R's On The Road to Cardiff...

Lee Brown brings you some info, hints and tips for those R's fans making the midweek trip across the Welsh border to Ninian Park.



Wednesday 25th January see QPR travel to Cardiff City in the re-arranged fixture at Ninian Park. This will also be the last time that Rangers travel to Ninian Park before Cardiff move into the nearby St. Davids stadium ready for the 2009-2010 season.

The Stadium.

Current Capacity - 20,376

Ninian Park can only be described as one of the remaining 'proper' football grounds in the football league. With so many clubs moving into the new bowl style stadiums this can only be described as a must visit ground as this will be the final chapter that QPR can impose themselves on the Ninian Park history books.
Ninian Park was built in 1910 on what used to be a rubbish tip (I will refrain from the many jokes in my head) and was named after Lt.-Col. Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart.
The atmosphere is also something that you can enjoy, although it can get quite heated, you can really make some noise and support the hoops as we look to gain further revenge and put a dent in the Bluebirds promotion push.
Away fans are located in the John Smiths Grange End. The stand is shared with home supporters so do expect a lot of banter between the fans. At the front of the Grange End there is seating available to some of the away section, but I would recommend enjoying using the terracing for what is such a rarity these days. Usually there are around 1000 tickets allocated to the away section but that can be increased to 2000 upon request by the club.
I would recommend keeping colours to a minimum also as walking out and around Ninian Park can be fairly intimidating. Cardiff fans are well known for being very passionate about their club so the least attention you bring to yourself the better (speaking from experience). A large police presence will be in force I'm sure.

The History at Ninian Park.

Results Total

Cardiff City 16
Q.P.R. 8
Draw 7
Goals Total

Cardiff City 49
Q.P.R. 38

Friday 17th November will always hold a place in Rangers hearts. The game was at Ninian Park and with the Sky cameras there one of our bright prospects enjoyed what was his finest moment, and all his last goal in the famous blue and white hoops. Yes you've guessed it, the day that Ray Jones scored a dramatic 88th minute winner for the superhoops and secured what would prove to be a vital 3points in a relegation threatened season.
Rangers have enjoyed mixed fortunes at this ground in recent years having won 3, lost 2 and drawn 2 in the previous 7 meetings (not including the play off final) in South Wales, could this be another win on the board for the superhoops?

How to get there.

To avoid driving through the centre of Cardiff, leave the M4 at junction 33 and take the A4232 towards Cardiff/Barry. Keep on the A4232 towards Cardiff and then leave the dual carriageway at the B4267 exit, signposted 'Cardiff (Leckwith) Athletics Stadium'. Follow the signs for the stadium and after about half a mile you will see Ninian Park over on your right. There is a huge car park across the road from the ground and at the nearby Athletics Stadium.
Alternatively if you are going by train the nearest train station is Ninian Park Halt, which is only a couple of minutes walk from the ground. This station is on a local line which is served by trains from Cardiff Central.

Pubs n Grub.

Most of the pubs near to the ground can be quite intimidating for away supporters and are not recommended. However there is the Lansdowne Hotel on Beda Road which is a ten minute walk away from the stadium.
There are no nearby restaurants or take aways nearby (from what I remember) so you may have to settle for a burger van or food inside the ground. Here is a rough price guide of some of the food inside the ground....
pies (£1.90), pasties (£1.60). hot dogs (£2.50). bacon rolls (£2.50). cheese burgers (£2.60), and chips £1 and the intriguely named 'Welsh burger' (£2.50).

Game preview.

Cardiff go into this game after a battle against a struggling Wolves side on Sunday and before that a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Before the weekends fixtures Cardiff lay in 5th place, 12points behind table toppers Wolves but with a huge 4 games in hand on the leaders. This fixture will play a key part in their promotion push, yet a defeat for Rangers will put a dent in our quest to lauch a play off push that we have begun to put together.
Cardiff, who have lost goalkeeper Peter Enckelman to injury for 8 weeks after having a knee operation, have been further rocked by finding out that on-loan 'keeper Tom Heaton, who was man of the match in the 4-0 defeat of Arsenal, will be out of action for 4-6 weeks after tearing a thigh muscle in the fixture. This leaves Cardiff with only 1 recognized 'keeper, Dimi Konstantopoulos, who impressed during a 3month emergency loan period at fierce rivals Swansea.
QPR now armed with another midfielder to hand in the presence of Jordi Lopez, look to start another unbeaten run and continue to make an impact on the play off positions. With Helder Helguson and Lee Cook returning, from injury and suspension respectively, and the form of the lightening quick, former Cardiff loanee Wayne Routledge, QPR have the ideal opportunity to unsettle the bluebirds and bring back the 3points to West London.

TV Nightmares...

QPR 1-3 Ispwich

Second-half strikes from Counago and Walters saw Ipswich come back from a goal down to deservedly beat QPR, in front of the Sky TV cameras at Loftus Road.



What with adverse weather, FA Cup games etc, it seemed like an eternity since the last QPR game, especially at home and what with the R's being 9 games unbeaten, the mood was certainly an upbeat one approaching kick off time. But in fact, as PK pointed out, the fact that the media and in fact, QPR themselves, kept mentioning the unbeaten run at every single opportunity, was certainly bringing a few nerves and doubts and as it proved, rightly so...

Onto the game and although the team selection was somewhat surprising, the doubts were eased on 3 minutes as Rangers took the lead - Wayne Routledge tricked Ben Thatcher and crossed from the right for Italian striker Di Carmine to score from close range. But the joy was shortlived as just 11 minutes later, some comedy defending brought Ipswich level - Stead got in front of defender Matt Connolly to collect David Norris' deflected shot and bundle the ball past keeper Lee Camp. It was no more than the Tractor Boys deserved though as they had threatened since the R's took the lead.

Onto the second half and Ipswich looked to step up a gear and went ahead in fine style just after the hour mark, when Counago robbed Mahon and went past Kaspars Gorkss before firing into the corner of the net. On 70 minutes, the game was all but over. Alan Quinn's superb crossfield pass, found Walters, who controlled brilliantly before slotting past Lee Camp in the R's goal. I guess by now, those who were at the game and those watching on Sky have all seen the goals again, but I reallt cannot say enough about Quinn's pass for thi goal, it was sensational and the finish from Walters was worthy of the delivery he received.

QPR: Camp, Delaney (Blackstock 67), Mahon, Hall, Leigertwood, Routledge, Gorkss, Connolly, Cook, Miller (Balanta 73), Di Carmine (Helguson 55). Subs Not Used: Stewart, Alberti.

Lofty's Man of the Match - Mikele Leigertwood

I thought I would make the match report brief because, as mentioned, we have probably all seen the goals etc now seeing as the game was on Sky TV. But I cannot write this report without mentioning the disgraceful behaviour of a minority of QPR 'supporters'?, which sadly, was also shown live to the watching Sky public. Yes, it was a disappointing performance and yes, we were all disappointed when Ispwich went 3-1 up. But if the chants of 'you don't know what your doing!' to Paulo Sousa following the substitution of Liam Miller, was bad enough, the booing of Gavin Mahon was nothing more than a disgrace and at the time, I was ashamed to be sitting in the same stadium as these so called supporters.

People can and will argue that you pay a lot of money and your entitled to have your say and in QPR's case, it is considerably more expensive to do so than in previous years, fair enough. But paying extra money does NOT guarantee that QPR will win every week, as much as we would like ot to be the case. Yes, it was a poor performance from the R's yesterday and yes, I'm sure everyone watching the game would agree that Gavin Mahon had a shocker, but he certainly wasn't alone. But for supporters to boo him, one of our own players, every time he got the ball?? AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE!!

I can say no more...

Welcome Jordi Lopez...

QPR have today signed 27 year old Spanish Midfielder, Jordi Lopez.



Lopez was released from Real Mallorca in December and was on Real Madrid and Barcelona's books before joining Sevilla, where he made 37 appearances. He joined Real Mallorca in 2006 and can play in both central and wide midfield positions.

Good Luck Jordi and WELCOME TO QPR!!!

108 Not Out for Beckham...

David Beckham equalled the great Bobby Moore's record of 108 England caps for an outfield player after coming on as a second half substitute in England's 2-0 defeat in Spain.



Beckham, currently on loan at AC Milan, now joins Moore behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton, England's record appearance holder with 125 caps.

Congratulations, David Beckham!!

LH New Mascot...

QPR have 'Spark' the Tiger, now Lofty Heights is proud to announce it's very own mascot, in the shape of Corp's Family dog, Coco.



More pictures of Coco will be appear on a regular basis.

A Good Result???

Forest 2-2 QPR

Matteo Alberti scored his first goals for QPR in a 2-2 draw with Forest at the City Ground, but could and should have taken all three points.



The City Ground in Nottingham, is a ground that QPR have never won in what is now 27 attempts at and without question, we should have done today. But despite a good away point, I am sitting here writing this with slight disappointment. But the day started on a positive enough note. What with all the snow and everything in the week, there was never any doubt that this game would go ahead and myself, PK and the Henley mob enjoyed a trouble free journey and arrived at around 12.30. From there, we took a walk and after years of not quite making it, we FINALLY made the famous 'HOOTERS' bar for our pre match entertainment. One for the lads this one, definitely, with TV's everywhere showing the lunchtime Sky match. But in truth, many other distractions meant that the TV's were hardly even given a second glance.



The American Style food on display also looked appetising enough, but our lack of foresight in booking a table, meant that we turned to a burger van for our pre match food.

Onto the game and Rangers largely controlled the first half and certainly looked the more threatening, with a double goal line clearance from the home side and Liegertwood hitting the post, were all that were keeping the scores level. But on the stroke of half time Forest won a penalty when McGugan chipped in a superb ball for Chambers and he was quite stupidly pulled back by Alberti. McGugan made no mistake from the spot. Three minutes into first-half injury time, Alberti redeemed himself when Matt Connolly pulled the ball back from the right byline and the Italian fired beyond Paul Smith to bring the sides level.

Alberti added his second two minutes after the break, latching onto Wayne Routledge's flick on, holding off the defender and firing a superb shot across goal and into the top corner.



Routledge missed a golden chance to make the game safe, minutes later, but on 66 minutes, Forest were level. Chambers cross in looked like Camp's all the way, but it went over the R's keeper, too the unmarked Cohen to nod past the standing Stewart and Gorkss on the goaline. Lee Camp cried foul, after the match, Paulo Sousa has cried foul, but to me, it looked like Camp made a complete mess of it. Either way, the scores were level. Mikele Leigertwood thought he had put QPR ahead again with a superb header, only to be denied by a stunning save from Smith.

QPR: Camp, Delaney, Stewart, Mahon, Leigertwood, Routledge, Gorkss, Connolly, Miller (Ephraim 70), Alberti (Balanta 82), Di Carmine (Blackstock 59). Subs: Hall, Rose.

Lofty's Man of the Match - Kaspars Gorkss. Hard to look elsewhere than the Rangers centre backs this afternoon, but Gorkss just shaded it for me today.

In summary, it probably shows how far we have come that most are disappointed with a draw away from home, especially as Forest have been in such good form recently. Both sides had key players missing, but Rangers were so much better than Forest in all departments. Forest in comparison, were pretty poor I have to say, which makes it even more frustrating that two mistakes have cost us another good three away points.

And finally, I mentioned in last week's report, I mentioned Vickie's cool new gloves which have proved to be a godsend for her in this bitterly cold weather. I am pleased to announce that Vickie kindly agreed to model them for us today...

Forest Away, UPDATE

From the Official QPR Website;

Nottingham Forest v QPR - latest update 11.00am

The Club has received an e-mail from the Secretary at Nottingham Forest Football Club this morning (Friday) to confirm that their pitch is currently playable.

As long as there is not a severe deterioration in the weather overnight, the fixture at The City Ground will go ahead as planned.