In regard to creative achievement relating to an English rock band, the six-year journey embarked upon by The Who from 1967 to 1973 is astonishing, to the point of being unsurpassable.
During the two years prior to the wonderfully inventive ‘The Who Sell Out‘ album of 1967, they had made their name with a scorched earth approach to how they played and recorded – the Shepherd’s Bush triumvirate, coupled to a madcap drummer from nearby Wembley, peppering the charts with a run of incendiary singles written by guitarist Pete Townshend.
In the years ahead he would lead this, the most extraordinary rock bands, from rebel yells to rock operas through to ambitious concept albums. The cycle came to an end with the magnificent ‘Quadrophenia‘ The Who through this period (and in truth for two or three years ahead), reigning as an untouchable live act.
In the environs of London W12, there became a tendency to excel in six-year instalments. Take the local football club. Queens Park Rangers were underway in their halcyon period (particularly in terms of the ’70s), when The Who were putting a full-stop to theirs.
On record Townshend, Daltrey, Moon and Entwistle never quite attained the same level of accomplishment again as they did on the double-album story of a West London Mod – although for the record, Dave Thomas, Stan Bowles, Gerry Francis and Don Givens, were still to reach their collective height in the blue and white hoops.
They had made a fine start and in the same October week in 1973 that ‘Quadrophenia‘ hit the shops, (released the very day England were held to a Wembley draw by Poland in failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup), QPR, following their recent return to Division One, gave the best example yet of the incisive, counter-attacking football that was becoming their forte in winning 4-2 at Wolves.
They were adapting quickly to life back in the top flight, Rangers having made substantive progress in the past two and a half years under the guidance of manager Gordon Jago – who had assembled a promising team capable of delivering on his possession-based philosophy.
Molineux would be a venue of enormous significance in the unfolding 1970s narrative surrounding QPR, as less than three years later, on the same site, the champions proper would pip the people’s champions to the league title – the trophy in convoluted circumstances heading along the Anfield, rather than South Africa Road.
In mounting a championship challenge that came up fractionally short, the Loftus Road side had produced some of the most elegant and progressive play the domestic game had so far seen. While it returned nothing in terms of trophies, there was no need looking anywhere else for those holding the title of best 70s side not to win a major honour, their commitment to constructive methods deserving a prize or two to go with the plaudits.
Before the consecutive tenures of Jago – who made a surprise departure in the autumn of 1974 – and then Dave Sexton, his reign ending in July 1977, QPR had become a club where the sky was either the limit or just about to come crashing in.
Through the late-60s, under the magisterial guidance of the amiable Alec Stock, they achieved successive promotions to secure Division One status for the first time. This elevation came just 12 months after not only sweeping all before them in running away with Division Three, but also miraculously winning the 1967 League Cup Final (the first to be played at Wembley) as a third division team.
But the 1-1 second division draw at Aston Villa in May 1968 that ensured Loftus Road would host top level football come the 1968-69 season proved the last game they would play under Stock, who has gone before the curtain went up on the next chapter – his falling out with pugnacious chairman Jim Gregory not the last that would send a manager out of W12 with a P45 in his hand.
The most recent times under Stock had been ones of rapid ascent, QPR entering life among the elite only to find new hands upon the wheel. After eight years under same stewardship, they now entered a period of managerial turmoil that would be deemed chaotic even by 2024 standards.
Bill Dodgin jnr, who succeeded Stock, lasted 92 days, Tommy Docherty less than a month and when former Spurs double-winner Les Allen, a member of Rangers ’67 League Cup winning side, became their third manager of the campaign on December 1 1968, QPR had become a byword for bewilderment – latest incumbent Allen taking over a side who on paper looked capable but week-to-week were something akin to incapable.
Even at this point of the season they were already racing if not mathematical certainties to go down, winding up relegated five months later 13 points from safety, their meagre haul of 18 the lowest top flight tally to date in post-war English football.
Allen then presided over 18 months dawdling in Division Two, although to his overall detriment he persevered with a team of youngsters, four of whom, (goalkeeper Phil Parkes, full-backs Dave Clement and Ian Gillard, along with midfield lynchpin Gerry Francis), would all be England internationals by the mid-70s. But chairman Gregory ran out of patience following a third round FA Cup defeat against Division Three Swindon Town on January 2 1971, this the final straw after the last 11 league games had yielded just one win.
Four days later Jago was promoted from first team coach to take charge. Faced with twenty matches to revive their ailing fortunes and improve fitful league form which had brought the drop zone too close for comfort, the initial portents were not overly impressive. Yet the new manager was able to oversee improvement down the final strait, just one defeat in the last ten games hoisting the Hoops to a respectable 11th placed finish.
It was a positive way to end a desultory campaign and hinted an upturn might be at hand. Indeed, the next six seasons would bring a form of football wonderment to the shadow of the White City, not least in leaving many to wonder how such style did not land some silverware.
SAMTIMONIOUS.com duly takes a metaphorical loiter into the Loft End to watch the finesse and frustration unfold…………
1971-72: Division Two (4th/54 pts). League Cup: Fourth Round. FA Cup: Third Round. Top Scorer: Rodney Marsh (17).
No concerted look across Loftus Road from the mid-60s through to early 70s is made without realisation of how much the dashing, outlandishly talented figure of Rodney Marsh dominates the scene.
Even with QPR seemingly drifting in Division Two, he was still one of the most talked-about players in the game. His abundant all-round ability aligned to a prolific goalscoring strike rate (44 alone in the wondrous 1966-67 season, including a brilliant solo effort in the League Cup Final) had prompted widespread interest among those higher up the food chain, although bids north of £150,000 from Manchester City and Spurs had not met Gregory’s valuation.
While it was known he had ambitions to play first division football again, along with hopes of gaining international recognition, there was tacit understanding between Marsh and the QPR board of him being allowed to leave, for the right price, if 1971-72 failed to bring promotion.
There was no doubt he embraced the agreement with a one and all approach, two goals in the opening day demolition of Sheffield Wednesday making for a positive start. While Marsh continued in rich scoring vein, the team were prone to misfiring, four wins, three losses and two draws through August and September underling their inconsistencies.
But beginning with a goalless draw at eventual champions Norwich City on the first Saturday of October, Rangers embarked on a nine-match unbeaten league run (their League Cup hopes ending at third division Bristol Rovers during this period), that included six clean sheets and a climb to fourth in the table.
By the time they lost again, a 2-1 London derby defeat at Charlton at the end of November, they were established promotion contenders with an England striker on the books – Marsh, on the back of 11 goals so far, given the last ten minutes by Sir Alf Ramsey in a 1-1 Wembley friendly against Switzerland earlier in the month.
Despite January resulting in an FA Cup exit a few stops down the District Line at Fulham, QPR continued to prosper in the nitty-gritty of second division circumstances, one loss in eight games maintaining their place among the front-runners. When visiting Oxford were beaten 4-2 in late January Rangers climbed into second, but rumours again began to swirl that Marsh (whose brace in the aforementioned game would be the last of his 134 QPR career goals), was about to leave.
The speculation coincided with a sudden and costly drop off in collective form, three straight defeats in which they failed to score appeared to have derailed their challenge – and on grudgingly accepting going up was now a tall order, Gregory agreed the sale of Marsh to Manchester City on March 8 1972 for a fee of £200,000.
Bought by Maine Road boss Malcolm Allison as the final piece of his title-winning jigsaw, City top of the table at this point, all parties would come to regret not holding fire on the deal until the end of the season.
On halting their slide with a goalless draw, (Rangers by now having dropped to sixth) at Birmingham, who would ultimately clinch the runners-up spot, they revived to plough through the last dozen games – seven wins, five draws – without suffering defeat. Going into the last five matches, four of which were at Loftus Road, they were aware only victories, coupled with Birmingham and Millwall dropping points, would suffice.
Rangers did not concede in any of the games, but a goalless draw against relegation threatened Fulham proved costly. Although the season concluded with successive 3-0 wins, they ended up fourth, just two points shy of promotion but in conceding just 28 boasted the best defensive record in the division.
The main consequence of selling Marsh, however, was the lowest goal tally (58) among the top eight. Yet neither did his move to Manchester City have the desired effect in lifting the league title. Allison could only look on as vital points were dropped, the expensive new signing blamed in some quarters for upsetting the balance of a team who from pole position drifted away to come fourth – Derby, under Brian Clough, coming through to win a congested championship race.
Back at QPR, when they had won 4-1 at Brunton Park in December nobody paid much attention to who scored for Carlisle – but the same player, despite being on the losing side when the Cumbrians were beaten 3-0 at Loftus Road in the penultimate game of the season, caught the eye of Jago on a night when many thought him better than anyone else on the field.
It was not the last time W12 would be impressed by one Stanley Bowles…………
1972-73: Division Two (2nd/61 pts). League Cup: Second Round. FA Cup: Fourth Round. Top Scorer: Don Givens (26).
Given funds by Gregory to fill the goal void left by Marsh, in July 1972 Jago spent £40,000 on Luton striker Don Givens, the deal sanctioned by Alec Stock who by now was in charge at Kenilworth Road. The money immediately looked well spent as the 23-year-old Republic of Ireland striker netted twice in the first four games, Rangers beginning the season unbeaten in the first five games, although all bar one, a 4-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday, ended in draws.
On deciding his side still required more goal threat, Jago persuaded the board to part with £110,000 in order to put more ballast into their promotion ambitions. The outrageously-gifted Bowles swapped Brunton Park for Bloemfontein Road on September 12 1972, scoring on his debut before a quickly-adoring Loftus Road faithful when visitors Nottingham Forest were beaten 3-0 four days later.
The unbeaten start extended to eight games (a 2-0 pre-Bowles League Cup exit at first division West Brom notwithstanding), before they suffered a 4-1 reversal at Hull in late-September. But five straight wins (four of which came without conceding), in which Bowles and Givens shared eight of the 13 goals Rangers put past the opposition lifted them into second place, the promotion chase already looking a three into two contest alongside Burnley and Aston Villa.
As Givens and Bowles continued to score almost at will, the next nine matches yielded just two defeats. yet even then Jago felt the picture was incomplete. Gregory loosened the purse strings again for a club record £165,000 to be invested in Burnley winger Dave Thomas, Rangers beating off top flight competition to land the future England international as October drew to a close.
While the old year ended with defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, it barely dented momentum and although heavy weather was made of overcoming Barnet in the FA Cup third round (QPR going out in the next at reigning league champions Derby), Rangers became so unrelenting in their league form, a three-month, 11-match undefeated trot took them to the brink of a top flight return.
With QPR never dropping lower than second, Villa, unable to match the outstanding consistency of the top two, were effectively knocked out of the race with a mid-March Loftus Road defeat – and despite the Turf Moor side suffering a similar fate on their visit to West London, Jimmy Adamson’s men just managed to keep their noses in front.
As the surge through spring continued Rangers handed out heavy defeats to Huddersfield, Carlisle, Blackpool and Portsmouth, but a 2-0 set-back at Oxford on April 7 gave Burnley clear advantage in the title pursuit. The six games that followed came and went almost without blemish in five wins and a draw (and half a dozen consecutive clean sheets to boot), promotion secured with three fixtures remaining by virtue of a Bowles goal that decided a London derby at Millwall.
By way of an encore Rangers ended a memorable campaign by visiting a rammed-to-the-rafters Roker Park four days after Sunderland had returned to Wearside with the FA Cup following a sensational, giant-killing Wembley victory over Leeds United.
So the story goes during the match the FA Cup stood on a table at the side of the pitch between the dug-outs. It is no embellishment to say Bowles was known to enjoy a flutter, entering a wager with team-mates that involved knocking the cup from its perch with an apparent misplaced pass.
According to his own account Stan made good on the bet (other sources traced the kick in question to the boot of Hazell), putting a dent in the trophy in the process – after that is, denting Sunderland celebrations by scoring twice in a 3-0 victory as Rangers won for the 24th time that season.
With Givens scoring 26, Bowles 18 and the ever-reliable Mick Leach weighing in with a dozen, the question of where goals would come from had been answered in emphatic style, 22 clean sheets testament to their defensive solidity.
Given such firepower, with 81 goals they were by some top scorers in the division by some distance – champions Burnley, who pipped Rangers to top spot by a point, sealing their return to Division One with the biggest second division points haul (62) in four seasons.
1973-74: Division One (8th/43 pts). League Cup: Fourth Round. FA Cup: Sixth Round. Top Scorer: Stan Bowles (19).
After making significant signings to maximise the promotion potential of the previous season, Jago was more circumspect in planning the top division return. Five seasons on from their sole appearance in the highest echelon and with confidence in the players at his disposal, he concluded just one incoming transfer.
But it was a notable presence he brought into the club, QPR parting with £25,000 as Arsenal double-winning captain and Scottish international defender Frank McLintock moved from N5 to W12.
Neither McLintock or skipper Francis played in the first two games (Francis then playing in the next 40, McLintock due to injury not available until late September), Rangers relying heavily on experienced performers such as Terry Venables, Terry Mancini, Leach, goalkeeper Parkes and Tony Hazell (the remaining survivor of the ’67 League Cup winning side), in negotiating a steady course through the first ten games that returned six draws and equal number of wins and losses.
By the time they turned a 1-0 Molineux half-time deficit into a resounding 4-2 mid-October victory, feet had already been found, holders Spurs exited the League Cup at Loftus Road earlier in the month, wins now arriving at a prompt rate. After suffering heavy defeats on their last two second division visits, Sheffield Wednesday suffered an 8-2 League Cup annihilation, only for Rangers to find the tables turned in the next round when third division Plymouth Argyle, destined for the semi-finals, recorded a shock 3-0 West London win.
The notion that QPR should not be taken lightly was enforced when they took a point off leaders Leeds and reigning champions Liverpool in successive early winter weeks. But mixed fortunes through a festive period marked by the three-day week and power cuts failed to diminish from the fact 10th place was a useful position from where to begin 1974.
Indeed, New Year’s Day saw relegation-destined Manchester United (proving the last game George Best would play for the Old Trafford club), put to the sword in Shepherd’s Bush, the goals continuing to flow for Bowles (2) and Givens who were both on target in a 3-0 win.
Three more January league games would pass without defeat and there was also the satisfaction of knocking local rivals Chelsea out of the FA Cup with a Loftus Road replay victory, further progress made against visiting Birmingham City in round four.
For a promoted team reaching February without losing at home (in the league) was no mean feat, the first reversal in front of their own supporters occurring with an unforeseen defeat against bottom of the table Norwich City. Yet Rangers had fortitude to match the flair, the five-match unbeaten run that followed included an FA Cup fifth round replay success against Coventry City, but came to an end when Leicester triumphed 2-0 in a W12 quarter final.
Again Rangers responded well and were beaten only once in the next five outings (and that by the odd goal in three at Anfield), the 3-0 midweek success against Manchester City on April 9 touted by many as their best display of the season – and in hoisting QPR to fifth ignited genuine belief a UEFA Cup place was there for the taking.
But those hopeful the Hoops were closing in on European qualification were to see the chance go begging as injuries arising from a demanding fixture schedule began to take their toll.
Having been denied funds to strengthen a squad modest in number through the spring, Jago could wring no more from his tiring team. Two draws and four defeats in the last six matches precipitated a drop to eighth and while it was still enough for Rangers to finish as the top placed London club, a first foray into Europe floundered on the basis of the manager running out of experienced personnel.
Despite a growing reputation for off-field waywardness Bowles was an ever present, Givens also played every game (as did ‘keeper Parkes), in netting 15, the main strike pair making an impressive transition to top flight football.
All told Rangers had given an excellent account of themselves in banishing the bad memories of their previous first division outing, wrangling over who was to blame for missing the UEFA Cup boat rather than taking responsibility for a rotten relegation now the order of the day.
1974-75: Division One (11th/42 pts). League Cup: Third Round. FA Cup: Fourth Round. Top Scorer: Don Givens (13).
There was understandable optimism breezing through Loftus Road as the new season approached, the best performing side in the capital last time out having good reason to feel positive about the months ahead. Their number was increased during the World Cup summer of 1974 when manager Jago paid Chelsea £100,000 in order for 1970 FA Cup winning goal scorer, central defender David Webb, to make the switch from Stamford Bridge to Shepherd’s Bush.
The positivity did not look misplaced when a pair of tough away games were confidently negotiated. Francis scored in the opening day draw at Sheffield United before netting the only goal winner on the visit to Leeds four days later, Elland Road now exactly halfway through the turbulent 44-day reign of Brian Clough.
But the bubble burst when the first home game was lost, Stoke leaving with the points following a 1-0 win, Rangers on losing their scoring touch unable to build a head of steam as the next eight league matches brought six goals, five defeats, no wins and increasing tension between manager and chairman. The friction culminated in Jago resigning two days before a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on September 28th, the final match of a disheartening sequence that sent them to bottom of the table – the end of his near four-year tenure finding QPR, despite the downturn in recent weeks, with much greater presence than when he took charge in January 1971.
With no shortage of renowned managers suddenly available following recent high-profile changes elsewhere (Clough, Bill Nicholson, Sir Alf Ramsey), the Loftus Road board plumped for Dave Sexton, whose seven year stay at Chelsea – that included FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup successes – had recently come to an end.
Sexton began his incumbency with a 1-0 home defeat against Liverpool on October 19, Rangers, while managing a home win over Ipswich and earning a point at Highbury under caretaker-boss Stan Anderson, had also suffered a heavy League Cup home defeat to Newcastle. But after losing to Bob Paisley’s side they recorded successive victories for the first time that season, coinciding with Givens regaining his bearings in front of goal, although a 5-2 Baseball Ground battering off eventual champions Derby sent them back toward the drop zone.
With the change of manager came a rapid turnover of players, Venables (Crystal Palace) and Mancini (Arsenal) moving on, while Don Shanks (Luton) and Don Masson (Notts County, someone who Jago had reportedly expressed interest in buying the previous season) were recruited. The final signing of the previous manager, Crystal Palace winger Don Rogers, whom he bought for £100,000 ten days before his resignation, scored his first QPR goal in a 3-1 November win at Middlesbrough (where Bowles and Givens were also on target), but through the three consecutive defeats that followed Rangers could not muster a single goal between them.
Yet when the Christmas decorations came out so did the true capabilities of a competent team, four festive wins on the bounce lifting them to halfway, the 3-0 end of year triumph at Stamford Bridge (Givens 2, Francis) giving the glasses raised on New Year’s Eve a half-full appearance.
For two months from mid-January came further inkling Sexton and QPR were a good fit for one another. Despite a narrow FA Cup fifth round exit at eventual winners West Ham, nine league games, incorporating three draws and five wins, one of which avenged the heavy defeat at Derby (Givens scoring a hat-trick in a 4-1 trouncing of the same opposition) sent Rangers up to seventh.
Yet ideas of competing for a European place turned out to be fanciful, just one win from the last five bringing this fluctuating term to an end, 11th place somewhat lower than the finish envisaged for them back in August.
Their overall record in this undulating season was marked by its astonishing symmetry – 16 wins, 16 losses, 54 scored, 54 conceded, 11 points short of the title and nine clear of the relegation places.
While Givens top scored with 16, Bowles, despite not doing so again after January still managed ten, 42 points from 42 games amounted to an erratic form of consistency that remarkably was enough to see Rangers again finish as the leading London side – although for the moment that said as much about the downbeat fortunes of others as it did about QPR.
1975-76: Division One (2nd/59 pts). League Cup: Fourth Round. FA Cup: Third Round. Top Scorer: Don Givens (13).
Like his predecessor Jago the summer before, Sexton made a pre-season transfer raid on Stamford Bridge, paying Chelsea £85,000 in taking midfielder John Hollins, another of his 1970 FA Cup winning line-up, to Loftus Road.
When the campaign began it was Liverpool, installed as title favourites despite finishing runners-up to Derby last time out, who were the first day visitors to W12 – but never before, or after, in a decade they more or less dominated, would they be so outplayed in the opening fixture.
Rarely has a side set out their stall for the months ahead as the way QPR displayed their wares on this sunny Shepherd’s Bush afternoon. In origin their football was more Holland than Holland Park, the theory that nothing is ever won in August debunked when the opening goal, a sublime five pass, ball on the floor passing sequence from goalkeeper Parkes to goal scorer Francis was later named BBC ‘Goal of the Season.’
That 2-0 win over the prospective title winners was followed two matches later by a demolition of the reigning champions, Bowles netting a hat-trick in the 5-1 win at Derby. In the seventh game Rangers ended the unbeaten start of newly-promoted Manchester United, whom they beat 1-0 with a goal from Webb in rising to fourth, QPR themselves remaining undefeated until the eleventh match – a total of five wins and five draws ended by a 2-1 defeat at Leeds on October 4.
In early September there had also been a 4-1 League Cup second round victory at third division Shrewsbury Town, where such was the continental delivery of their fluent passing style, to this fifteen- year-old observer it was football that should have come with sub-titles.
Bouncing back from the Elland Road reversal with a 5-0 White City whacking of Everton, the next ten league games were bookended by defeats at low down Burnley and leaders Liverpool, the eight in between (three wins, five draws) too high on the honours-even quota to lift them higher than fourth.
Three defeats in the five league matches following the 2-0 December 20 loss at Anfield (along with an FA Cup exit at Newcastle, who had also knocked them out of the League Cup six weeks before), suggested the season was losing impetus. But following a late-January 1-0 reversal at Upton Park – ironically the last league match West Ham would win in 1975-76 – Rangers embarked on a five match winning streak, the final game of which, a 1-0 win at Leicester sealed by a goal from Thomas on February 25, saw them hit the front for the first time.
The winning sequence ended with a costly stalemate at bottom of the table Sheffield United, but six subsequent wins on the spin was title-winning form of the highest order, top of the league QPR (55 points, one clear of Liverpool), heading to Norwich on Easter Saturday having taken 23 from a possible 24.
But a 3-2 Carrow Road defeat on a day when the ball refused to run kindly for the visitors, coupled with a big win for Liverpool over Stoke, put the advantage firmly back the way of Anfield.
Ending the season with successive home wins over Arsenal and Leeds, Rangers finished their fixtures in top spot – but Liverpool, who did not play on the final Saturday due to having two players on international with Wales who were contesting a European Championship quarter-final, still had one match left. The ten day wait to decide destination of the title came to an end on Tuesday 4 May 1976.
Travelling to Molineux, where Wolves needed victory to avoid being relegated, Liverpool, due to a superior goal average, only required a point to be champions. But when Steve Kindon fired the home side into a first half lead, thoughts of a great escape and Loftus Road league title began to permeate.
Four years before Wolves had beaten Leeds in their final game of the season to deny Don Revie’s side the championship, a 2-1 win securing the trophy for Derby who had also finished their fixtures. Yet there was to be no repeat or happy ending for either the hosts or Rangers. Relentless second half Liverpool pressure in front of a red and white army of support estimated at 30,000 among a near 50,000 gate, finally secured a 3-1 win – consigning other involved parties to their respective fates of relegation and runners-up.
Over the campaign as a whole, Givens (13), Francis (12), Bowles (12) and Thomas (11) had each retuned double figures in the scoring stakes. While there was consolation to be had for Sexton and his supremely stylish squad in securing European football for the first time, the disappointment of losing out on the title in such agonizing fashion could not be lessened, even in the wake of a 15-match closing strait when they amassed thirteen wins and a draw.
Indeed, that bitter pill became harder to swallow when reflecting on a final points tally that was unusually high for a second placed side (the highest since Leeds in 1970-71) – Rangers left to be nothing but rueful as such a haul would landed the league championship in the season before and after.
1976-77: Division One: (14th/38 pts). League Cup: Semi-Finals: FA Cup: Fourth Round. UEFA Cup: Quarter-Finals. Top Scorer: Don Givens (13).
Following the close-run title assault of the previous season, in the first instance Sexton resisted adding to his squad during the long, hot summer of 1976 – although Rangers appeared not to have yet shaken the disappointment from their collective system when Everton, ten months on from conceding five without reply at Loftus Road, swept to a 4-0 opening day win at the same venue.
Two days later QPR went down 1-0 at West Ham, the season spluttering into life with a point at Ipswich and League Cup triumph at second tier Cardiff. Three wins and draw from the next four league matches was more like the established standard, the 2-0 home win over Stoke on Saturday 25 September of much greater significance than anyone realised at the time, being the only Division One encounter of 1976-77 in which Bowles and Givens would both score – the eighth place Rangers where found themselves at the final whistle the highest they would attain all season.
By the end of September, however, both players had opened their UEFA Cup accounts, Bowles doing so in spectacular fashion, firing a hat-trick in the first ever European fixture staged at Loftus Road, a first leg 4-0 hammering of Norwegian small-fry SK Brann Bergen on September 15. Two weeks later he repeated the feat when QPR, aided by a brace from Givens, recorded a 7-0 win in part two of the mismatch.
Through September they also made inroads into going further in the League Cup, reaching round four at the expense of third division Bury, while in terms of expenditure, Gregory signed a cheque of £60,000 made out to Arsenal for the services of their 1970-71 double-winning Scottish midfielder Eddie Kelly.
Alongside new team-mate McLintock they returned to Highbury when Rangers paid a visit on October 2, where a goal from the former Gunners captain was unable to stave off a 3-2 defeat. Norwich then had the temerity to repeat their Carrow Road victory of earlier in the year in winning at Loftus Road by the same score, QPR losing by the odd goal in five in successive league matches.
One league win from five during October underlined how elusive consistency had become, in fact they would only manage one victory from the six first division matches left in the calendar year, but headway continued to be made in the League and UEFA Cup.
Following a fourth round (2-0) away win at West Ham, visiting Arsenal were overcome by a 2-1 margin on December 1st as Rangers secured a League Cup semi-final berth. Europe meanwhile appeared a stage made for their progressive approach, Bowles (2) and Givens on target when they returned from Slovan Bratislava with a 3-3 first-leg second round draw, the match ball then taken home by Givens after the Loftus Road second-leg, Bowles contributing his ninth European goal already as Sexton’s side notched an 8-5 aggregate success with a 5-2 win.
On November 24 Bowles reached double figures during the third-round home win over FC Koln, Givens and Webb also on target as the hosts built a seemingly unassailable 3-0 advantage. But a fortnight later in West Germany it was a vital strike from Masson that ultimately proved decisive, Rangers succumbing to a 4-1 defeat but reaching the last eight by virtue of away goals.
As 1977 dawned there were League Cup Semi-Finals and UEFA Cup Quarter-Finals to anticipate, but if European qualification was again the New Year’s resolution, cup success would be imperative. Nine defeats, five wins and four draws from 18 matches made entry based on final league position an uphill challenge, monumental improvement required if climbing to a top six spot from 18th was going to occur.
January commenced with a narrow round three FA Cup win over third division visitors Shrewsbury, while successive league victories, 2-1 over relegation-threatened Spurs and a 3-1 win at Everton (where Bowles scored his fifth and final league goal of the campaign) eased them back into safer mid-table waters, the upturn coming to a momentary halt when the month ended with a fourth round 2-1 FA Cup away defeat at the hands of eventual winners Manchester United.
Of the five games played in February, three encompassed the League Cup last four collision with Aston Villa. As the sides could not be separated either at Loftus Road on February 1st (0-0) or Villa Park (2-2 after extra-time) sixteen days later, it necessitated a Highbury replay the following week. But after a pair of closely fought encounters, Villa, who would go on to lift the trophy, showed the greater endurance by running out 3-0 winners in North London.
With all their eggs now in the UEFA Cup basket with March came a two-leg quarter final against AEK Athens, second round conquerors of Derby County. Francis (2, both penalties) and Bowles led the way to a comfortable 3-0 win on home soil, but what transpired in the return was for Rangers, nothing short of a Greek tragedy. The hosts wiped out the deficit when their third goal of the night, scored with seven minutes left, sent the tie into extra time. As there was no further scoring in the additional half hour, a penalty shoot out would determine who went through to the semi-finals.
The sudden death affair went long into the night only for Webb and Peter Eastoe to miss from the spot, the drama running to a best of thirteen with Rangers finally going out on a 7-6 deficit.
Four defeats and two draws in the six league games that followed made the disappointment linger, having the added detriment of a steady slide down the first division table. The rot stopped with a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough, with mockery made of recent lapses when they thumped Manchester United 4-0 at Loftus Road – but three straight defeats once again had them looking over the shoulders at third bottom.
When Givens scored to earn a point against visiting Liverpool, who were close to retaining the title, it helped ease the relegation worries, two wins and two draws in the final four games finally warding off the unthinkable as Rangers lumbered up to 14th. They scored 20 fewer goals (47) than the previous season with their points tally down by 21 – and from going within a whisker of being champions, avoided the drop with precious little to spare.
It had been a turbulent, taxing campaign, top scorer Givens, Parkes, Gillard, Masson along with veteran defenders Webb and McLintock – who retired when it was over – each playing over 50 games. Their collective potency was diminished by the season ending injury sustained by Bowles (top scorer with 11 in the UEFA Cup that season), at Bristol City three days after the agony of Athens, when Rangers still had 17 league matches to play.
The uneven contours of 1976-77 then became upheaval when in July 1977, Sexton left Loftus Road to become manager of Manchester United, who had recently dismissed Tommy Docherty when his extramarital affair with the wife of club physio Laurie Brown was reported in the press.
Sexton’s departure soon came to represent the end of an illustrious chapter in the annals of QPR, 1975-76 remaining the best and most fondly remembered season in their history. Under new boss Frank Sibley, Rangers just managed to preserve their Division One status in 1977-78 before going down amid the ignominy of finishing bottom 12 months later.
Back in the summer of 1977 while there was change at QPR, rock music also found itself subject to changing times. Into the mix had come a swathe of dynamic young bands who, under the banner of punk, took a rebellious stance similar to that of The Who a dozen or so years before.
The most compelling new group to emerge were a West London entity called The Clash, whose thrilling debut LP had just been released. Until 1983 they would follow The Who in creating albums that were both gripping and dynamic.
One such Clash anthem ‘London Calling‘ (1979) is played to this day at Loftus Road when Rangers are about to take the field. Co-writer Mick Jones knows all about six-year cycles being guitarist of The Clash and an avid QPR supporter – his affinity with the club beginning in the early ’70s.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is also the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.