Ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Bournemouth we look back at the recent meetings between the sides and the career of Brian Bedford who played for both.
QPR 2 Bournemouth 1, Saturday February 20, 2021, Championship
QPR’s four January transfer window additions were really starting to make their mark in February as the R’s took a tough looking run of games against Watford, Brentford, Blackburn and Bournemouth and took 12 points from 12. They initially had their former trainee, and boyhood fan, Chris Mepham to thank for the opening goal as he was caught overplaying in his own penalty area allowing Stefan Johansen to steal in but Shane Long, newly in on loan from Southampton, quickly nipped in for a close range equaliser. That looked to be that until Todd Kane’s late volleyed winner off the standard Albert Adomah assist — the finger in ears celebration didn’t do a lot to endear him to the QPR fans mind.
QPR: Dieng 7; Dickie 8, Cameron 7, Barbet 7; Kane 7, Ball 7, Johansen 7 (Field 59, 7), Chair 5 (Bonne 72, 5), Wallace 6 (Hämäläinen 59, 6); Austin 5 (Willock 59, 7), Dykes 5 (Adomah 72, 6)
Subs not used: Kakay, Lumley, Bettache, Kelman
Goals: Johansen 59 (assisted Mepham), Kane 83 (assisted Adomah)
Bookings: Barbet 27 (foul), Chair 37 (foul), Kane 81 (foul)
AFCB: Begovic 6; Mepham 5, Carter Vickers 6, Kelly 6; Smith 6, Cook 7 (Groeneveld 86, -), Lerma 6, Stanislas 5; Billing 7, Long 6, Wilshere 5 (Surridge 67, 6)
Subs not used: Riquelme, Rico, Pearson, Travers, Kilkenny, Anthony, Zemura
Goals: Long 68 (assisted Surridge)
Bookings: Mepham 45+1 (foul)
Bournemouth 0 QPR 0, Saturday October 17, 2020, Championship
QPR played well, created the best chances, defended stoutly, but had to settle for a point from a nil nil draw when these sides met at Dean Court in October. Macauley Bonne failed to connect with a backheeled attempt at the near post, then shot straight at Begovic when through one on one on an angle, while Bournemouth posed few threats at the other end thanks to Rob Dickie’s man marking job on Dominic Solanke. The game was, sadly, best remembered for the late season-ending knee injury to Luke Amos while he was having his best game for the club.
Bournemouth: Begovic 7; Mepham 6, S Cook 5, Rico 6; Stacey 6, L Cook 5, Lerma 5 (Stanislas 76, 5), Gosling 5, Smith 5; Solanke 5, Surridge 5 (Danjuma 61, 7)
Subs not used: Riquelme, Travers, Ofobohr, Simpson, Zemura
Bookings: Rico 48 (foul)
QPR: Dieng 6; Kakay 7, Dickie 8, Barbet 6, Wallace 7; Cameron 6, Ball 6; Osayi-Samuel 6 (Adomah 67, 6), Amos 8 (Carroll 72, 6), Chair 6 (Willock 83, -); Bonne 5
Subs not used: Kane, Masterson, Bettache, Kelly
Bookings: Kakay 42 (foul), Osayi-Samuel 45+2 (foul), Chair 55 (foul)
Bournemouth 2 QPR 1, Saturday April 5, 2014, Championship
QPR’s peculiarly lethargic drift through the second half of the 2013/14 season reached another low point with a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth in April. A weird and wonderful collection of players including Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jermaine Jenas, Ravel Morrison and Mobido Maiga were beaten by a headed goal from a corner by Tommy Elphick and a tap in by Lewis Grabban after a Richard Dunne defensive howler. Armand Traore scored QPR’s goal in between those two efforts but they couldn’t force a second equaliser despite Harry Arter being shown a straight red for the hosts with 25 minutes still to play. It was the day when hapless forward Maiga held up hands of apology to the away end midgame for his own shambolic performance.
Bournemouth: Camp 7, Francis 6, Cook 6, Elphick 7, Harte 6, Ritchie 6 (Fraser 74, 6), Arter 7, Surman 8, Pugh 7, Kermorgant 7 (O’Kane 70, 6), Grabban 7 (Pitman 96, 6)
Subs not used: Allsop, Smith, Ward, Rantie.
Goals: Elphick 45 (assisted by Harte), Grabban 60
Bookings: Harte 77
Sent Off: Arter 67
QPR: Green 7, Simpson 7, Dunne 4, Hill 6, Assou-Ekotto 6, Jenas 6 (Benayoun 72, 6), Carroll 7, Hoilett 6, Traore 7 (Zamora 80, 5), Morrison 6, Maiga 4 (Austin 65, 6).
Subs not used: Suk-Young, Murphy, Henry, Young
Goals: Traore 46 (assisted by Carroll)
Bookings: Morrison 83, Dunne 90
QPR 3 Bournemouth 0, Tuesday December 3, 2013, Championship
On a night when the club welcomed back the promotion winning team of 2003/04 on the tenth anniversary of the triumph, the class of 2013/14 rolled back the years with one of their best performances of the season against Bournemouth. Charlie Austin got the ball rolling after Andy Johnson’s tireless work retrieved a lost cause from the byline and set him up for a close range finish. Former QPR hero Lee Camp will probably have been disappointed with his part in Junior Hoilett’s bobbled second after half time, but a powerful finish from Matt Phillips 13 minutes from time was past the goalkeeper before he even knew it had happened.
QPR: Green 7, Simpson 7, Dunne 7, Hill 7, Assou-Ekotto 7; Barton 7, O’Neill 6 (Traore 81, 6) Carroll 5, Hoilett 7 (Phillips 73, 7); Austin 7, Johnson 8 (Jenas 73, 6).
Subs not used: Murphy, Young, Henry, Krancjar.
Goals: Austin 27 (assisted Johnson), Hoilett 54 (assisted Simpson), Phillips 77 (unassisted)
Bookings: Barton 34 (foul)
Bournemouth: Camp 6, Francis 5, Cook 6, Elphick 5, Daniels 5; MacDonald 6 (Grabban 61, 6), Ritchie 5 (Fraser 68, 6) Arter 5, Surman 6, Pugh 7; Pitman 6 (Rantie 61, 5).
Subs not used: Harte, Thomas, Flahavan, O’Kane.
Bookings: MacDonald 51 (foul)
Bournemouth 1 QPR 0, Saturday January 24, 2004, Second Division
After an excellent Christmas and New Year period that saw QPR secure consecutive wins against Colchester, Rushden, Blackpool and Brighton, the R’s came unstuck rather in January 2004 as they chased promotion from the Second Division. Ian Holloway’s side had been chasing honour on two fronts, riding high in the league and making their way through several rounds of the Football League Trophy, but a 4-0 hammering at Southend in the latter stages of that competition paved the way for quickfire league defeats at Bournemouth and Colchester. The first, settled in the second half by Warren Feeney, was best remembered for Danny Shittu’s cruciate knee ligament rupture — which ended his season, but miraculously not his game given that he played on to the end of the match at Dean Court.
Bournemouth: N Moss, L Buxton, K Broadhurst, C Fletcher, W Cummings, S Cooke (W Elliott, 75), J Hayter, M Browning, G O'Connor (C Jorgensen, 75), W Feeney (D Holmes, 89), S Fletcher
Subs not used: D Thomas, B Stock
Goals: Feeney 58
Bookings: Hayter
QPR: C Day, T Forbes, S Palmer, D Shittu, G Padula, M Rose, M Bircham, M Rowlands, D Marney (T Thorpe, 62), K Gallen, P Furlong
Subs not used: D Oli, N Culkin, W Daly, E Sabin
Bookings: Palmer
Attendance — 8,909
QPR 1 Bournemouth 0, Saturday August 24, 2003, Second Division
Apt that the 2003/04 promotion winning team should be coming to Loftus Road for a reunion this Wednesday, given that the campaign was the last time Bournemouth and Rangers met in a competitive fixture. The first meeting that season, played at Loftus Road in August, went the way of the R’s thanks to Paul Furlong’s flying header at the Loft End from Kevin McLeod’s well flighted cross just after the hour. Rangers had started the season with a 5-0 home win against Blackpool before falling to a 2-1 televised defeat at Brighton but the Bournemouth win set up a 13 match unbeaten run that laid the platform for a promotion campaign.
QPR: C Day, S Palmer, C Carlisle, D Shittu, G Padula, G Ainsworth, M Rowlands, M Bircham (M Bean, 83), K McLeod, T Thorpe (K Gallen, 66), P Furlong
Subs not used: T Williams, N Culkin, R Edghill
Goals: Furlong 63
Bookings: Furlong
Bournemouth: N Moss, S Purches, C Fletcher, K Broadhurst, W Cummings (W Elliott, 67), J Hayter, M Browning, J Tindall, G O'Connor (A Connell, 84), S Fletcher, D Holmes (W Feeney, 84)
Subs not used: D Thomas, G Stewart
Bookings: Holmes
Attendance: 13,065
Head to Head >>> Bournemouth wins 27 >>> Draws 15 >>> QPR wins 34
2020/21 QPR 2 Bournemouth 1 (Johansen, Kane)
2020/21 Bournemouth 0 QPR 0
2013/14 Bournemouth 2 QPR 1 (Traore)
2013/14 QPR 3 Bournemouth 0 (Austin, Hoilett, Phillips)
2003/04 Bournemouth 1 QPR 0
2003/04 QPR 1 Bournemouth 0 (Furlong)
2001/02 QPR 1 Bournemouth 1 (Palmer)
2001/02 Bournemouth 1 QPR 2 (Thomson 2)
1977/78 QPR 2 Bournemouth 0* (Givens, Eastoe)
1966/67 QPR 4 Bournemouth 0 (Marsh 2, Allen, Keen)
1667/67 QPR 2 Bournemouth 0** (Langley, Lazarus)
1966/67 Bournemouth 1 QPR 3 (R Morgan 2, Marsh)
1965/66 QPR 5 Bournemouth 0 (Lazarus 3, L Allen 2)
1965/66 Bournemouth 1 QPR 1 (R Morgan)
1964/65 Bournemouth 2 QPR 0
1964/65 QPR 1 Bournemouth 1 (Bedford)
1963/64 Bournemouth 4 QPR 2 (Collins, Vafiadis)
1963/64 QPR 1 Bournemouth 0 (Angell)
1962/63 QPR 1 Bournemouth 0 (Bedford)
1962/63 Bournemouth 2 QPR 1 (Bedford)
1961/61 Bournemouth 3 QPR 1 (Towers)
1961/62 QPR 1 Bournemouth 1 (Lazarus)
1960/61 QPR 3 Bournemouth 1 (Bedford 2, Evans)
1960/61 Bournemouth 1 QPR 0
1959/60 Bournemouth 1 QPR 1 (Bedford)
1959/60 QPR 3 Bournemouth 0 (Bedford, Golding, Nelson og)
1958/59 QPR 0 Bournemouth 4
1958/59 Bournemouth 2 QPR 0
1957/58 Bournemouth 4 QPR 1 (Dawson)
1957/58 QPR 3 Bournemouth 0 (Angell, Woods, Woollard og)
1956/57 Bournemouth 1 QPR 0
1956/57 QPR 2 Bournemouth 1 (Petchey, Locke)
1955/56 QPR 0 Bournemouth 1
1955/56 Bournemouth 1 QPR 0
1954/55 QPR 1 Bournemouth 1 (Angell)
1954/55 Bournemouth 2 QPR 2 (Smith 2)
1953/54 QPR 2 Bournemouth 1 (Shepherd, Smith)
1953/54 Bournemouth 0 QPR 1 (Clark)
1952/53 Bournemouth 1 QPR 0
1952/53 QPR 2 Bournemouth 1 (Nicholas, Cameron)
1947/48 Bournemouth 0 QPR 1 (Durrant)
1947/48 QPR 1 Bournemouth 0 (Durrant)
1946/47 QPR 3 Bournemouth 0 (Pattison 2, Mallett)
1946/47 Bournemouth 1 QPR 1 (Neary)
1938/39 Bournemouth 4 QPR 2 (Cape, Lowe)
1938/39 QPR 2 Bournemouth 0 (Cheetham, James)
1937/38 QPR 1 Bournemouth 2 (Bott)
1937/38 Bournemouth 1 QPR 1 (Cape)
1936/37 QPR 1 Bournemouth 2 (Cameron)
1936/37 Bournemouth 3 QPR 1 (Fitzgerald)
1935/36 Bournemouth 0 QPR 1 (Cheetham)
1935/36 QPR 2 Bournemouth 0 (Cheetham, Overstone)
1934/35 Bournemouth 0 QPR 2 (Farmer, Dutton)
1934/35 QPR 2 Bournemouth 1 (Crawford, Blackman)
1933/34 QPR 1 Bournemouth 0 (Brown)
1933/34 Bournemouth 3 QPR 2 (Allen, Clarke)
1932/33 QPR 3 Bournemouth 1 (Hill, Blackman, Jones)
1932/33 Bournemouth 3 QPR 0
1931/32 Bournemouth 2 QPR 2 (Armstrong, Coward)
1931/32 QPR 0 Bournemouth 3
1930/31 QPR 3 Bournemouth 0 (Hoten, Lewis, Rounce)
1930/31 Bournemouth 2 QPR 0
1929/30 QPR 3 Bournemouth 1 (Goddard 2, Coward)
1929/30 Bournemouth 0 QPR 0
1928/29 Bournemouth 2 QPR 3 (Haywood og, Rounce, Goddard)
1928/29 QPR 0 Bournemouth 0
1927/28 QPR 2 Bournemouth 0 (Goddard, Mustard)
1927/28 Bournemouth 1 QPR 2 (Lofthouse, Goddard)
1926/27 QPR 1 Bournemouth 1 (Lofthouse)
1926/27 Bournemouth 6 QPR 2 (Young, Goddard)
1925/26 Bournemouth 4 QPR 1 (Rowe)
1925/26 QPR 2 Bournemouth 2 (Whitehead, Patterson)
1924/25 Bournemouth 0 QPR 2 (Hurst, John)
1924/25 QPR 0 Bournemouth 2
1923/24 Bournemouth 3 QPR 1 (Johnson)
1923/24 QPR 0 Bournemouth 1
* - League Cup
** - FA Cup
Brian Bedford >>> Bournemouth 1956-1959 >>> QPR 1959-1965
Welsh born centre forward with an astonishing goal scoring record during his six years with QPR — second only to George Goddard in Rangers’ all-time scoring charts.
Bedford initially attracted the attention of Charlton while in the RAF but went on to make only a handful of appearances for Reading and Southampton as a youngster before catching QPR’s eye with 32 league goals in 75 appearances along the south coast at Bournemouth.
Alec Stock paid a whopping £750 to bring him to Loftus Road from Dean Court and he proceeded to terrorise the Third Division over the coming years. He scored 180 goals for Rangers in 283 appearances, including seven against Bournemouth in meetings with his former employers.
In 1960/61 he scored 37 goals in 48 appearances but QPR narrowly missed out on promotion into the Second Division. Two seasons after he left for Scunthorpe Stock’s QPR side cruised to the title and League Cup success while Bedford scored a respectable 23 goals in 37 appearances for the Iron in 1965/66. He spent our double year down the road at Brentford before winding down his football career with the Atlanta Chiefs. He retired from the game aged 36 and then went on to be a professional tennis player for the next 17 years.
Bedford said: "I didn't pick up a tennis racket until I was 33, when I was playing football in the American league for Atlanta and living in Williamsburg. Some friends over there got me hooked on tennis and I carried on playing when I got back from England. After I retried in 1968 I got all the necessary tennis coaching qualifications and turned pro in 1970. I carried on in tennis until my knees have out but I spent a very happy 17 years coaching at the Barn Elms Sports Centre in Barnes.
"When I signed for QPR, Alec Stock had just been named as the new manager. I travelled up to West London to be interviewed by the Club and Alec said: 'You'll score 30 goals a year for me son.’ Just like that! So I said 'You're joking?' as my record down at Bournemouth was something like 32 goals over three years. But Alec said 'Yes you will!' And he wasn't far wrong, was he? Alec played a big part in my goal scoring. We used to play with those old fashioned players called wingers. We always seemed to get good wide men at the club like Mark Lazarus who could provide excellent crosses. So I was the benefactor of that.
"I recall that the top wage in the Third Division - which Rangers were in at the time - was about £35 to £40 a week. Ridiculous really, but it was still much better than the average working man's salary. Not only that, as far as I was concerned I was getting paid for something I loved doing. That was a big thing for me.
"Jim Gregory was appointed as chairman of QPR and he started pouring some money in with new players being signed. Unfortunately, I was just starting to go a little bit over the hill as far as age was concerned. I was nearly 32 years old then. The club had to offload some of the playing staff and I was one of them, I'm afraid. I had six very happy seasons at Rangers. Then they transferred me to that Godforsaken place called Scunthorpe. I don't think Alec Stock wanted me to sign for any other London team or any nearby club in case I embarrassed him. It was very sad. I didn't like leaving Loftus Road. But you have to move on don't you? That's life."
He worked later as a tennis coach, and the stadium manager at Loftus Road, before returning to Wales for his retirement.
A more fulsome interview with Brian is available on the always excellent QPRNet.com website.
Others >>> Marc Pugh, QPR 2019-2020, Bournemouth 2010-2019 >>> Lee Camp, Bournemouth (loan) 2013, QPR 2007-2009, (loan) 2004 >>> Harry Redknapp, QPR (manager) 2012-2013, Bournemouth (manager) 1983-1992, 1972-1976 >>> Kevin Bond, QPR (coach) 2012-2013, Bournemouth (manager) 2006-2008, 1988-1992 >>> Matthew Connolly, QPR 2008-2012, Bournemouth (loan) 2006-2007 >>> Gavin Peacock, QPR 1996-2002, 1984-1987, Bournemouth 1989-1990 >>> Christer Warren, QPR 2000-2002, Bournemouth 1997-2000 >>> Keith Rowland, 1998-2001, Bournemouth 1988-1993 >>> Mark Stein, Bournemouth 1998-2000, QPR 1988-1989
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