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QPR's 1968 Villa Park promotion - history
Monday, 6th Apr 2015 11:23 by Clive Whittingham

Ahead of Tuesday's crucial trip to Aston Villa, LFW looks way back to 1968 when QPR secured the win they needed on this ground to seal their first ever promotion into the top flight.

Recent Meetings

QPR 2 Villa 0, Monday October 27, 2014, Premier League
Aston Villa had lost four matches without scoring a goal prior to arriving at Loftus Road for the televised first meeting between these sides this season. That was all the encouragement QPR needed as they turned in one of their most complete performances (not a lot of strong competition) of the campaign, winning with a Charlie Austin goal in each half. First he strode onto a Bobby Zamora knock down and belted one in from long range, then in the second half he swept home from closer in after Isla and Vargas had combined well down the right. With Yun Suk-Young setting the tempo from left back and Richard Dunne imperious against his former club this was a rare bright moment in a poor season overall.

QPR: Green 8; Isla 7, Caulker 7, Dunne 8, Suk-Young 8; Vargas 7 (Traore 87, -), Sandro 6, Henry 7, Fer 6 (Kranjcar 90, -); Austin 7, Zamora 7 (Hoilett 63, 7)

Subs not used: Ferdinand, Hill, Phillips, Murphy

Goals: Austin 16 (assisted Zamora ), 69 (assisted Vargas)

Villa: Guzan 6; Lowton 6, Vlaar 5, Clark 6, Cissokho 6; Cleverley 6, Westwood 7 (Cole 70, 5), Sanchez 8; Agbonlahor 6, Weimann 6 (Bent 70, 4), Benteke 6

Subs not used: Okore, Bacuna, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Given

Bookings: Weimann 57 (foul), Lowton 76 (foul)

Aston Villa 3 QPR 2, Saturday March 16, 2013, Premier League

QPR suffered a damaging defeat at fellow strugglers Aston Villa in their quest to avoid relegation from the Premier League in 2012/13. The R’s seemed destined for the drop, but consecutive wins against Sunderland and Southampton provided hope and with Villa in poor form and one of the teams in the immediate vicinity of QPR on the league table the March trip to Villa Park looked crucial. Jermaine Jenas gave the R’s a deserved first half lead, and only a wonder save from Brad Guzan prevented Chris Samba adding to that. But the game swung in three minutes of first half injury time when first Jose Bosingwa hit the Villa post with a free kick, and then the hosts equalised when Julio Cesar made a hash of a high ball into his area and Agbonlahor pounced for a leveller. When Anders Weimann scored on the hour the game looked to be up but man of the match Andros Townsend struck back to make it 2-2 and again there only looked like being one winner until more suspect defending and goalkeeping let Christian Benteke in for a crushing late third for the hosts.

Villa: Guzan 8, Lowton 7, Clark 5, Baker 5 (Bennett 20, 5), Vlaar 6, Westwood 6, Sylla 6 (N’Zogbia 58, 6), Bannan 6, Agbonlahor 7, Weimann 8 (Bowery 84, -), Benteke 7

Subs not used: Given, Dawkins, Carruthers, Holman

Goals: Agbonlahor 45 (assisted Lowton), Weimann 58 (unassisted), Benteke 81 (assisted Weimann)

Booked: Sylla 30 (foul), Bannan 41 (foul), Weimann 45 (dissent)

QPR: Cesar 3, Bosingwa 5, Hill 5, Samba 7, Da Silva 5 (Taarabt 66, 7), Park 6 (Mackie 87, -), Jenas 6, Mbia 6, Townsend 7, Remy 7, Zamora 7 (Hoilett 45, 6)

Subs not used: Murphy, Onuoha, Wright-Phillips, Granero

Goals: Jenas 23 (assisted Zamora), Townsend 73 (assisted Remy)

Bookings: Mbia 12 (foul), Hoilett 88 (foul)

QPR 1 Aston Villa 1, Saturday December 1, 2012, Premier League

Harry Redknapp’s first home match in charge of QPR was against Aston Villa at the start of December that season. Having tightened the leaky defence and secured a 0-0 draw at Sunderland during the week in his first outing the new manager will have been disappointed to see goalkeeper Robert Green concede a soft goal early in the game. Brett Holman’s volley from the edge of the box was firmly struck, but Green should still have done more than simply palm the ball into the corner of his own net. The R’s were quickly on terms when Jamie Mackie expertly guided a header home from a Samba Diakite cross but they lacked sufficient creativity and cutting edge to grab a first win of the season in the second half and ultimately had to settle for a point.

QPR: Green 5, Bosingwa 6, Hill 7, Nelsen 7, Traore 5, Diakite 7 (Hoilett 67, 5), Mbia 7 (Derry 40, 5), Granero 5 (Park 46, 4), Taarabt 7, Wright-Phillips 6, Mackie 8

Subs not used: Murphy, Cisse, Ferdinand, Fabio

Goals: Mackie 18 (assisted Diakite)

Bookings: Derry 61 (foul)

Villa: Guzan 8, Lowton 6, Clark 6, Baker 6, Lichaj 6, Westwood 6, Bannan 6 (Delph 67, 6), Holman 7 (El Ahmadi 70, 6), Herd 6 (Williams 65, 6), Agbonlahor 7, Benteke 7

Subs not used: Given, Ireland, Bent, Weimann

Goals: Holman 8 (unassisted)

Bookings: Baker 47 (foul), Lowton 62 (foul)

Aston Villa 2 QPR 2, Wednesday February 1, 2012, Premier League

The Mark Hughes era began in earnest at Villa Park the season before, the day after the close of the transfer window. With Djibril Cisse making his debut and Bobby Zamora and Samba Diakite also secured late on Hughes felt ready to take on the challenge and Rangers made a lightning start to the game. Cisse kept his record of regularly scoring on debuts going with a crisp volley into the far corner when Shaun Wright-Phillips had a shot that deflected into his path. And the lead was doubled when a cross from another newcomer Taye Taiwo was headed into his own net under no pressure by Stephen Warnock. However, Darren Bent bagged one before half time and when Charles N’Zogbia volleyed in ten minutes from time Rangers were hanging on for a point. Ultimately the R’s were lucky to get away with a late handball appeal in their own penalty area. As it turned out, they’d have to wait until August to take another point from an away match.

Villa: Given 6, Hutton 7, Cuellar 6, Dunne 6, Warnock 5, Clark 6 (Bannan 70, 6), Ireland 6, Petrov 7, N’Zogbia 7, Keane 7, Bent 7

Subs not used: Guzan, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner, Heskey, Weimann

Goals: Bent 44 (assisted Hutton), N’Zogbia 80 (assisted Petrov)

QPR: Kenny 7, Young 6, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 6, Taiwo 5, Mackie 5, Derry 5 (Ephraim 73, 6), Barton 6, Wright-Phillips 6, Cisse 7 (Macheda 81, -), Hulse 6 (Smith 54, 6)

Subs not used: Cerny, Hill, Hall, Balanta

Goals: Cisse 11 (assisted Wright-Phillips), Warnock og 22 (assisted Taiwo)

Bookings: Young (foul)

QPR 1 Aston Villa 1, Sunday September 25, 2011, Premier League

QPR needed an injury time own goal from Richard Dunne to rescue a point from the Loftus Road meeting between these sides that season after falling victim to a series of incorrect refereeing decisions. Villa took a second half lead from the penalty spot when referee Michael Oliver very harshly adjudged that Armand Traore had pulled back Gabby Agbonlahor at the back post when he’d done nothing of the sort. Barry Bannan converted the spot kick but Oliver further incensed the home ranks when he twice turned down penalty appeals for handball at the other end, including a blatant one from Alan Hutton who palmed Anton Ferdinand’s goal bound header away for a corner. Some justice was done in stoppage time when Dunne hacked into his own net after hard work from Helguson but QPR would have won the game with a different referee in charge.

QPR: Kenny 7, Young 7, Ferdinand 8, Hall 7, Traore 6, Faurlin 6, Derry 6 (Helguson 79, 7), Wright-Phillips 7 (Smith 86, -), Taarabt 7, Barton 6, Bothroyd 7 (Campbell 66, 6)

Subs Not Used: Murphy, Orr, Buzsaky, Connolly

Sent Off: Traore 90 (two bookings)

Booked: Traore (foul), Traore (foul)

Goals: Dunne 90 og (assisted Helguson)

Aston Villa: Given 7, Hutton 5, Collins 7, Dunne 8, Warnock 6, Petrov 6, Ireland 5, Delph 7, N'Zogbia 6 (Weimann 85, -), Bannan 8 (Albrighton 72, 7), Agbonlahor 6

Subs Not Used: Guzan, Delfouneso, Beye, Lowry, Gardner

Booked: Warnock (foul), Hutton (foul), Collins (foul), Petrov (foul), Agbonlahor (foul), N'Zogbia (foul)

Goals: Bannan 58 (penalty)

Aston Villa 0 QPR 1, Wednesday September 24, 2008, League Cup

QPR sprang a surprise in the League Cup when they visited Villa Park in 2008. Having seen off Swindon and Carlisle in earlier rounds with Iain Dowie in charge, no mean feat for a club with our recent cup record, QPR travelled to the West Midlands backed by a sizeable away following. The crucial goal came from the head of Damion Stewart who was magnificent that night, marking John Carew superbly. Gareth Barry went through on the goal late in the game but chose to try and execute and ambitious chip which he made a mess of. Rangers went on to play at Old Trafford in the next round, losing 1-0 to a late penalty, but by that point Dowie had been given his marching orders by Flavio Briatore.

Aston Villa: Guzan 6, Gardner 6, Cuellar 6, Knight 5, Shorey 6, Osbourne 5 (Routledge 67, 5), Petrov 5, Barry 5, Ashley Young 7, Harewood 4 (Agbonlahor 67, 6), Carew 7

Subs Not Used: Friedel, Delfouneso, Davies, Salifou, Reo-Coker

Booked: Cuellar (foul) Gardner (foul)

QPR: Cerny 7, Connolly 7, Hall 8, Stewart 9, Delaney 5, Mahon 7, Rowlands 8, Parejo 8, Ledesma 8 (Balanta 90, -), Buzsaky 7 (Leigertwood 81, -), Agyemang 6 (Di Carmine 66, 6)

Subs Not Used: Camp, Blackstock, Gorkss, Ephraim

Booked: Delaney (foul)

Goals: Stewart 58 (assisted Parejo)

Previous Results

Head to Head >>> Villa wins 18 >>> Draws 12 >>> QPR wins 23

2014/15 QPR 2 Villa 0 (Austin 2)

2012/13 Villa 3 QPR 2 (Jenas, Townsend)

2012/13 QPR 1 Villa 1 (Mackie)

2011/12 Villa 2 QPR 2 (Cisse, Warnock og)

2011/12 QPR 1 Villa 1 (Dunne og)

2008/09 Villa 0 QPR 1* (Stewart)

2004/05 Villa 3 QPR 1* (McLeod)

1995/96 Villa 4 QPR 2 (Dichio, Gallen)

1995/96 QPR 1 Villa 0 (Gallen)

1995/96 Villa 1 QPR 0*

1994/95 Villa 2 QPR 1 (Yates)

1994/95 QPR 2 Villa 0 (Dichio, Penrice)

1993/94 QPR 2 Villa 2 (McGrath og, Penrice)

1993/94 Villa 4 QPR 1 (Ferdinand)

1992/93 QPR 2 Villa 1 (Ferdinand, Allen)

1992/93 Villa 2 QPR 0

1991/92 Villa 0 QPR 1 (Ferdinand)

1991/92 QPR 0 Villa 1

1990/91 QPR 2 Villa 1 (B Allen, Tilson)

1990/91 Villa 2 QPR 2 (Wegerle pen, Sinton)

1989/90 QPR 1 Villa 1 (Clarke)

1989/90 Villa 1 QPR 3 (T Francis 3)

1988/89 QPR 1 Villa 0 (Sinton)

1988/89 Villa 2 QPR 1 (T Francis)

1986/87 Villa 0 QPR 1 (Keown og)

1986/87 QPR 1 Villa 0 (Bannister)

1985/86 QPR 0 Villa 1

1985/86 Villa 1 QPR 2 (Bannister 2

1984/85 Villa 5 QPR 2 (Bannister 2)

1984/85 QPR 2 Villa 0 (Bannister, Gregory)

1984/85 QPR 1 Villa 0* (Gregory)

1983/84 Villa 2 QPR 1 (Charles)

1983/84 QPR 2 Villa 1 (Stainrod, Withe og)

1978/79 Villa 3 QPR 1 (C Allen)

1978/79 QPR 1 Villa 0 (Harkouk)

1977/78 Villa 1 QPR 1 (Smith og)

1977/78 Villa 1 QPR 0*

1977/78 QPR 1 Villa 2 (Eastoe)

1976/77 Villa 1 QPR 1 (Abbott)

1976/77 Villa 3 QPR 0

1976/77 Villa 2 QPR 2 (G Francis, Eastoe)

1976/77 QPR 0 Villa 0

1976/77 QPR 2 Villa 1 (Masson, Clement)

1975/76 Villa 0 QPR 2 (G Francis, Hollins)

1975/76 QPR 1 Villa 1 (G Francis)

1972/73 QPR 1 Villa 0 (G Francis)

1972/73 Villa 0 QPR 1 (Leach)

1969/70 QPR 4 Villa 2 (Bridges 2, Marsh 2)

1969/70 Villa 1 QPR 1 (Marsh)

1968/69 Villa 2 QPR 1** (I Morgan)

1967/68 Villa 1 QPR 2 (Leach, Bradley)

1967/68 QPR 3 Villa 0 (Sanderson 2, Lazarus)

1919/20 Villa 2 QPR 1** (Birch)

* - League Cup

** - FA Cup

Memorable Match

Aston Villa 1 QPR 2, May 11 1968, Second Division
QPR don’t win promotion often, but when they do they’ve developed a habit of sealing it with an away match. The 2-0 win at Watford in 2011 meant nobody else could catch us and in 2004 promotion from the Second Division was completed with a 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday which kept us a nose ahead of Bristol City who also won their game heaping pressure on Ian Holloway’s men.

Back in 1968 it came down to a game at Villa Park for Rangers who were embroiled in a three horse race at the top of the Second Division with Ipswich and Blackpool. Rangers had never been in the First Division before, and had only recently begun a meteoric climb from the bottom division under the management of Alec Stock and visionary chairmanship of Jim Gregory. In 1967 they’d won the Third Division at a canter, a full 12 points clear of Middlesbrough in the days of two points for a win scoring 103 goals in the process. They’d also won the League Cup in the competition’s first Wembley final, roaring back from two goals down to beat odds on favourites West Brom from the First Division 3-2.

Stock’s team, with Rodney Marsh in attack, Mark Lazarus on the wing, the Morgan twins, Les Allen and so on was good enough to then take the Second Division by storm at the first attempt but it was never likely to be the cakewalk the season before had become. Jim Langley retired before the season began and Stock added Chelsea’s Allan Harris as his replacement. Rangers also completed a unique deal with Sheffield Wednesday, swapping brothers Ron and Peter Springett who both played in goal. Rangers started the season without Marsh, injured in pre-season training, but won five and drew one of their first six matches at the higher level to top the early table.

As the season drew to a close league leaders Ipswich had held Rangers to a 2-2 draw at Portman Road four games from the end of the season which meant going into the final day the teams were separated by just two points at the top — Ipswich on 58, QPR on 56. Town would host midtable Blackburn Rovers on the final day. In third place Blackpool, also on 56 points, were worrying the Rangers faithful after putting together a run of six straight victories going into their last match at Huddersfield Town.

By contrast Rangers were wobbling somewhat. They’d been three points clear with six games left to play but lost in successive games to Middlesbrough and Cardiff to set up a tense finish.

Ipswich got the point they needed to make absolutely sure of promotion, drawing 1-1 at home to Rovers, and Blackpool made it seven in a row with a 3-1 win at the old Leeds Road ground in Huddersfield to leave QPR requiring a victory to take the second automatic promotion spot. In front of thousands of travelling fans at Villa Park the R’s trailed 1-0 at the break and news filtered through that Blackpool were winning.

The QPR equaliser was controversial, Mick Leach claiming a goal after the ball bounced down on the line after hitting the underside of the bar. The decision went his way to the fury of the home players and delight of the travelling masses. Blackpool were now 3-1 up and time was running out. Then, with eight minutes left, Villa full back Keith Bradley got a clearance attempt badly wrong and inadvertently hacked the ball into his own net to set up wild celebrations which included several QPR players kissing the Villa man as they ran past him. Stock’s men were promoted by 0.21 of a goal from Blackpool.

Rangers relied heavily on their home form that season — 18 wins and only one defeat with just nine goals conceded — but they produced a fine performance and result on the road at the death to get them over the line. Sadly the club’s first taste of First Division football was all too much for them and they were relegated in bottom place with just 18 points and four wins from 42 games played.

QPR: Kelly, Watson, Harris, Kean, Keetch, Hazell, I Morgan, Leach, Clarke, Allen, Marsh.

Highlights >>> Villa 1 QPR 3, 1989 >>> QPR 1 Villa 0, 1973 >>> Villa 2 QPR 1, 1969

Connections

Gary Penrice >>> Aston Villa 1991 >>> QPR 1991-1995

Bristol-born Penrice became one of a clutch of former Rovers players who moved to Loftus Road in the early 1990s to play for manager Gerry Francis.

Penrice had initially been a trainee at Bristol City before being released into non-league football because the coaching staff at Ashton Gate felt he was too small. He played for Mangotsfield while training as a plumber but got a second bit of the league football cherry when Bristol Rovers offered him a deal after a trial.

Rovers was the club Penrice and his father supported and he bagged 20 goals in his first full season — 1988/89 — as they made the Third Division play off final only to lose to Port Vale. Rovers won the league a year later but Penrice had been bought by Watford before the end of the season for a club record fee of £500,000. He scored 18 goals in 43 appearances during a year at Vicarage Road before his ascent up the leagues continued with a move to First Division Aston Villa for £1m.

His progress was halted at Villa Park by a broken leg, and with the likes of Dean Saunders and Dalian Atkinson heading to that corner of Birmingham Penrice was deemed surplus to requirement after just one goal in 20 appearances. Enter QPR, who were by now under the charge of former Bristol Rovers manager Gerry Francis who was looking for a partner for the new hot property of English football Les Ferdinand.

Penrice cost £600,000, leaving Villa after just eight months, and soon found himself surrounded by former Pirates team mates including Steve Yates, Devon White and his former school friend Ian Holloway. Penrice actually made his QPR debut as a substitute against Villa in a 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road, but was in and out of the team initially and had to wait seven appearances and two months for his first goal. Like buses, when one came another quickly followed. On as a sub in a game at Coventry that QPR trailed 2-0, Penrice scored twice near the end to salvage a point and quickly followed that up with his first at Loftus Road in a 1-1 draw with Wimbledon.

Penrice scored six in the 1992/93 campaign, including a memorable double in a 4-1 home win against Spurs, as QPR finished fifth in the first ever Premier League. He got eight the season after including strikes in a 4-0 away win at West ham and a 4-3 success at Norwich. Penrice then suffered from the emergence of Kevin Gallen which moved him down the pecking order in the 1994/95 season, although he bagged another brace against Coventry and a hug-a-stranger-moment length of the field effort against his old Aston Villa side in the very final minute of a tense 2-0 win at the end of October.

Ray Wilkins replaced Gerry Francis midway through the campaign and Penrice was mostly used as a substitute, if at all, after that. Three substitute appearances at the start of the 1995/96 relegation season preceded a move back to Watford and then later a return to Bristol Rovers where he first played with Ian Holloway again, and then joined the coaching staff alongside him when he became manager.

Since retirement he has coached alongside Holloway at Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth and Leicester and worked as a European scout for Stoke City. He is now a freelance scout working in Europe for Wigan, Blackpool and others.

Others >>>Luke Young, Villa 2008-2011, QPR 2011-2014 >>> Kyle Walker, QPR (loan) 2010, Villa (loan) 2011 >>> Wayne Routledge, Villa 2008-2009, QPR 2009-2010, 2011 (loan) >>> Stefan Moore, QPR 2005-2008, Villa 2001-2005 >>> Peter Crouch, QPR 2000-2001, Villa 2002-2004 >>> Steve Hodge, Villa 1985-1986, QPR 1994-1995 >>> Simon Stainrod, QPR 1980-1985, Villa 1985-1987 >>>John Gregory, Aston Villa 1977-1979, (manager) 1998-2002, QPR 1981-1985, (manager) 2006-2007 >>> John Burridge (again), Villa 1975-1978, QPR 1980-1982

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TacticalR added 11:13 - Apr 7
Great stuff. The away win at Villa in 1968 was a bit before my time, but it's pretty amazing that we managed to go straight up from Division 2 after having been promoted from Division 3 in 1967.
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