Having done the 2003/04 promotion game in great detail previously, we're going back to a less heralded Hillsborough win from 1996 this week as Rangers prepare to visit Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Queens Park Rangers 3, Saturday February 17, 1996, Premier League
Obviously Queens Park Rangers at Hillsborough immediately brings to mind the final game of the 2003/04 season when Ian Holloway’s three-year rebuilding job on the squad and the club came to fruition with a 3-1 victory and promotion ahead of Bristol City in front of 8,000 travelling fans from West London.
But we’ve covered that extensively in this column for the game in May and no doubt will do so again, so ahead of Saturday’s visit we thought we’d cast minds back slightly further to 1996 and a victory that, while ultimately futile, was nevertheless fairly miraculous and featured one of the less talked about great QPR goals of all time.
The 1995/96 season was not a happy one for QPR. Les Ferdinand had gone to Newcastle and manager Ray Wilkins’ attempt to replace him first with his old mate Mark Hateley and secondly with youth team graduate Danny Dichio had not been a conspicuous success. Throw in Wilkins’ own advancing years, the departure of Clive Wilson to Tottenham, long term injuries to the likes of David Bardsley, and three crucial missed penalties that would have brought points over a barren winter and it was a campaign to forget. Rangers were relegated, just as the television money was about to explode, sparking a 15-year stay in the lower divisions which only ended when Neil Warnock guided the R’s back in 2010/11.
The real damage was done right through the Christmas period. Rangers successfully beat relegation rivals Bolton and, thanks to a goalkeeping display like few others from Jurgeon Sommer, Aston Villa 1-0 in consecutive home games through December. But prior to them they’d gone seven without a win in the league and any momentum gained from the six points quickly drained away with a 3-0 Boxing Day loss at Arsenal starting a slump of seven straight league defeats — relieved only very slightly by the emergence of a young Nigel Quashie and a 2-0 FA Cup win at Tranmere.
With home defeats to Blackburn (0-1) and Liverpool (1-2) and away losses at Wimbledon (2-1) and Man City (2-0) either side of a televised FA Cup exit to Chelsea when yet another penalty had been squandered — this time by Bradley Allen — hopes were not high for the mid-February trip to Sheffield. QPR’s lousy form was one thing, but the 1990s Sheff Wed team had the Indian sign over Rangers long before this one. Carlton Palmer scored an embarrassing first half hat trick in a 4-1 Rangers loss at Hillsborough in 1991 and Wednesday put Rangers out of the League Cup in 1992/93 and 1993/94 as part of a six match winning sequence against the R’s — although the balance was redressed slightly by a QPR double in 1994/95 featuring Kevin Gallen’s first senior goal.
Still, when Graham Hyde waltzed through a gaping hole between centre backs Danny Maddix and Steve Yates to calmly slide Wednesday in front with his first of the season it seemed like normality had been restored. Darko Kovacevic, one of two Serbian’s in David Pleat’s side, had already drawn a near post save from Sommer at the Kop End so things were progressing much as expected.
But Rangers were level by the half hour. Quashie, who really was a revelation as a teenager before being struck with glandular fever at a time he was winning England B caps, delivered a superb left wing cross back into a crowded penalty box after a corner had been cleared and Simon Barker was left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box to score a rare goal with his head.
Kovacevic and Whittingham threatened at the start of the second half, denied by combinations of Sommer and Brevett desperately scrambling round on the goal line, but Barker was to light up the match at the mid point of the second half. Picking up a through ball from Andy Impey some 20 yards out, he initially widened the angle on the edge of the area looking for a cross before instead executing a glorious left foot chip over Pressman and into the far corner.
Wilkins sent on Gregory Goodridge (one of those footballers you think might have been better off as a sprinter) to waste a bit of time near the end and he was so blatant about it that referee Paul Durkin booked him just minutes after he’d stepped off the bench for dallying over a corner. Angered, that Barbados international winger took a swing at the ball sending it skidding into a penalty area almost totally devoid of QPR players but nevertheless, via a couple of deflections, all the way through into the net.
But, as said, it all came to nought in the end. Another five games passed without a win, including the infamous Man Utd home match where Eric Cantona equalised during the second reading of the classified football results. That meant that although Wilkins’ team finished with three straight home wins (3-1 v Everton, 3-0 v Southampton and West Ham) other results conspired against them and they were effectively relegated when the lost 1-0 at Coventry with two games left to play.
Sheff Wed: Pressman; Atherton, Walker, Nicol, Nolan; Waddle, Stefanovic, Degryse, Kovacevic; Hyde (Bright 76), Whittingham
Subs not used: Watts, Platts
Goals: Hyde 22
QPR: Sommer; Bardsley, Yates, Maddix, Brevett; Impey (Goodridge 81), Barker, Holloway, Quashie; Gallen (Allen 81), Sinclair
Subs not used: Challis
Goals: Barker 33, 67, Goodridge 87
Attendance: 22,442
QPR 0 Sheff Wed 3, Saturday July 11, 2020, Championship
QPR’s worst performance of the 2019/20 season came against Sheff Wed at Loftus Road during the summer lockdown. The Owls had been in pretty dire form themselves, winning only five games in the second half of the season, and two of those were against Rangers. In July they scored early when Joe Lumley parried an early free kick, Mass Luongo followed up off the post against his former club and Dominic Iorfa slammed in a second rebound. More calamitous defending let Josh Windass in for a simple second from a corner in first half injury time and Jacob Murphy made it three deep into the second half.
QPR: Lumley 5; Masterson 4 (Oteh 33, 4), Cameron 3, Barbet 3; Kakay 5, Manning 3; Eze 4, Ball 3 (Clarke 60, 4), Amos 3; Osayi-Samuel 4, Shodipo 4 (Chair 60, 4)
Subs not used: Kane, Rangel, Bettache, Kelly, Gubbins
Bookings: Ball 35 (foul)
Sheff Wed: Wildsmith 6; Iorfa 7, Lees 6 (Shaw 75, 6), Borner 6; Odubajo 6, Hunt 6 (Pelupessy 61, 6); Bannan 7, Luongo 8, Harris 7; Windass 6 (Nuhiu 75, 6), Da Cruz 6 (Murphy 55, 8)
Subs not used: Rhodes, Reach, Dawson, Brennan, Hughes
Goals: Iorfa 5 (assisted Luongo), Windass 45+2 (assisted Harris), Murphy 78 (assisted Bannan)
Bookings: Hunt 30 (foul), Odubajo 57 (foul)
QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2, Friday January 24, 2020, FA Cup Fourth Round
QPR’s lamentable record in the FA Cup continued with a 2-1 loss at home to Sheff Wed last January. Jack Clarke, Todd Kane and Joe Lumley were all culpable in Morgan Fox’s weak opener before half time and Sam Winnall looked to have made the game safe when he scored a second in the last minute. Substitute Nahki Wells made it six in six games from the bench but that was mere consolation and the decision to rest players, particularly the in form Bermudian who was on the verge of moving to our opponents the following week Bristol City in any case, once more drew fire from supporters tired of Rangers’ attitude to the knock out cup competitions.
QPR: Lumley 4; Kane 5, Leistner 6, Masterson 6, Manning 5; Ball 6; Clarke (Osayi-Samuel 66, 7) 4, Eze 6, Chair (Wells 74, 6) 6, Pugh 6; Hugill 5
Subs not used: Barnes, Hall, Shodipo, Cameron, Amos
Goals: Wells 90+3 (unassisted)
Bookings: Ball 60 (foul), Osayi-Samuel 86 (foul)
Sheff Wed: Dawson 6; Odubajo 6, Lees 6, Borner 6, Fox 7, Murphy 7 (Reach 72, 6), Hutchinson 6 (Hunt 54, 6), Pelupessy 6, Harris 6; Rhodes 6 (Nuhiu 76, 6), Winnall 7
Subs not used: Wildsmith, Iorfa, Borukov, Urhoghide
Goals: Fox 43 (Hutchinson), Winnall 90+1 (assisted Reach)
Sheff Wed 1 QPR 2, Saturday August 30, 2020, Championship
QPR won 2-1 at Hillsborough for the second time in quick succession either side of the summer break when these teams met in South Yorkshire last August. It didn’t look good for Mark Warburton’s team when the latest in a series of early season penalties was awarded against them midway through the first half — although quite what Grant Hall was supposed to have done to Fernando Forestieri to justify it was never really explained. Steven Fletcher converted. But Rangers came on strong after half time with Jordan Hugill first slickly rounding Westwood and equalising after being played in expertly by Nahki Wells, then twice riding marginal offside calls to knock in a second from the latest Ryan Manning assist.
Sheff Wed: Westwood 7, Palmer 5 (Murphy 75, 5), Iorfa 4, Bornar 4, Fox 4 (Luongo 67, 4) Reach 4 (Nuhui 76, 4), Hutchinson 5, Bannan 5, Harris 5, Forestieri 4, Fletcher 5.
Subs not used: Lee, Rhodes, Dawson, Bates
Goals: Fletcher 23 (penalty, won Forestieri)
Bookings: Borner 21 (foul), Bannan 23 (unsporting) Forestieri 45+3 (foul), Iorfa (90+4 (foul)
QPR: Lumley 6; Rangel 7 (Kane 88, -) Manning 7, Barbet 6, Hall 6, Leistner 7; Ball 6, Eze 7 ( Scowen 83, -), Chair 7; Wells 7 (Mlakar 68 5), Hugill 8.
Subs not used: Pugh, Osayi-Samuel, Owens, Kelly
Goals: Hugill 60 (assisted Wells), 64 (assisted Manning)
Bookings: Hugill 23 (unsporting) Rangel 43 (foul), Leistner 90+6 (foul)
Sheff Wed 1 QPR 2, Sunday May 5, 2019, Championship
Matt Smith scored in spectacular fashion with the last kick of the game and the final touch of his QPR career as the R’s won at Hillsborough on the final day of last season. In a farcical game of multiple penalties, Rangers took the lead in the first half when a slick move ended with a Darnell Furlong cross and Josh Scowen finish into the bottom corner. Wednesday should have been level when a disgraceful decision to award the home side a penalty for no contact at all gave Fernando Forestieri a chance from 12 yards but he sportingly blazed it over the bar. That looked a critical miss when Rangers were awarded a spot kick of their own for a trip on Bright Osayi-Samuel but Ebere Eze’s kick was saved by the brilliant Kieran Westwood. Typical Rangers, they then went down the other end and committed another offence in their own area and Michael Hector slammed in an equaliser from the game’s third penalty. That set the stage for Smith to strike a glorious full volley into the roof of the net to win the game deep into injury time in front of the travelling QPR fans.
Sheff Wed: Westwood 8; Palmer 6, Hector 7, Lees 6, Fox 6; Matias 6, Pelupessy 5, Lee 7 (Hutchinson 64, 5); Forestieri 5, Joao 6 (Nuhiu 64, 5), Fletcher 6 (Hooper 78, 6)
Subs not used: Winnall, Thorniley, Dawson, Penney
Goals: Hector 84 (penalty, won Matias)
Bookings: Matias 90+3 (foul), Hector 90+4 (foul)
QPR: Lumley 6; Furlong 7, Leistner 6, Cameron 6, Manning 7; Eze 7, Scowen 7, Luongo 6, Shodipo 5 (Walker 61, 5); Osayi-Samuel 6 (Hall 89, -), Smith 7
Subs not used: Ingram, Bidwell, Freeman, Wells, Bansal-McNulty
Goals: Scowen 28 (assisted Furlong), Smith 90+3 (assisted Luongo)
Bookings: Scowen 74 (dissent), Cameron 88 (foul)
QPR 3 Sheff Wed 0, Tuesday October 23, 2018, Championship
One of several autumn high points in a season that has since dramatically unravelled came at home to Sheff Wed in October. Although the visitors were denied a pretty blatant penalty when Pudil had his head split by a high boot from Rangel, Rangers played well and were thoroughly good value for a 3-0 win. Tomer Hemed converted a Pawel Wszolek assist to open the scoring before half time and the R’s moved off into the distance after half time with a rare headed goal from Luke Freeman and a fine first goal for the club from Nahki Wells. Joel Lynch got man of the match. What a night.
QPR: Lumley 7; Rangel 7, Leistner 7, Lynch 8, Bidwell 6; Cameron 8, Luongo 7; Wszolek 8, Eze 8 (Scowen 84, -), Freeman 8 (Cousins 88, -), Hemed 7 (Wells 65, 7)
Subs not used: Ingram, Hall, Smith, Osayi-Samuel
Goals: Hemed 35 (assisted Wszolek), Freeman 65 (assisted Wszolek), Wells 83 (assisted Eze)
Sheff Wed: Dawson 5; Baker 6, Hector 6, Pudil 6 (Thorniley 62, 6), Fox 5; Pelupessy 5 (Penney 75, 6), Bannan 7, Reach 7, Onomah 6; Joao 5 (Fletcher 75, 6), Nuhiu 5
Subs not used: Palmer, Lees, Wildsmith, Kirby
QPR 4 Sheff Wed 2, Tuesday April 10, 2018, Championship
Fresh from a 4-0 battering at Hull on the Saturday, QPR flew out of the blocks against Sheff Wed on the Tuesday and were 3-0 up inside a quarter of an hour. A beautifully crafted volleyed finish by Paul Smyth got things underway on eight minutes and Jake Bidwell stabbed home at the second attempt two minutes later. With visiting keeper Joe Wildsmith enduring his own personal nightmare, Darnell Furlong crossed brilliantly for Idrissa Sylla to head home at the far post on the quarter hour. A typically flamboyant penalty conversion from Sylla straight after half time made it four before Forestieri and Nuhui pulled two quick goals back for Wednesday to make the finale a lot more nervous than it ever really should have been.
QPR: Smithies 7; Furlong 7, Baptise 7, Robinson 6, Bidwell 8; Cousins 7, Scowen 6 (Manning 67, 7), Freeman 6; Osayi-Samuel 7 (Wszolek 77, 6), Sylla 7 (Smith 68, 6), Smyth 7
Subs not used: Ingram, Kakay, Eze, Washington
Goals: Smyth 8 (assisted Bidwell), Bidwell 10 (assisted Sylla), Sylla 15 (assisted Furlong), 53 (penalty won Osayi-Samuel)
Bookings: Scowen (foul play)
Sheff Wed: Wildsmith; Palmer, Lees, Pudil, Thorniley; Pelupessy, Jones, Reach, Forestieri (Boyd 80); Joao (Matias 64), Nuhui (Rhodes 83)
Subs not used: Dawson, Baker, Butterfield, Nielsen.
Goals: Forestieri 61 (assisted Joao), Nuhui 69 (assisted Palmer)
Bookings: Pudil (foul play)
Sheff Wed 1 QPR 1, Saturday August 12, 2017, Championship
QPR took one point and probably should have had all three when these sides met at Hillsborough on the second weekend of the new season. Jamie Mackie stormed through on goal to give the R’s a 1-0 half time lead but, as has happened all too often this season, a goal straight after half time pegged Rangers back — Sam Winnall capitalising on a mistake by Nedum Onuoha on this occasion. That’s how it looked like staying until right at the death Kazenga LuaLua burst clean through on goal only to sidefoot a very presentable chance wide of the post.
Sheff Wed: Westwood 6; Hunt 6, Lees 6, Loovens 6 (Winnall 27, 7), Pudil 6; Wallace 5, Hutchinson 6 (Jones 13, 6), Bannan 6, Reach 6; Hooper 6, Rhodes 5 (Fletcher 87, -)
Subs not used: Palmer, Boyd, Wildsmith, Abdi
Goals: Winnall 48 (assisted Bannan)
QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 6, Onouha 6, Lynch 6; Wszolek 7 (Furlong 90+3, -), Bidwell 6; Scowen 7, Freeman 7 (Manning 80, 6), Luongo 7; Mackie 6 (Lua Lua 79, 5), Washington 6
Subs not used: Ingram, Smith, Baptiste, Borysiuk
Goals: Mackie 23 (assisted Freeman)
Yellows: Lynch 40 (foul), Bidwell 66 (foul), Scowen 80 (foul)
QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2, Monday April 17, 2017, Championship
Rangers lost 2-1 at home to Sheff Wed on Easter Monday 2017 as part of their second six-match losing run of the campaign. That was despite Idrissa Sylla scoring one of the oddest goals every seen at Loftus Road — the ball flying up inside a towel hung in the back of the net by Kieron Westwood meant it disappeared completely from view and three sides of the ground didn’t realise it had gone in — to equalise James Reach’s early opener. Wednesday weren’t great either as they laboured towards the play-offs but they had more than enough to beat QPR and scored again through Pudil before half time to win 2-1.
QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 5, Lynch 4, Bidwell 4; Petrasso 4 (Lua Lua 45, 6), Robinson 6 (Washington 62, 6); Freeman 6, Luongo 6, Manning 5 (Smith 75, 5); Mackie 5, Sylla 5
Subs not used: Goss, Ingram, Wszolek, Ngabakoto
Goals: Sylla 20 (assisted Mackie)
Bookings: Perch 76 (foul)
Sheff Wed: Westwood 6; Palmer 6, Lees 6, Loovens 6, Pudil 8; Wallace 6 (Semedo 67, 6), Jones 6, Bannan 6, Reach 7; Rhodes 7 (Nuhiu 76, 4), Hooper 6 (Forestieri 67, 6)
Subs not used: Wildsmith, McManaman, Fletcher, Sasso
Goals: Reach 12 (assisted Pudil), Pudil 31 (assisted Wallace)
Bookings; Reach 61 (Repetitive fouling)
Sheffield Wednesday 1 QPR 0, Saturday October 22, 2016, Championship
Gary Hooper made the most of a shot mishit in his direction by David Jones just before half time to bang in the only goal of the game when these sides met at Hillsborough in October that season. QPR were probably worth a point, with Wednesday’s young stand in goalkeeper Cameron Dawson enduring a nervous afternoon. He saved twice from Tjaronn Chery from long range in the first half, the first after he’d miscued a clearance straight to him, and was twice grateful to defenders clearing off the line in the second. When Chery rounded him in stoppage time a point looked to be Rangers’ but, again, Wednesday massed up on the goal line.
Sheff Wed: Dawson 6; Hunt 6 (Palmer 70, 6), Lees 6, Hutchinson 7, Pudil 6; Bannan 7, Jones 6, Lee 7 (Wallace 87, -), Reach 6; Forestieri 5, Hooper 6 (Fletcher 74, 6)
Subs not used: Kean, Loovens, Nuhui, Buckley
Goals: Hooper 40 (assisted Jones)
Bookings: Pudil 77 (dissent)
QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Caulker 6, Hamalainen 6; Borysiuk 7 (Shodipo 80, 7); Gladwin 5 (Wszolek 74, 6), Luongo 6, Chery 6, Washington 6; Sylla 6 (Polter 64, 5)
Subs not used: Ingram, El Khayati, Kakay, Henry
Bookings: Borysiuk 13 (foul), Gladwin 17 (foul), Onuoha 85 (foul), Hamalainen 90+1 (foul)
Attendance: 29,903
Sheffield Wednesday 1 QPR 1, Tuesday February 23, 2016, Championship
A goal from an unlikely source, and the standard penalty save from Alex Smithies, won QPR a point when they visited Hillsborough in February 2016. Smithies dived left to save easily from Nuhiu early in the second half after Nedum Onuoha had fouled Gary Hooper in the box. It looked like it might be Rangers’ night when a similarly rank piece of defending at the other end of the field allowed the much maligned Daniel Tozser to fire in a composed volley from 20 yards. But QPR were real draw specialists — then and now — and had to share the spoils when Nuhiu atoned for his miss with a late towering header to equalise. It could have been worse still — a late challenge in the box by Grant Hall on Kieran Lee looked a stick on shout for a second Wednesday spot kick.
Sheff Wed: Westwood 6; Hunt 6, Lees 7, Sasso 6, Pudil 6; Wallace 7, Lee 7, Bannan 6, McGeady 5 (Jao 62, 6); Hooper 6, Nuhiu 5
Subs not used: Loovens, McGugan, Bennett, Helan, Lopez, Price
Goals: Nuhiu 63 (assisted Pudil)
Bookings: Wallace 72 (foul)
QPR: Smithies 8; Onuoha 5, Hall 6, Angella 7, Perch 6; Phillips 5, Tozser 7, Henry 6, Luongo 6, El Khayati 7 (Mackie 79, 6); Washington 6 (Polter 73, 6)
Subs not used: Chery, Hoilett, Ingram, Petrasso, Diakite
Goals: Tozser 57 (unassisted)
Bookings: Phillips 76 (foul)
QPR 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0, Tuesday October 20, 2015, Championship
QPR were left cursing the form of visiting goalkeeper Keiron Westwood, but grateful to the finishing ability of Barry Bannan and refereeing of Andy Haines when these sides drew a blank at Loftus Road in October that season. Westwood saved well from Emmanuel-Thomas in the first half, and brilliantly from Tjaronn Chery in the second, while Bannan twice found himself in space in the Rangers' penalty area only to thrash poor shots over the bar. But it was Haines who drew the most attention, inexplicably failing to award a free kick against Clint Hill when he brought down Modou Sogou as the striker raced through on goal before half time with a tackle so severe the striker was stretchered off with a dislocated shoulder. A red card would surely have followed, but Haines bizarrely waved play on. He did likewise deep into the second half when Lucas Jao appeared to be tripped in the area for a penalty kick.
QPR: Green 6; Onuoha 6, Hall 6, Hill 6, Konchesky 6; Tozser 5, Sandro 6; Phillips 4, Luongo 6, Chery 5; Emmanuel-Thomas 5 (Fer 69, 5)
Subs not used: Doughty, Faurlin, Henry, Hoilett, Smithies, Angella
Bookings: Sandro 8 (foul)
Sheff Wed: Westwood 6; Palmer 6, Loovens 6, Lees 6, Wiggins 6; Sougou 6 (Wallace 42, 6), McGugan 6 (Lee 69, 6), Semedo 6, Bannan 5; Forestieri 5 (Lucas João 45, 7), Nuhiu 4
Subs not used: Wildsmith, Pudil, Sasso, Hutchinson
Sheffield Wednesday 3 QPR 1, Tuesday March 18, 2014, Championship
QPR's worst performance of 2013/14 came at Hillsborough against Sheff Wed on a long Tuesday night for the travelling faithful. Sporting a long injury list, and harshly robbed of Richard Dunne for a professional foul in the first half, there were still few excuses for a shambolic performance and deserved thrashing from the mid-table Owls. Chris Maguire scored the penalty resulting from Dunne's foul and with Joey Barton on a one-man mission to get a red card of his own, second half goals from Leon Best and Lewis Buxton followed as the R's capitulated. The result was o0ne of several meek defeats through March and April as Rangers played out a number of essentially dead rubbers, with automatic promotion out of reach but a play-off spot secured.
Sheff Wed: Martinez N/A; Buxton 7, Helan 6, Loovens 7, Onyewu 7; Palmer 6, Lavery 7 (Prutton 84, -), Lee 6; Best 7 (Johnson 74, 6), Nuhiu 6, Maguire 7 (Afobe 84, -)
Subs not used: Davies, Coke, Mattock, Llera
Goals: Maguire 35 (penalty won Best), Best 51 (assisted Onyewu), Buxton 71 (unassisted)
Bookings: Buxton 28 (foul)
QPR: Murphy 5; Onuoha 4, Dunne 4, Hill 4, Hughes 3; Henry 4 (Kranjcar 45, 5), Barton 3; Hoilett 5 (Suk-Young 45, 4), Morrison 4, O’Neil 2 (Carroll 83, -); Zamora 2
Subs not used: Keane, Benayoun, Lennox, Maiga
Red Cards: Dunne 35 (professional foul, one match ban)
Queens Park Rangers 2 Sheffield Wednesday 1, Saturday August 3, 2014, Championship
Things didn’t look good for QPR 20 minutes into the first meeting between these sides that season either. After such a colossal turnover in personnel during the summer, and a Premier League season that brought just four paltry wins, nobody knew quite what to expect of the new look Rangers back in the second tier and when Wednesday’s debutant Albanian striker Atdhe Nuhiu lashed in from the edge of the box things did not look promising. The visitors had two very decent shouts for a penalty waved away by referee Scott Mathieson either side of half time as well but ultimately two quick fire first half goals won the points for Harry Redknapp’s side. Nedum Onuoha tapped home after a corner broke to him at the far post, then Andy Johnson volleyed in a fine second after keeper Chris Kirkland had saved an initial effort.
QPR: Green 6, Simpson 6, Onuoha 6, Hill 6, Traore 4, Barton 7 (Wright-Phillips 79, 6), Henry 6, Faurlin 6, Hoilett 7 (Jenas 87, -), Zamora 5 (Austin 68, 6), Johnson 7
Subs not used: Murphy, Dunne, Suk-Young, Derry
Goals: Onuoha 40 (assisted Hoilett), Johnson 43 (assisted Barton)
Bookings: Barton 56 (foul)
Sheff Wed: Kirkland 8, Zayatte 6, Gardner 6, Mattock 6 (Maghoma 37, 7), Palmer 6, Johnson 6, Prutton 6, Coke 6 (McCabe 69, 6), Antonio 5, Helan 6, Nuhiu 7 (Madine 76, 6)
Subs not used: Davies, Semedo, Taylor, Llera
Goals: Nuhiu 19 (unassisted)
Bookings: Palmer 19 (foul), Maghoma 57 (diving)
Queens Park Rangers 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1, Saturday April 3, 2010, Championship
QPR were in something of a mess when these sides met at Loftus Road back in April 2010. A promising start to the season under Jim Magilton had given way to a winter of complete chaos following his sacking. Brief spells in charge for first Paul Hart and then Mick Harford had seen Rangers drift from play off contenders into the relegation battle. Under fire owner Flavio Briatore had decided to take a back and seat and hand the day to day running of the club to Amit Bhatia and Neil Warnock had been poached from fellow financially crippled Crystal Palace. That arrested the side slightly, a run of seven defeats and two draws giving way to two consecutive wins following Warnock’s arrival but the R’s then found themselves drawing too many matches — this was their fifth tie in six matches — which kept them dangerously close to the relegation places. It could easily have been a win — Ale Faurlin fired in his first goal for the club midway through the first half — but a dire second half saw Wednesday fight back and equalise through Tom Soares. A subsequent Easter mauling at Leicester had alarm bells ringing but Rangers subsequently won at Palace which meant late season victories over Barnsley and Watford cemented their place in the Championship. A year later, Warnock had them promoted as champions. Wednesday meanwhile were relegated on the final day when they failed to beat Palace at home, the side immediately above them.
QPR: C Ikeme, P Ramage, D Stewart, M Hill, K Gorkss, M Leigertwood, H Ephraim (L Cook, 81), A Taarabt yellow card, A Faurlin, T Priskin (R Vine, 89), J Simpson (A German, 73)
Subs not used: J Oastler, A Balanta, A Buzsaky, R Cerny
Goals: Faurlin 23
Sheff Wed: L Grant, D Purse, L Buxton, T Spurr, M Beevers, D Potter (L Clarke, 72), L Varney (J Johnson, 69), T Soares, E Nolan, J O'Connor, M Tudgay
Subs not used: R Hinds, M Gray, F Jeffers, R O'Donnell, F Simek
Goals: Soares 77
Attendance: 13,405
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Queens Park Rangers 2, Saturday November 7, 2009, Championship
Jim Magilton’s QPR side continued their play off push with a 2-1 victory against Sheffield Wednesday in November 2009. Rangers had been in spectacular form leading up to the match, playing sumptuous football to sweep aside Barnsley (5-2) before embarking on a memorable seven day period where they beat Preston, Reading and Derby scoring 12 goals in the process — four in each. This was a much less fluent performance and although Arsenal loanee Jay Simpson finished across Lee Grant to give the visitors an early lead, Wednesday equalised immediately through Jermaine Johnson and were the better team for long periods. With the game apparently set for a draw, Rangers found a late winner thanks to an emphatic header from Latvian centre back Kaspars Gorkss who powered home a late Ale Faurlin corner in front of the travelling faithful behind the goal. Sadly a damaging defeat at Doncaster Rovers followed a week later and the season collapsed with subsequent thrashings by Watford and Middlesbrough leading to Magilton leaving the club under a cloud of controversy after an alleged dressing room attack on midfielder Akos Buzsaky.
Sheff Wed: Grant 6, Simek 6 (Richard Wood 72, 5), Buxton 7, Hinds 6, Spurr 6, Johnson 8 (Clarke 76, 5), Miller 7(McAllister 72, 6), Potter 6, O'Connor 7, Tudgay 5, Varney 6
Subs Not Used: O'Donnell, Sodje, Esajas, Beevers
Goals: Johnson 13 (assisted Potter)
QPR: Cerny 6, Leigertwood 4, Hall 4 (Connolly 27, 7), Gorkss 7, Ramage 5, Buzsaky 6 (Faurlin 68, 8), Mahon 6, Watson 6, Routledge 6,Taarabt 7 (Vine 88, -), Simpson 7
Subs Not Used: Heaton, Agyemang, Alberti, Ephraim
Goals: Simpson 10 (assisted Taarabt), Gorkss 82 (assisted Faurlin)
Attendance: 19,491
Head to Head >>> Sheff Wed wins 32 >>> Draws 17 >>> QPR wins 24
2019/20 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 3
2019/20 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2** (Wells)
2019/20 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 2 (Hugill 2)
2018/19 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 2 (Scowen, Smith)
2018/19 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 0 (Hemed, Freeman, Wells)
2017/18 QPR 4 Sheff Wed 2 (Sylla 2, Smyth, Bidwell)
2017/18 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 1 (Mackie)
2016/17 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2 (Sylla)
2016/17 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
2015/16 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 1 (Toszer)
2015/16 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 0
2013/14 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 0
2013/14 QPR 2 Sheff Wed 1 (Johnson, Onuoha)
2009/10 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 1 (Faurlin)
2009/10 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 2 (Simpson, Gorkss)
2008/09 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 2 (Mahon, Vine, Stewart)
2008/09 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
2007/08 Sheff Wed 2 QPR 1 (Delaney)
2007/08 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 0
2006/07 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 1 (Rowlands pen)
2006/07 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 2 (Blackstock 2)
2005/06 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 1 (Bircham)
2005/06 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 0
2003/04 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 3 (Gallen, Furlong, Carr og)
2003/04 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 0 (Palmer, Thorpe, McLeod)
2000/01 Sheff Wed 5 QPR 2 (Crouch 2)
2000/01 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2 (Peacock pen)
1995/96 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 3 (Barker 2, Goodridge)
1995/96 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 3
1994/95 Sheff Wed 0 QPR 2 (Maddix, Ferdinand)
1994/95 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 2 (Ferdinand, Sinclair, Gallen)
1993/94 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 1 (White)
1993/94 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2 (Ferdinand)
1993/94 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2 (Meaker)*
1992/93 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 1 (Allen 2, Ferdinand)
1992/93 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
1992/93 Sheff Wed 4 QPR 0*
1991/92 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 1 (Wilkins)
1991/92 Sheff Wed 4 QPR 1 (Bailey)
1989/90 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 0 (Clarke)
1989/90 Sheff Wed 2 QPR 0
1988/89 Sheff Wed 0 QPR 2 (Falco, Allen)
1988/89 QPR 2 Sheff Wed 0 (T Francis 2 (1pen))
1987/88 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 1 (Coney)
1987/88 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 1 (Bannister)
1986/87 Sheff Wed 7 QPR 1 (Peacock)
1986/87 QPR 2 Sheff Wed 2 (Bannister, McDonald)
1985/86 Sheff Wed 0 QPR 0
1985/86 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 1 (James)
1984/85 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 1 (Fillery)
1984/85 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 0
1982/83 Sheff Wed 0 QPR 1 (Flanagan)
1982/83 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 2
1981/82 QPR 2 Sheff Wed 0 (Stainrod, Flanagan)
1981/82 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 3 (Stainrod 3)
1980/81 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 2 (Stainrod)
1980/81 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
1973/74 QPR 8 Sheff Wed 2* (Givens 2, Leach 2, Bowles, Francis, Mullen og, Cameron og)
1972/73 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 1 (Leach)
1972/73 QPR 4 Sheff Wed 2 (Francis, O’Rourke, Givens, Leach)
1971/72 Sheff Wed 0 QPR 0
1971/72 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 0 (Marsh 2 (1 pen), Francis)
1970/71 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 0 (Marsh)
1970/71 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
1968/69 Sheff Wed 4 QPR 0
1968/69 QPR 3 Sheff Wed 2 (Wilks, Bridges, leach)
1966/67 Sheff Wed 3 QPR 0**
1951/52 Sheff Wed 2 QPR 1 (Muir)
1951/52 QPR 2 Sheff Wed 2 (Addinall, Smith)
1949/50 QPR 0 Sheff Wed 0
1949/50 Sheff Wed 1 QPR 0
1948/49 QPR 1 Sheff Wed 3 (Heath)
1948/49 Sheff Wed 2 QPR 0
* - League Cup
** - FA Cup
Simon Stainrod >>> QPR 1980-1985 >>> Sheff Wed 1985
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.
John Byrne arrived from York City after he’d impressed against Rangers in the League Cup 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. More recently he’s been working in football agency.
Others >>> Mass Luongo, Sheff Wed 2019-present, QPR 2015-2019 >>> Kieran Lee, Sheff Wed 2012-present, QPR (loan) 2008 >>> Jay Bothroyd QPR 2011-2013, Sheff Wed (loan) 2012 >>> Leon Clarke, QPR 2006 (loan), 2010-2011, Sheff Wed 2007-2010 >>> Giles Coke, QPR 2003-2005, Sheff Wed 2010-2013 >>> Adam Bolder, QPR 2007-2009, Sheff Wed (loan) 2008 >>> Ben Sahar, QPR (loan) 2007, Sheff Wed (loan) 2008 >>> Jimmy Smith, QPR (loan) 2006-2007, Sheff Wed (loan) 2008-2009 >>> Leon Knight, QPR (loan) 2001, Sheff Wed (loan) 2002-2003 >>> Frankie Simek, QPR (loan) 2004, Sheff Wed 2005-2010 >>> Marlon Broomesm QPR (loan) 2000, Sheff Wed 2001-2002 >>> Danny Maddix, QPR 1987-2001, Sheff Wed 2001-2003 >>> Andy Sinton, QPR 1989-1993, Sheff Wed 1993-1996 >>> Trevor Francis, QPR 1988-1990, Sheff Wed 1990-1995 >>> Gary Bannister, Sheff Wed 1981-1984, QPR 1984-1988 >>> Chris Woods, 1979-1981, Sheff Wed 1991-1996 >>> Andy McCulloch, QPR 1970-1972, Sheff Wed 1979-1983 >>> Vic Mobley, Sheff Wed 1961-1969, QPR 1969-1971 >>>Steve Burtenshaw, Sheff Wed (manager) 1971-1974, QPR (manager) 1978-1979 >>> >>> Peter Springett, QPR 1963-1967, Sheff Wed 1967-1975 >>> Ron Springett, QPR 1953-1958, 1967-1969 >>> Mike Pinner, Sheff Wed 1957-1959, QPR 1959-1960 >>> Peter Baker, Sheff Wed 1957-1960, QPR 1960-1963
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Pictures — Action Images