd: P Schmeichel, D May (N Butt, 73), D Irwin, S Bruce, G Neville, B McClair (P Scholes, 58), R Keane, D Beckham (L Sharpe, 73), R Giggs, E Cantona, A Cole
Goals: Cantona 90+8
Head to Head >>> QPR wins 6 >>> Draws 13 >>> Man Utd wins 30
2012/13 Man Utd 3 QPR 1 (Mackie)
2011/12 Man Utd 2 QPR 0
2011/12 QPR 0 Man Utd 2
2008/09 Man Utd 1 QPR 0*
1995/96 QPR 1 Man Utd 1 (Dichio)
1995/96 Man Utd 2 QPR 1 (Dichio)
1994/95 Man Utd 2 QPR 0**
1994/95 QPR 2 Man Utd 3 (Ferdinand 2)
1994/95 Man Utd 2 QPR 0
1993/94 QPR 2 Man Utd 3 (Ferdinand, Wilson)
1993/94 Man Utd 2 QPR 1 (B Allen)
1992/93 QPR 1 Man Utd 3 (B Allen)
1992/93 Man Utd 0 QPR 0
1991/92 QPR 0 Man Utd 0
1991/92 Man Utd 1 QPR 4 (Bailey 3, Sinton)
1990/91 QPR 1 Man Utd 1 (Falco)
1990/91 Man Utd 2 QPR 1** (Maddix)
1990/91 Man Utd 3 QPR 1 (Wegerle)
1989/90 QPR 1 Man Utd 2 (Channing)
1989/90 Man Utd 0 QPR 0
1988/89 QPR 3 Man Utd 2 (Gray 2, Sinton)
1988/89 Man Utd 3 QPR 0**
1988/89 QPR 2 Man Utd 2** (Stein, McDonald)
1988/89 Man Utd 0 QPR 0**
1988/89 Man Utd 0 QPR 0
1987/88 Man Utd 2 QPR 1 (McDonald)
1987/88 QPR 0 Man Utd 2
1986/87 QPR 1 Man Utd 1 (Byrne)
1986/87 Man Utd 1 QPR 0
1985/86 QPR 1 Man Utd 0 (Byrne)
1985/86 Man Utd 2 QPR 0
1984/85 QPR 1 Man Utd 3 (Bannister)
1984/85 Man Utd 3 QPR 0
1983/84 QPR 1 Man Utd 1 (Fenwick)
1983/84 Man Utd 3 QPR 1 (C Allen)
1978/79 Man Utd 2 QPR 0
1978/79 QPR 1 Man Utd 1 (Gillard)
1977/78 Man Utd 3 QPR 1 (Bowles)
1977/78 QPR 2 Man Utd 2 (Givens, Needham)
1976/77 Man Utd 1 QPR 0
1976/77 QPR 4 Man Utd 0 (Eastoe 2, Givens, Kelly)
1976/77 Man Utd 1 QPR 0**
1975/76 Man Utd 2 QPR 1 (Givens)
1975/76 QPR 1 Man Utd 0 (Webb)
1973/74 QPR 3 Man Utd 0 (Bowles 2, Givens)
1973/74 Man Utd 2 QPR 1 (G Francis)
1968/69 Man Utd 8 QPR 1 (Marsh)
1968/69 QPR 2 Man Utd 3 (Leach, Wilks)
1908/09 Man Utd 4 QPR 0***
1907/08 QPR 1 Man Utd 1*** (Cannon)
* - League Cup
** - FA Cup
*** - Charity Shield
QPR 4 Manchester United 0, Saturday April 19, 1977, First Division
Manchester United were a week away from an FA Cup semi final appearance against Leeds when they came to Loftus Road in April 1977, but the fixture still represented an odd role reversal from the present day. Back then it was QPR who’d narrowly missed out on a league title the season before playing awe-inspiring football while United had actually been in the division below just 18 months previously.
QPR have only beaten the Reds six times in their history, but three of those victories came during this period. Newly promoted Rangers thrashed soon to be relegated United 3-0 with two goals from Stan Bowles in 1973/74 and then repeated the dose with a 1-0 Loftus Road success thanks to a goal from Dave Webb in the 1975/76 campaign that was so close to ending in a first ever league title triumph for the R’s – a game we covered in this column last season.
That spectacular QPR team had started to wane a little 12 months later and while much of the talk was about United’s cup date and the distraction it caused, it’s worth remembering that Dave Sexton’s team were on their sixth match of the month already – completed in just 17 days – as they attempted to catch up with games in hand from winter postponements. They had also been without talismanic striker Stan Bowles thanks to injury since the middle of March during which time they’d won just one of six games. They did however have Gerry Francis back in the team for only the sixth time that season.
So fixture congestion against cup distractions it was then, and fresh from a 2-0 away win at Middlesbrough only three days beforehand it took QPR just 25 seconds to take the lead as Don Givens found himself clear in the penalty area with support for a pass and the goal gaping – he didn’t need asking twice to slot home the opener.
The goal was very much in the free-flowing champagne football style of the 1975/76 Rangers but the second, which followed soon after, was much more of the route one variety. A long ball pumped forward was half cleared by Stewart Houston – who would of course later manage Rangers to no great success. The dropping clearance was returned with interest by Eddie Kelly full on the volley and with a crowd of players in front of him United goalkeeper Alex Stepney could only stand and watch it fizz into the net from 20 yards out. That was Kelly’s one and only goal for the R’s – he joined for £60,000 from Arsenal the summer before and left at the end of the campaign after 33 appearances to join Leicester City for a similar amount.
The third goal, late on in the second half, owed much to Kelly as well as he battled for possession in the mud against two United players and won through, allowing substitute Ron Abbott to release Peter Eastoe through a yawning hole in the centre of the United defence. Eastoe drew Stepney from his line and rolled the ball into the unguarded net from the best part of 25 yards. Buoyed by that Kelly then received the ball from a short corner and chipped in a fine cross which caught the visiting defence trying to play offside and allowed Eastoe to head home his second from inside the six yard box.
Rangers finished fourteenth that season and United sixth – the teams met against Old Trafford just 11 days later in the league and this time the R’s were beaten 1-0. Manager Tommy Docherty masterminded a 2-1 victory against Leeds in the semi final and they then repeated the scoreline in the final against favourites Liverpool, denying the Scousers a treble of league, cup and European Cup. Docherty, who’d already had one brief spell as QPR boss and would later have another, was sacked at the end of the campaign nevertheless after his affair with the wife of United physio Laurie Brown became public.
The hammering at Loftus Road must have stuck in the minds of the Man Utd directors because it was Sexton they turned to as a replacement – the second time the QPR boss had replaced Docherty as manager having previously done so at Chelsea. Rangers replaced him first with long serving player Frank Sibley, and then Steve Burtenshaw, but the decline had set in and just three years after they came so close to winning the league the Super Hoops were relegated at the end of the 1978/79 season.
QPR: Parkes, Clement (Abbot), McLintock, Webb, Gillard, Kelly, Hollins, Francis, Givens, Eastoe, Masson
Highlights >>> Man Utd 1 QPR 0 08/09 >>> Man Utd 2 QPR 0 FA Cup Quarter Final 1995 >>> QPR 1 Man Utd 3 92/93 >>> Man Utd 1 QPR 4 91/92 >>> Man Utd 3 QPR 1 83/84 >>> QPR 4 Man Utd 0 76/77 >>> QPR 1 Man Utd 0 75/76
Ray Wilkins >>> Man Utd 1979-1984 >>> QPR 1989-1994, (manager) 1994-1996
Ray Wilkins came through the ranks at then-First Division Chelsea in the early 1970s, making his debut against Norwich in October 1973 in a 3-0 win. He established himself as a regular in the Blues’ midfield the following season but come May 1975 they had (tragically) been relegated into the Second Division.
That demotion brought to an end a decent spell of cup finals and title tilts at Stamford Bridge through the 1960s and early 1970s with the likes of Chopper Harris, Peter Osgood and Peter Bonetti starring alongside future QPR players John Hollins and Dave Webb. In their place came a new breed of young players led by Wilkins who was made captain of the Second Division side instead of Harris despite being aged just 18. After two seasons at the lower level Chelsea were promoted at the end of the 1976/77 season and then survived in the top division with a sixteenth place finish in 1977/78.
The season after though, following the departure of manager Eddie McCreadie, Chelsea were (tragically) relegated again. This time Wilkins was one of the big name players sold off, with Manchester United paying £800,000 for his services and staving off the bailiffs at Stamford Bridge a while longer in the process.
Wilkins made his England debut for Don Revie in 1976 and played regularly for the next ten years, scoring a fine goal against Belgium in the European Championships in 1980. At the World Cup in Mexico in 1986 he famously picked up the only red card of his entire playing career for throwing a ball at a referee while disagreeing with a decision.
Wilkins became a mainstay of the United midfield during an uneventful period of the club’s history but he did claim the first winner’s medal of his career when they beat Brighton in the 1983 FA Cup Final replay at Wembley. Wilkins had scored in the first game which finished 2-2 but he and his United team mates were fortunate to get another crack after Gordon Smith went through on goal late in the original tie only to see a weak shot saved by Gary Bailey. The TV commentary from the day “And Smith must score…” later became the name of the Brighton fanzine.
A year later AC Milan paid £1.5m to take Wilkins to Italy for three seasons which included a Copa Italia final defeat in 1985. A brief four month spell with Paris St Germain followed before a £250,000 move to Glasgow Rangers in 1987. Rangers were managed at the time by former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness and with English clubs banned from European competitions following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 he was able to attract a slew of big name English players to Ibrox including Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Trevor Francis as well as Wilkins. Wilkins won the league title in 1989, the Scottish League Cup twice and wrote himself into club folklore with a stunning goal in a 5-1 Old Firm win at Ibrox in August 1988.
Francis actually moved south to QPR first in 1988 after the League Cup final success. He then became player manager at Loftus Road in November that year when Jim Smith left for Newcastle but it was a role he struggled with, famously dividing the dressing room by fining Martin Allen for leaving the team hotel in Newcastle to be at the birth of his son. Seeking some experienced old friends to help him out he teamed Wilkins with Peter Reid in a central midfield with an average age well into the 30s and an average speed of little more than walking pace. He was however sacked as manager almost immediately after Wilkins arrived and while there was speculation at the time that the new arrival would take over as player manager Rangers rather sensibly appointed the experienced on Don Howe instead.
There followed a spectacular Indian summer in Wilkins’ career that encompassed 184 appearances for QPR across six years – his longest spell with any club other than Chelsea. He didn’t score often – just 11 in total for the R’s – but when he did find the net it was often very special indeed. A beautiful 30 yard lob in an away win at Wimbledon in the 1992/93 season came shortly after a diving header at the Loft End in a 4-1 victory against Spurs. In 1993/94 he lashed a spectacular volley past Bruce Grobbelaar in a home match with Liverpool. But it was his eye for a pass that he was most well renowned for – a defence splitter leading to a last second winner for Dennis Bailey on a cold December afternoon at Norwich in the 1991/92 campaign, and a golf-like chip in behind champions-elect Leeds for Bradley Allen to seize upon and slide in from an impossible angle later that same campaign were two of my personal favourites.
Sadly though, Wilkins isn’t as fondly remembered by some at Loftus Road as he probably should be in my opinion. Personally I thought he was a magnificent player for us, guiding Gerry Francis’ exciting team around the park with Ian Holloway alongside him doing the leg work. But some subscribe to a criticism that dogged him throughout his career that he only ever passed the ball sideways or backwards – a trait that earned him the unfortunate ‘crab’ nickname that stuck.
And of course when he broke off from a spell at Crystal Palace at the start of the 1994/95 season to replace Gerry Francis as the QPR manager he then soured the wonderful memories for those fans who remembered him fondly as a player as well. Things started well enough – he took over relegation threatened Rangers at a time of great crisis but got them playing an exciting brand of football that carried them up the table and into an FA Cup quarter final at Manchester United. He could then hardly be blamed for the sale of Les Ferdinand, or the contract situation that saw Clive Wilson follow Francis to Tottenham, but what followed was fairly heartbreaking.
Furnished with more cash to spend than any QPR manager in history thanks to the £6m Newcastle paid for Ferdinand, Wilkins squandered almost all of it on the likes of Simon Osborn, Jurgeon Sommer, Gregory Goodridge and, most infamously, Mark Hateley and Ned Zelic. There is a school of thought that says Wilkins should be absolved of blame, and much of the appalling transfer dealing was down to the CEO at the time Clive Berlin, but the fault is generally placed at Wilkins’ door and QPR were relegated that year with a game to spare. Another criticism of Wilkins was that his insistence that even as he pushed 40 he should be in the team rather than the dugout when fit undermined him as a manager – Osborn actually looked fairly decent in midfield after arriving from Reading but left for Wolves after barely six months with Rangers because he couldn’t get in the side ahead of his boss.
Wilkins stayed for the First Division campaign only to then resign/get pushed a month into the campaign after a home defeat by Bolton. He then picked up various short term playing contracts at Wycombe, Hibs, Orient and Millwall before finally hanging his boots up in 1997. A similarly unsuccessful spell as manager at big spending Fulham followed but he has since made his name as a successful assistant boss to Dennis Wise at Millwall, where they reached an FA Cup final and qualified for Europe, and to various managers at Chelsea.
These days he works as a television pundit talking about how splendid everything is apart from, it has to be said, QPR who he sadly rarely has a good word for on Sky – although it’s fair to say good words about QPR are hard to find from anybody at the moment.
Others >>> Mark Hughes, QPR (manager) 2012, Man Utd 1980-1986, 1988-1995 >>> Ji Sung Park, Man Utd 2005-2012, QPR 2012-present >>> Federico Macheda, Man Utd 2009-present, QPR (loan) 2012 >>> Tom Heaton, Man Utd 2005-2010, QPR (loan) 2009 >>> Liam Miller, Man Utd 2004-2006, QPR 2009 >>> Kieran Lee, Man Utd 2006-2008, QPR (loan) 2008 >>> Danny Nardiello, Man Utd 2000-2005, QPR 2007-2008 >>> John Curtis, Man Utd 1997-2000, QPR 2007 >>> Nick Culkin, Man Utd 1997-2002, QPR 2002-2005 >>> Paul Parker, QPR 1987-199, Man Utd 1991-1996 >>>Alan Brazil, Man Utd 1984-1986, QPR 1986 >>> Gary Micklewhite, Man Utd 1978-1979, QPR 1979-1985 >>> Gordon Hill, Man Utd 1975-1978, QPR 1979-1981 >>> Stewart Houston, Man Utd 1973-1980, QPR (manager) 1996-1997 >>> Don Givens, Man Utd 1969-1970, QPR 1972-1978 >>> Dave Sexton, QPR (manager) 1974-1977, Man Utd 1977-1981 >>> Dave McCreery, Man Utd 1974-1979, QPR 1979-1981 >>> Tommy Docherty, QPR (manager) 1968, (manager) 1979-1980, Man Utd (manager) 1972-1977 >>> Reg Allen, QPR 1938-1950, Man Utd 1950-1955
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Pictures – Action Images