There really is only one place we can go for the Memorable Match this week with Barnsley heading back to their bogey ground Loftus Road this Saturday.
QPR 3 Barnsley 2, Saturday January 25, 1997, FA Cup Fourth Round
Having dithered over team strengthening following his September 1996 appointment as manager, Stewart Houston finally seemed to have QPR fit and firing when Barnsley came to town in January as the R’s attempted to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. A run of three wins from 15 matches through the autumn which had dropped Rangers as low as fourteenth in the First Division had given way to seven wins and a draw from nine matches over the Christmas and New Year period.
One of those victories had been against Barnsley . The Tykes were the surprise package of the First Division that year, eventually defying the odds and finishing in the second automatic promotion spot behind Bolton , but QPR completed a double against them with 3-1 wins at Oakwell and Loftus Road . The first game, back in September, had been during the transition period between Ray Wilkins and Houston with goals from Simon Barker, young Mark Perry and Danny Dichio sealing victory for a caretaker management trio of Frank Sibley, Billy Bonds and John Hollins.
By the time Danny Wilson’s side came to W12 in January Houston had spent some of new chairman Chris Wright’s millions to plunder John Spencer and Gavin Peacock from Premier League neighbours Chelsea and both players had hit the ground running with a slew of goals and assists to fire Rangers up to seventh in the division. Spencer in fact had scored a perfect hat trick against Barnsley in the league game — a left foot strike from a seemingly impossible angle, a powerful near post header, and a smooth right foot finish in injury time to seal the victory. The R’s followed that up by dispatching Huddersfield from the FA Cup in a Third Round replay thanks to a late Alan McDonald goal, and then recovered from a 4-0 half time deficit at Port Vale to snatch an unlikely draw.
Barnsley had stuttered rather after QPR’s win at Oakwell earlier in the season. Having won all five of their league games at the start of the season, including a last minute success at newly relegated title favourites Man City , the 3-1 set back against the Super Hoops was immediately followed by an identical defeat against lowly Grimsby on their own patch and then eight draws and a loss from 12 matches.
Nevertheless, the profits of doom who expected them to drop back into the pack were silenced by a fine winter run of five wins and two draws from eight games including the completion of a double over City and a 1-0 win at Sheffield United in the South Yorkshire derby. They’d also sent fellow First Division side Oldham out of the FA Cup at the Third Round stage while Rangers were grappling with Huddersfield to set up a cracking fourth round tie at Loftus Road.
It looked like it might by third time lucky for the northerners as a typically dire piece of goalkeeping from Tony Roberts gifted them a thirteenth minute lead. There appeared to be little danger when captain Neil Redfearn clipped a delicate free kick over the defensive wall but despite the shot carrying little pace and Roberts seeing it all the way the hapless goalkeeper allowed it to squirm through his hands, between his legs and over the goal line.
Rangers’ defence had been fairly dreadful for the entire season so its lethal attack was used to bailing the team out of trouble and just as they’d done at Vale Park the previous week they set about constructing a comeback. A goal kick flicked on around the halfway line appeared to be posing the visitors few problems until Spencer produced an airborne back flick which bamboozled the Barnsley defenders and sent Gavin Peacock steaming into space. Belatedly surrounded by three men on the edge of the box Peacock took a shot on himself and curled a fine equaliser past goalkeeper Dave Watson and into the top corner from 20 yards out.
Rangers took the lead for the first time in the game six minutes later at the midway point of the first half. Prolonged pressure around the edge of the box with Peacock and Paul Murray dictating play eventually led to Alan McDonald chipping a ball up to the back post where Barnsley were appealing for a foul against Danny Dichio. With his marker on the floor and the referee happy to allow play to go on Dichio squared the dropping cross through the goal mouth with a first time side foot pass that Spencer smashed in from close range.
Half time, leading 2-1 and in decent form, things were looking good for Houston ’s team. But the game turned nasty five minutes into the second half when winger Andy Impey planted the sweetest right hook you’ll ever see on a football field flush into the face of full back Adie Moses and was given a straight red card. Impey, absolutely fuming about something that had been done or said to him, had to be led from the field by his team mates as the club doctor retrieved Moses’ tongue from the back of his throat. He didn’t half smack him.
So that left Rangers with almost the entire second half to play against one of the league’s better teams a man light. The stage was set for Trevor Sinclair.
With a quarter of an hour left to play Rangers seemed happy to maintain possession of the ball wide on the right wing with full back Danny Maddix combining well with Spencer and Dichio in a triangle move presumably designed to do little more than run the clock down and frustrate Barnsley. Eventually, as the visitors closed in to bring the move to a close, Spence put his boot through the ball and sent a hopeful cross up towards the edge of the area. Sinclair, who always did have an eye for the spectacular, launched himself into the sky with his back to goal and executed a textbook bicycle kick which rocketed past Watson and flashed into the roof of the net from fully 20 yards. One of the greatest goals ever scored in the history of football. Even the Barnsley fans in the School End couldn’t help but stand and applaud.
Mind you, the game wasn’t over. Roberts, who seemed to have a Barnsley win on his coupon that day, contrived to let a 20 yard daisy cutter from John Hendrie squirm through him and into the net with four minutes still to play setting up a nail biting finish.
Rangers hung on though, and took a 10,000 strong following to Premier League side Wimbledon for the fifth round tie where, despite taking a first half lead through Mark Hateley, they were eventually beaten 2-1. Barnsley went on to win promotion to the Premier League and QPR finished ninth in the First Division. Match of the Day voted Sinclair’s goal their best of the season, ahead of David Beckham’s famous halfway line chip.
QPR: T Roberts, D Maddix, A McDonald, K Ready, R Brevett, P Murray, G Peacock, A Impey, T Sinclair, J Spencer, D Dichio
Subs not used: Sommer, Brazier
Goals: Peacock 20, Spencer 26, Sinclair 74
Sent Off: Impey 50
Bookings: Maddix, Murray, Impey
Barnsley: D Watson, N Eaden, M Appleby (A Liddell, 76), J Bosancic (S Jones, 64), A Moses, A De Zeeuw, N Redfearn , C Marcelle (M Bullock, 64), D Sheridan, J Hendrie, P Wilkinson
Goals: Redfearn 13, Hendrie 86
Bookings: Wilkinson, De Zeeuw, Hendrie
Attendance: 14,317
Barnsley 5 Queens Park Rangers 3, Saturday December 15, 2019, Championship
The first two clean sheets of the season and successive 2-0 victories against Preston and Birmingham had threatened to move QPR into play off contention prior to the first meeting with Barnsley this season (sound familiar?) but a defensive horror show at Oakwell put paid to all of that. Bad defending by Lee Wallace and goalkeeping by Joe Lumley let Conor Chaplin in for a first after just seven minutes and although Luke Amos equalised after Jordan Hugill hit the post Chaplin was able to volley in a second for the hosts after being left unmarked at the back post from a corner — quelle surprise. He swept in a hat trick before the hour amidst more calamitous defending and although Amos pulled another back and QPR then missed three gilt edge chances to equalise the Tykes were able to pull away thanks to a Woodrow penalty and fifth from Diaby. Ilias Chair added bare respectability with an injury time consolation.
Barnsley: Sahin-Radlinger 5; Williams 6, Diaby 7, Anderson 6, Odour 6 (McGeehan 83, -); Dougall 7, Bahre 5 (Thomas 31, 7), Mowatt 7; Woodrow 8, Brown 8, Chaplin 9
Subs not used: Sibbick, Thiam, Mottley-Henry, Marsh, Collins
Goals: Chaplin 7 (assisted Brown), 18 (assisted Mowatt), 52 (assisted Woodrow), Woodrow 60 (penalty won Woodrow), Diaby 82 (assisted Brown)
Bookings: Thomas 68 (foul), Brown 81 (retaliation), Dougall 84 (handball), Mowatt 85 (dissent)
QPR: Lumley 4; Kane 4, Hall 5, Leistner 4, Wallace 3 (Wells 56, 6); Eze 4, Cameron 4 (Chair 67, 6), Amos 5, Manning 4; Osayi-Samuel 5, Hugill 6
Subs not used: Smith, Pugh, Mlakar, Ball, Barnes
Goals: Amos 12 (assisted Hugill), 54 (assisted Manning), Chair 90+4 (assisted Osayi-Samuel)
Bookings: Chair 81 (foul), Wells 85 (retaliation), Hall 89 (foul)
Queens Park Rangers 1 Barnsley 0, Saturday February 2, 2018, Championship
QPR got their annual home win against Barnsley when these sides last met, at Loftus Road, in February 2018. A typically tired effort from two poor teams post Christmas was settled early in the second half when Josh Scowen smashed in his first goal for the R’s, against the club he’d left in the summer, from long range. The celebrations were oddly muted, as most of the crowd was still appealing for the latest blatant foul on Matt Smith in the penalty area a moment before.
QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Lynch 7; Wszolek 6, Robinson 6; Scowen 7, Freeman 6, Cousins 6 (Manning 67, -); Washington 5 (Bidwell 90, -), Smith 5 (Osayi-Samuel 79, 5)
Subs not used: Ingram, Baptiste, Eze, Oteh
Goals: Scowen 48 (unassisted), Robinson 90+4 (foul)
Red Card: Manning 71 (killing a man to death)
Bookings: Cousins 5 (foul)
Barnsley: Townsend 6; Yiadom 6, Mills 6, Lindsay 6, Pinillos 6 (Mahoney 80, 6); Gardner 6, Williams 6, Hammill 6 (Hedges 68, 5); Moncur 7; Bradshaw 6, Moore 6 (McBurnie 68, 5)
Subs not used: Davies, Mallan, Pearson, Thiam
Bookings: Gardner 31 (foul)
Barnsley 1 Queens Park Rangers 1, Tuesday September 26, 2017, Championship
A game littered with long range shots at Oakwell in September that season finished with one each finding the net either side of half time. QPR couldn’t do a lot about Harvey Barnes’ first time curler in the twentieth minute but banged away at the door looking for an equaliser all second half before Luke Freeman scored from similar distance late on. Pawel Wszolek lifting the ball over the bar from a presentable position was probably the worst of the missed opportunities.
Barnsley: Davies; McCarthy, Jackson, Lindsay, Freyers; Williams, Hammill, Moncur (McGeehan 71), Potts (Hedges 80); Barnes (Bradshaw 45), Ugbo
Subs not used: MacDonald, Townsend, Pearson, Thiam
Goals: Barnes 20 (unassisted)
Bookings: Williams 49 (foul)
QPR: Smithies 7; Baptiste 7, Caulker 6 (Smith 74, 5), Robinson 7, Bidwell 7; Luongo 6, Scowen 7, Freeman 7; Wszolek 4, Mackie 5 (Lua Lua 74, 5), Osayi-Samuel 4 (Washington 46, 5)
Subs not used: Lynch, Manning, Lumley, Wheeler
Goals: Freeman 86 (unassisted)
Bookings: Caulker 23 (foul), Luongo 39 (foul)
Queens Park Rangers 2 Barnsley 1, Tuesday March 3, 2017, Championship
QPR shaded an entertaining between these two sides at Loftus Road in March. Idrissa Sylla scored the opening goal of a flowing encounter quite by accident, sending the ball skidding into the net from 12 yards out while attempting to trap it. Yeni Ngbakoto forced a good save from visiting keeper Davies and James Perch hit the underside of the bar with a flying header but Josh Scowen went close for Barnsley and only a fine goal line clearance from Jake Bidwell kept out Adam Armstrong. The game looked up when MacDonald put Wszolek’s great cross through his own net but a mistake by Grant Hall let in sub Tom Bradshaw to set up a nervous finish.
QPR: Smithies 6; Perch 6 (Furlong 48, 7), Onuoha 6, Hall 5, Bidwell 7; Luongo 7, Manning 7, Freeman 8; Wszolek 8 (Washington 70, 6), Sylla 7, Ngbakoto 6 (Morrison 87, -)
Subs not used: Goss, Ingram, Doughty, Smith
Goals: Sylla 7, MacDonald og 66 (assisted Wszolek)
Bookings: Perch 14 (foul), Bidwell 83 (foul), Manning 86 (foul)
Barnsley: Davies 6; Yiadom 6, Roberts 6, MacDonald 6, Elder 5; Scowen 7, James 7, Mowatt 6 (Bradshaw 45, 7), Kent 6 (Hammill 77, 6); Watkins 6 (Hedges 73, 6), Armstrong 6
Subs not used: Moncur, Townsend, Jackson, Jones
Bookings: Hammill 85 (foul)
Barnsley 3 Queens Park Rangers 2, Wednesday August 17, 2016, Championship
Early season optimism sparked by two wins in the first two games was punctured at Oakwell as QPR blew a 2-1 lead to lose in the final 13 minutes against a bright, attacking, young Barnsley side. The hosts took an early lead through Marley Watkins but, although Rangers had hardly posed a goal threat at all for the first half of the game, penalties from Tjaronn Chery and Seb Polter gave them the lead with a quarter of an hour left to play. One spectacular Conor Hourihane free kick and a last minute Josh Scowen goal later and the game was up.
Barnsley: Davies NA; Bree 6; Roberts 6, Mawson 7, White 7; Kent 8; Scowen 7; Hourihane 8; Hammil 5; Watkins 6 (D’Almeida 82, -); Bradshaw 5 (Payne 63, 6)
Subs not used: Macdonald, Moncur, Lee, Townsend, Yiadom
Goals: Watkins 4 (assisted Hourihane/Roberts), Hourihane 77 (free kick won Hourihane, conceded Luongo), Scowen 89 (assisted Payne, mistake Hall)
Bookings: Roberts 46 (foul)
QPR: Smithies 4; Onuoha 7, Caulker 6, Hall 4, Bidwell 6; N’Gbakoto 6 (El Khayati 83, -), Henry 4, Luongo 5, Cousins 5 (Washington 91, -); Chery 7 ; Polter 7
Subs not used: Ingram, Perch, Petrasso, Shodipo, Kakay
Goals: Chery 47 (penalty, won Polter), Polter 75 (penalty, won N’Gbakoto)
Red Cards: Hall 90+5 (two bookings)
Bookings: Onuoha 90+3 (foul), Hall 61 (foul), 90+5 (foul)
Barnsley 2 Queens Park Rangers 3, Saturday May 3, 2014, Championship
Barnsley were already relegated and QPR already secure in the play-off zone when these sides met at Oakwell in May 2014. But any win on this ground isn't to be sniffed at for though QPR's home record against Barnsley is imperious, wins at Oakwell have been few and far between. This one looked like it was going to be simple enough when Charlie Austin banged on in and then home defender M'voto turned a Kevin Doyle cross into his own goal but Chris O'Grady halved the deficit after half time. A mazy run and emphatic finish had many wondering why Yun Suk Young hadn't seen more game time instead of the lazy Benoit Assou Ekotto, but Rangers were made to sweat for their win by another O'Grady goal, this time lashed home from long range, in injury time.
Barnsley: Steele 6; Kennedy 6, Ramage 6, Cranie 6, M'voto 5 (Bree 72, 6); O'Brien 6, Dawson 6 (Hassell 80, -), Jennings 6, Cywka 6 (Noble-Lazarus 72, 5), Rose 5, O’Grady 7
Subs not used: Dibble, Oates, Boakye-Yiadom, Cowgill
Goals: O’Grady 54 (assisted Jennings), 90 (unassisted)
QPR: Green 6; Hughes 6, Donaldson 6, Onuoha 7, Suk-Young 7; Henry 7, O’Neil 5; Benayoun 6 (Petrasso 76, 6), Doyle 6, Traore 6 (Kranjcar 57, 6); Austin 6 (Keane 57, 5)
Subs not used: Carroll, Hoilett, Murphy, Gibbons
Goals: Austin 42 (assisted Traore), Mvoto og 43 (assisted Doyle), Suk-Young 68 (unassisted)
QPR 2 Barnsley 0, Saturday October 5, 2013, Championship
QPR cruised to a routine win against relegation haunted Barnsley at Loftus Road at the start of October that season. It was only thanks to the heroics of visiting keeper Jack Butland that the R’s weren’t in front at half time — he saved well with his feet from Charlie Austin and then sprang up to block the rebound from Ale Faurlin. But the England youth international was beaten by Austin just after the hour after Junior Hoilett had dribbled in from the left flank and forced the issue with a low cross. The game was sealed by Austin from the penalty spot after he had dribbled around Stephen Foster and forced a foul.
QPR: Green 6; Simpson 7, Dunne 7, Hill 7, Assou Ekotto 6; Carroll 7, Barton 7, Kranjcar 6 (Chevanton 88, -), O’Neil 7 (Henry 81, -), Faurlin 6 (Hoilett 62, 8); Austin 8
Subs not used: Traore, Ehmer, Jenas, Murphy
Goals: Austin 66 (assisted Hoilett), 85 (penalty — won Austin)
Barnsley: Butland 7; Cranie 6, Ramage 6 (Hassel 67, 6), Wiseman 6, Kennedy 6; Mellis 6 (Cywka 71, 6), Perkins 5, Fox 6, McCourt 7; Scotland 4 (Pedersen 54, 5), O’Grady 5
Subs not used: Noble-Lazarus, Dawson, Etuhu, O’Brien
Bookings: Mellis 59 (foul), Perkins 63 (foul)
QPR 4 Barnsley 0, Saturday August 7, 2010, Championship
Neil Warnock's QPR side started their march to the Championship title with a convincing 4-0 win against Barnsley on the opening day of the 2010/11 season — although the scoreline didn't quite tell the full story. Debutant goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, perhaps a little rusty after a year out with a drugs ban and nervous having only just arrived from Sheffield United, dropped a routine cross in his six yard box on the stroke of half time which should really have seen Barnsley go in at the break level. Then after half time Fitz Hall inexplicably punched a ball clear inside his own area but referee James Linnington failed to award a penalty kick. To exacerbate the visitors' frustration two of QPR's four goals came from the spot — Adel Taarabt was obviously fouled during a typically mesmeric run in the first half and Heidar Helguson converted, then in the second the Moroccan took responsibility and made it 3-0 although had Linnington played on through a foul on Helguson the ball had ended up in the net anyway. Between those two goals Jamie Mackie had scored his first for the club when goalkeeper Luke Steele fumbled the ball at the worst possible moment, and Hall swept in a fourth from a low Hogan Ephraim cross with nine minutes remaining.
QPR Kenny 5, Orr 7, Hall 6, Gorkss 7, Hill 7, Ephraim 7,Derry 7 (Leigertwood 79, 6), Faurlin 7, Taarabt 8 (Parker 77, 6),Helguson 7 (German 83, 5), Mackie 7
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Clarke, Connolly, Borrowdale
Booked: Orr (tripping)
Goals: Helguson 41 (penalty, assisted Taarabt), Mackie 53 (assisted Ephraim), Taarabt 63 (penalty, assisted Helguson), Hall 81 (assisted Ephraim)
Barnsley Steele 5, Hassell 2, Shackell 5, Foster 4, McEveley 2,Hammill 6 (Neumann 76, 5), Doyle 5, Lovre 5 (Butterfield 86, -),Devaney 5 (Hume 46, 6), Colace 7, Gray 6
Subs Not Used: Preece, Dickinsone, Boulding, Potter
Booked: Foster (foul, penalty concession), McEveley (professional foul)
Barnsley 0 QPR 1, Tuesday April 12, 2011, Championship
Things were very different by the time the two teams met again in April. QPR eventually built a 19 match unbeaten run at the start of the season and had led the division pretty much since day one, but a 4-1 defeat at lowly Scunthorpe on the Saturday before a trip to Oakwell hinted at a few jitters starting to set in. When Adel Taarabt scored a fine first from long range in the very first minute of the game all seemed well with the world, but the match turned into a backs to the wall effort from that point on with Kaspars Gorkss particularly impressive in the face of 89 minutes of Barnsley attacking and a truly horrific display from match referee Tony Bates. Barnsley hit the post twice, including once through Jacob Butterfield from long range in injury time at the end of the game, and had two very decent penalty appeals for handball waved away.
Barnsley: Steele 6, Trippier 7, McShane 5, Shackell 7, Hill 6 (McEveley 77, 5), Mellis 6 (Clark 77, 6), Doyle 6, Butterfield 7, Haynes 6, Harewood 5, Gray 6 (Noble-Lazarus 82, -)
Subs Not Used: Preece, Foster, Arismendi, O'Brien
Booked: Butterfield (foul)
QPR: Kenny 7, Orr 7, Gorkss 8, Connolly 7, Hill 7, Derry 6, Faurlin 6, Routledge 6, Taarabt 6 (Ephraim 69, 6), Smith 6, Helguson 7
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Buzsaky, Agyemang, Hulse, Miller, Shittu
Booked: Taarabt (foul/reaction)
Goals: Taarabt 1 (assisted Routledge)
Head to Head >>> QPR wins 28 >>> Draws 11 >>> Barnsley wins 16
2019/20 Barnsley 5 QPR 3 (Amos 2, Chair)
2017/18 QPR 1 Barnsley 0 (Scowen)
2017/18 Barnsley 1 QPR 1 (Freeman)
2016/17 QPR 2 Barnsley 1 (Sylla, MacDonald og)
2016/17 Barnsley 3 QPR 2 (Chery, Polter)
2013/14 Barnsley 2 QPR 3 (Austin, Mvoto og, Suk Young)
2013/14 QPR 2 Barnsley 0 (Austin 2)
2010/11 Barnsley 0 QPR 1 (Taarabt)
2010/11 QPR 4 Barnsley 0 (Helguson, Mackie, Taarabt, Hall)
2009/10 Barnsley 0 QPR 1 (Leigertwood)
2009/10 QPR 5 Barnsley 2 (Buzsaky 2, Leigertwood, Watson, Simpson)
2008/09 Barnsley 2 QPR 1 (Delaney)
2008/09 QPR 2 Barnsley 1 (Hall 2)
2007/08 Barnsley 0 QPR 0
2007/08 QPR 2 Barnsley 0 (Vine, Agyemang)
2006/07 Barnsley 2 QPR 0
2006/07 QPR 1 Barnsley 0 (Rowlands)
2003/04 Barnsley 3 QPR 3 (Furlong 2, Kay og)
2003/04 QPR 4 Barnsley 0 (Gallen, Rowlands, Ainsworth, Thorpe)
2002/03 QPR 1 Barnsley 0 (Pacquette)
2002/03 Barnsley 1 QPR 0
2000/01 QPR 2 Barnsley 0 (Kiwomya, Crouch)
2000/01 Barnsley 4 QPR 2 (Kiwomya 2)
1999/00 Barnsley 1 QPR 1 (Rose)
1999/00 QPR 2 Barnsley 2 (Darlington, Steiner)
1998/99 Barnsley 1 QPR 0
1998/99 QPR 2 Barnsley 1 (Langley,Gallen)
1996/97 QPR 3 Barnsley 2* (Peacock, Spencer, Sinclair)
1996/97 QPR 3 Barnsley 1 (Spencer 3)
1996/97 Barnsley 1 QPR 3 (Barker, Perry, Dichio)
1982/83 QPR 3 Barnsley 0 (Gregory, Sealy, Flanagan)
1982/83 Barnsley 0 QPR 1 (Allen)
1981/82 Barnsley 3 QPR 0
1981/82 QPR 1 Barnsley 0 (Flanagan)
1964/65 QPR 3 Barnsley 2 (Bedford 3)
1964/65 Barnsley 0 QPR 0
1963/64 QPR 2 Barnsley 2 (Bedford 2)
1963/64 Barnsley 3 QPR 1 (Bedford)
1962/63 Barnsley 0 QPR 0
1962/63 QPR 2 Barnsley 1 (Large 2)
1961/62 QPR 3 Barnsley 0 (Bedford, Keen, Evans)
1961/62 Barnsley 2 QPR 4 (Bedford, Angell, Towers, Evans)
1960/61 QPR 4 Barnsley 2 (Bedford, Andrews, Evans, Keen)
1960/61 Barnsley 3 QPR 3 (Whitfield 2, Bedford)
1959/60 QPR 1 Barnsley 0 (Andrews)
1959/60 Barnsley 2 QPR 1 (Bedford)
1951/52 QPR 1 Barnsley 1 (Smith)
1951/52 Barnsley 3 QPR 1 (Hatton)
1950/51 QPR 2 Barnsley 1 (Waugh, Smith)
1950/51 Barnsley 7 QPR 0
1949/50 QPR 0 Barnsley 5
1949/50 Barnsley 3 QPR 1 (Addinall)
1948/49 Barnsley 4 QPR 0
1948/49 QPR 2 Barnsley 2 (Addinall 2)
1909/10 Barnsley 1 QPR 0*
* - FA Cup
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