As QPR look forward to a League Cup clash with Reading at Loftus Road on Wednesday, LFW looks back to the last time these teams met under the lights in W12.

Recent Meetings

Reading 0 QPR 1, Friday February 4, 2011, Championship

QPR secured a crucial 1-0 away win at play off chasing Reading in a live Sky match on their way to winning the Championship in 2010/11. This was a game won against the odds as the omnipresent three man refereeing committee that Brian McDermott’s Reading are famed for took control of the game from the appointed official Russell Booth. First Matt Mills deliberately upended Hogan Ephraim on his way through on goal but after the committee surrounded the referee and screamed in his face he escaped with a yellow card when it was an obvious red. Frustrated and wronged, Ephraim lunged into a tackle a moment later and Mills et al surrounded Booth once more and persuaded him to issue a red card. Down to ten against an in form team, QPR dug in and stuck it so far up Mills’ arse you could see it at the back of his throat when Ale Faurlin played Wayne Routledge in with eight minutes left and he took the shot on early, beating Federici who should have done better.

Reading: Federici 5, Griffin 5, Ingimarsson 6, Mills 5, Harte 6, McAnuff 6, Tabb 6 (Robson-Kanu 76, 6), Karacan 6, Kebe 6, Long 5, Church 5 (Manset 68, 7)

Subs Not Used: McCarthy, Gunnarsson, Hunt, Khizanishvili, Cummings

Booked: Griffin (foul), Mills (foul)

QPR: Kenny 8, Orr 7, Connolly 7, Gorkss 7, Hill 7, Routledge 8 (Hall 90, -), Derry 8, Faurlin 9, Ephraim 6, Taarabt 7 (Moen 86, -), Hulse 6 (Miller 66, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Chimbonda, Shittu

Sent Off: Ephraim 42 (serious foul play)

Booked: Hill (foul), Connolly (foul)

Goals: Routledge 82 (assisted Faurlin)

QPR 3 Reading 1, Saturday November 6, 2010, Championship

Controversial refereeing decisions have punctuated our recent clashes with Reading and it was no different when these sides last met at Loftus Road in November 2010. The R’s won 3-1 despite Bradley Orr receiving a straight red card before half time for a tackle on Hal Robson-Kanu that was crude, but barely merited a red. QPR were already in the lead by that stage thanks to a penalty from Adel Taarabt after Brian Howard had hacked him down in the penalty area during a typically mazy dribble. Reading must have fancied their chances against ten men in the second half but Rangers, and Taarabt in particular, were irresistible. Ale Faurlin rammed in a second and Tommy Smith converted after Taarabt’s free kick had been saved either side of a fine goal from Shane Long.

QPR: Kenny 7, Orr 6, Connolly 7, Gorkss 7, Walker 7, Derry 8, Faurlin 9, Mackie 8, Taarabt 9 (Clarke 80, 7), Smith 8 (Ephraim 90, -), Hulse 6 (Agyemang 81, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Leigertwood, Rowlands, Parker

Sent Off: Orr (serious foul play)

Booked: Derry (ungentlemanly conduct), Clarke (handball)

Goals: Taarabt 27 (penalty won by Taarabt), Faurlin 61 (assisted Mackie), Smith 71 (assisted Taarabt)

Reading: Federici 7, Griffin 6, Khizanishvili 6, Mills 6, Harte 6, McAnuff 5, Tabb 6 (Antonio 81, 6), Karacan 6 (Church 62, 5), Howard 6, Robson-Kanu 7 (Hunt 72, 6), Long 7

Subs Not Used: McCarthy, Cummings, Pearce, Armstrong

Booked: Mills (foul), Karacan (foul), Antonio (foul)

Goals: Long 68 (unassisted)

Reading 1 QPR 0, Tuesday March 16, 2010, Championship

QPR didn’t get the best of luck with refereeing decisions in their two meetings with Reading the previous season either, particularly in the game at the Madejski Stadium where our old friend Gavin Ward was in vintage form with the whistle. At the time both teams were enjoying resurgences under new management with Neil Warnock and Brian McDermott leading their sides up the table after winter relegation fights. Young referee Ward took centre stage by sending Damion Stewart off just before half time under heavy duress from Reading ’s three man refereeing committee and then awarding the Royals a late penalty which was converted by Gylfi Sigudsson for a 1-0 win.

Reading: Federici, Griffin , Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, Kebe,Tabb, Sigurdsson, Howard (Rasiak 61), McAnuff, Long (Church 67)

Subs Not Used: Hamer, Gunnarsson, Matejovsky, Robson-Kanu, Khizanishvili

Booked: Rasiak (diving)

Goals: Sigurdsson 85 (penalty)

QPR: Ikeme 7, Connolly 7, Stewart 6, Gorkss 8, Hill 7, Faurlin 7, Leigertwood 6, Priskin 6 (German 87), Taarabt 7 (Ramage 80, -), Ephraim 6 (Cook 90, -), Simpson 7

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Cook, Vine, Buzsaky, Borrowdale

Booked: Faurlin (foul), Leigertwood (repetitive fouling), Hill (foul), Connolly (dissent)

Sent Off: Stewart (two bookings – foul, obstructing goalkeeper)

Previous Results

Head to Head >>> QPR wins 27 >>> Draws 17 >>> Reading wins 36

2010/11 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Routledge)

2010/11 QPR 3 Reading 1 (Taarabt, Faurlin, Smith)

2009/10 Reading 1 QPR 0

2009/10 QPR 4 Reading 1 (Buzsaky, Simpson, Vine, Agyemang)

2008/09 QPR 0 Reading 0

2008/09 Reading 0 QPR 0

2005/06 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Furlong)

2005/06 QPR 1 Reading 2 (Cook)

2004/05 QPR 0 Reading 0

2004/05 Reading 1 QPR 0

2001/02 Reading 1 QPR 0

2001/02 QPR 0 Reading 0

1997/98 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Spencer)

1997/98 Reading 1 QPR 2 (Spencer, Swales og)

1996/97 QPR 0 Reading 2

1996/97 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Spencer)

1966/67 QPR 2 Reading 1 (Marsh, R Morgan)

1966/67 Reading 2 QPR 2 ( Langley pen, I Morgan)

1965/66 Reading 2 QPR 1

1965/66 QPR 0 Reading 2

1964/65 Reading 4 QPR 0**

1964/65 Reading 5 QPR 3 (Keen 2, Bedford)

1964/65 QPR 0 Reading 1

1963/64 QPR 4 Reading 2 (Bedford, Kean, Leary, Vafiadis)

1963/64 Reading 1 QPR 2 (McLeod 2)

1962/63 Reading 1 QPR 1 ( Bedford )

1962/63 QPR 3 Reading 2 (Large, Collins, Malcolm)

1961/62 Reading 0 QPR 2 (Towers 2)

1961/62 QPR 3 Reading 6 (Lazarus 2, Angell)

1960/61 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Longbottom)

1960/61 QPR 5 Reading 2 (Bedford 2, Lazarus 2, Barber)

1959/60 Reading 2 QPR 0

1959/60 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Andrews, Bedford )

1958/59 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Kerrins, Pearson)

1958/59 Reading 2 QPR 2 (Longbottom 2)

1957/58 QPR 3 Reading 0 (Woods, Longbottom, Petchey)

1957/58 Reading 3 QPR 0

1956/57 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Peacock)

1956/57 Reading 1 QPR 0

1955/56 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Cameron)

1955/56 QPR 3 Reading 3 (Smith 2, Angell)

1954/55 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Kerrins)

1954/55 QPR 2 Reading 3 (Shepherd, Smith)

1953/54 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Smith, Tomkys)

1953/54 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Shepherd)

1952/53 Reading 2 QPR 0

1952/53 QPR 1 Reading 0 ( Harrison )

1947/48 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Boxshall, Hatton)

1947/48 Reading 3 QPR 2 (Durrant, Boxshall)

1946/47 Reading 1 QPR 0

1946/47 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Heath, McEwen)

1938/39 QPR 2 Reading 2 (Bott, Devine)

1938/39 Reading 2 QPR 4 (Fitzgerlad 2, Bott, Fulwood og)

1937/38 QPR 3 Reading 0 (Fitzgerald 2, Stock)

1937/38 Reading 1 QPR 0

1936/37 Reading 2 QPR 0

1936/37 QPR 0 Reading 0

1935/36 QPR 0 Reading 1

1935/36 Reading 1 QPR 2 (Cheetham 2)

1934/35 Reading 0 QPR 0

1934/35 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Dutton, Watson)

1933/34 Reading 5 QPR 0

1933/34 QPR 0 Reading 0

1932/33 Reading 3 QPR 1 (Goddard)

1932/33 QPR 0 Reading 3

1931/32 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Wiles 2)

1931/32 Reading 3 QPR 2 (Blackman 2)

1925/26 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Burgess)

1925/26 QPR 1 Reading 2 ( Campbell )

1924/25 QPR 1 Reading 0 (Johnson)

1924/25 Reading 2 QPR 1 (Hart)

1923/24 Reading 4 QPR 0

1923/24 QPR 1 Reading 4 (Birch)

1922/23 Reading 0 QPR 0

1922/23 QPR 1 Reading 0 ( Davis )

1921/22 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Birch)

1921/22 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Gregory)

1920/21 Reading 0 QPR 0

1920/21 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Gregory, Smith)

1907/08 QPR 1 Reading 0* (Barnes)

* - FA Cup

** - League Cup

Memorable Match

QPR 4 Reading 1, Tuesday October 20, 2009, Championship

Highlights of Flavio Briatore’s reign as chairman at Loftus Road were few and far between. QPR worked their way through eight permanent managers in three seasons and despite shelling out millions on long contracts for supposedly proven players the team actually looked like it might be relegated towards the end of the 2009/10 season.

But earlier in that campaign, for one glorious fortnight, it seemed as though everything was coming together in spectacular fashion. Jim Magilton was not a popular appointment, following on from a farcical season where Rangers had been managed permanently by Iain Dowie and Paulo Sousa and temporarily on two occasions by Gareth Ainsworth and boasting a less than impressive record from his first managerial position at Ipswich . He made an inauspicious start to life at Loftus Road with no wins from the first four league games against Blackpool, Plymouth , Bristol City and Nottingham Forest.

But things started to come together for the former Northern Ireland international in September. He added Ben Watson to his midfield on loan and he formed a formidable partnership with Martin Rowlands that serviced three advanced midfielders further forward including Akos Buzsaky, Wayne Routledge and Adel Taarabt. A narrow win at Scunthorpe kick started things, with a superb performance and 2-0 success at Cardiff following soon after and a first home win of the season sealed in spectacular 5-2 fashion against Barnsley. QPR were winning, and playing beautiful football at the same time.

Meanwhile, down the M4, Brendan Rodgers was struggling with his Reading rebuilding job. They’d been relegated from the Premiership in 2008 and kept faith with both the team and the manager Steve Coppell initially only to run out of steam in the play offs during their first bounce-back attempt. The impending end of parachute payments and ambition of the players saw chairman John Madejski embark on a fire sale that included Stephen Hunt, Leroy Lita, Kevin Doyle, Marcus Hahnemann, James Harper, Khalifa Cisse and eight others. Rodgers had impressed the previous year in his first senior managerial role, guiding Watford to safety after arriving midway through the campaign and even making Tamas Priskin look like a reasonable footballer in the process. He’d been brought in with a three year remit to turn Reading back to the Premier League but would ultimately last barely three months, and a thrashing under the lights at Loftus Road was another nail in his coffin.

QPR had followed up the Barnsley win with a 4-0 thumping of Preston at Loftus Road on the Saturday and they set about Reading in similar fashion that Tuesday evening.

The free flowing, passing football that Magilton demanded was wowing the home faithful when our old friend Andy Hall intervened. Every football supporter moans about referees, it’s part of the game, but Andy Hall was so awful against QPR on so many occasions one could only conclude that the chunky Birmingham official either had a thing against the Super Hoops, was so totally incompetent he made Gurnham Singh look reasonable, or was just one of those absolute pricks you happen upon in life sometimes. Perhaps he was a combination of all three. After half an hour he brought QPR back for a free kick when they would have preferred an advantage, and then yellow carded Ben Watson for taking it too quickly which, as it was his second of the game, meant a red. An outrageously stupid piece of refereeing from an official who was never anything other than irritating, and a prime example of somebody who approached the job without a modicum of common sense.

Ultimately the injustice only served to rile Rangers. Akos Buzsaky curled the resulting free kick over the wall and into the bottom corner to give them the lead, then three minutes later Jay Simpson got on the end of Wayne Routledge’s cross to slam home a second – QPR’s goal of the season that one, coming at the end of a move that had begun with Kaspars Gorkss picking up possession in his own six yard box.

Rodgers was probably still confident of turning the game around against ten men at half time but Hall – who always was a spinless twat – ruined the Reading half time team talk with another by-the-book, no-common-sense yellow card right from the kick off of the second half that saw Ivar Ingimarsson sent off and the numbers evened up. Rangers were never going to lose from that point and as the passing football continued to flow substitutes Rowan Vine and Patrick Agyemang both got on the scoresheet in some style in the final 20 minutes. A late strike from Shane Long was mere consolation for the visitors.

Within a month, both managers were out of work. Rodgers was sacked and replaced by his chief scout Brian McDermott, who remains to this day. Magilton’s Rangers scored four times in a match for the third time in a week that Saturday at Derby County live on the BBC but subsequently collapsed with a 5-1 home defeat by Middlesbrough and 3-1 set back at Watford, after which Magilton allegedly headbutted midfielder Buzsaky in the dressing room.

Magilton was sacked and replaced, for five matches, by Paul Hart. By the end of the season QPR were under the charge of Neil Warnock and lucky to avoid relegation. But for that one week at least, everything Magilton and Rangers touched turned to gold, and goals.

QPR: Cerny 8, Ramage 8, Stewart 9, Gorkss 9, Borrowdale 8, Buzsaky 9 (Mahon 66, 8), Watson 6, Faurlin 8, Taarabt 9 (Agyemang 75, 8), Routledge 8, Simpson 8 (Vine 53, 7)

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Hall, Alberti, Ainsworth

Sent Off: Watson (two bookings)

Booked: Watson (foul), Watson (taking quick free kick), Borrowdale (foul), Faurlin (foul)

Goals: Buzsaky 31 (unassisted), Simpson 39 (assisted Routledge), Vine 71 (assisted Borrowdale), Agyemang 83 (assisted Mahon)

Reading: Federici 3, Cisse 3 (Sigurdsson 46, 6), Mills 5, Ingimarsson 4, O'Dea 5, Tabb 3 (Howard 46, 7), Gunnarsson 5, Kebe 6, McAnuff 7, Long 5, Church 5 (Robson-Kanu 59, 5)

Subs Not Used: Hamer, Karacan, Rasiak, Pearce

Sent Off: Ingmarsson (two bookings)

Booked: Ingimarsson (repetitive fouling), Ingimarsson (foul)

Goals: Howard 86 (assisted McAnuff)

Highlights >>> Reading 0 QPR 1, 2010/11 >>> QPR 4 Reading 1, 2009/10 >>> Reading 2 QPR 1, 2006

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derbyhoop added 23:35 - Sep 25 Vividly remember the 4-1. Rangers were on fire - despite one of the worst pieces of refereeing I think I'd ever seen.
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M40R added 15:42 - Sep 26 That golden patch in the autumn of 2009 is still vivid. Our midfield stroked the ball around almost like Barcelona for a few weeks. That form came from nowhere and faded so quickly: was it not the next home game v Leicester when a 1-0 lead collapsed to a 2-1 defeat? With hindsight, the team lacked balance and shape, something that NW was able to fix.
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TacticalR added 16:19 - Sep 26 I think that our 0-1 victory at Reading in 2010/11 helped them to win the Championship the following because Brian McDermott was taught a lesson in how a team can soak up pressure and still go on to win.
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