Ahead of Friday’s trip to Reading, we look back to 2011 when QPR won here 1-0 with ten men to boost their title charge.

Memorable Match

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

Few games summed up all that was great about Neil Warnock’s 2010/11 Queens Park Rangers better than a televised Friday night win at fellow promotion hopefuls Reading in early February.

Rangers had famously beaten club and divisional records be remaining unbeaten through their first 19 matches of the season to top the Championship, but suffered something of a Christmas wobble with their first defeat of the season at home to Watford quickly followed by losses in the league against Leeds and Norwich and a cup exit at Blackburn.

Warnock was given funds to strengthen in January, adding Danny Shittu, Ishmael Miller and, crucially, Wayne Routledge to replace Jamie Mackie who’d broken his leg in that cup tie at Rovers after starting the season so well. Routledge scored a beautiful winning goal off a world class assist from Adel Taarabt late in a January home match with Coventry — Rangers’ first maximum point haul in four games — and a draw at Hull and comfortable win at home to relegation-haunted Portsmouth had followed.

But Reading looked like tough opposition. Beaten 3-1 at Loftus Road prior to Christmas, the Royals had since embarked on a run of one defeat in 14 games (and that to title chasing Swansea). Though a good number of those were drawn, a play-off push was well underway and Brian McDermott’s men would eventually make it to Wembley only to be beaten by their former manager Brendan Rodgers and his Swansea side once more.

Things got tougher still when referee Russell Booth fell victim to a trick that McDermott’s sides regularly pulled on match officials, and one they’d stung Rangers with in the same way on the same ground the previous season. McDermott always seemed like a decent, honourable, well-spoken sort but his post match blithering about perceived refereeing injustices was tiresome and his team’s behaviour on the field towards the man with the whistle lamentable.

Led by rent-a-gob Matt Mills and midfield enforcer Jem Karacan, parties of three and four Reading players would surround referees to berate every decision and apply pressure. Here, midway through the first half, Mills cynically took out Hogan Ephraim as he ran clear on goal but escaped with a yellow after one such committee meeting. Moments later Ephraim, still annoyed, went in late on his man and with Mills literally screaming in Booth’s face about the verocity of the challenge a red card was produced.

It mattered not. Rangers dug in for a point and ended up with all three. Making light of a hard, bald playing surface, Ale Faurlin carved the Reading defence apart and exposed Mills’ lack of speed and ability at his actual job with a pass for the ages ten minutes from time. Routledge left Mills in his dust, surprised Federici the goalkeeper by taking the shot on early, and buried the ball in the far bottom corner in front of a jubilant away end.

Rangers would only lose three more games all season, and one of those was on the final day when the title had been secured. The Reading result paved the way to 14 points from 18 available as Warnock’s wonderful side tightened its grip on the division.

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)

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

Recent Meetings

Queens Park Rangers 2 Reading 0, Saturday August 5, 2017, Championship

QPR shrugged aside a summer of negativity and pessimism to defeat the losing play-off finalists on the opening day of the season at Loftus Road. Reading had only missed promotion to the Premier League by losing a penalty shoot-out against Huddersfield at Wembley in May but were comprehensively outplayed by Rangers on day one, hinting at the season of struggle to come in Berkshire. Conor Washington scored either side of half time — the second remains QPR’s only penalty this season to date — to secure a comfortable 2-0 win and get the R’s off to a flyer.

QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 7, Onuoha 8, Lynch 7; Wszolek 8, Bidwell 7 (Robinson 87, -); Scowen 8, Luongo 8, Freeman 8; Washington 7 (Sylla 81, -), Mackie 7 (Ngbakoto 83, -)

Subs not used: Furlong, Ingram, Borysiuk, Smith

Goals: Washington 22 (assisted Wszolek), 59 (penalty, won Wszolek)

Bookings: Lynch (foul)

Reading: Mannone 5; Gunter 5, Moore 6, Illori 5, Blackett 5; Kelly 6, Evans 5, Popa 5, Clement 5 (Barrow 52, 6); Swift 6 (Mendes 82, -); Bodvarsson 4 (Richards 59, 5)

Subs not used: Jaakkola, Rinomhota, Richards, Smith

Red Cards: Illori 56 (professional foul)

Bookings: Bodvarsson 28 (foul) Barrow 90+2 (foul)

Reading 0 QPR 1, Thursday January 12, 2017, Championship

QPR’s dire end to last season sadly undid a lot of the good work and optimism that had built through January, February and March as Ian Holloway’s plan for the team seemed to click into gear and begin to work. That began with a dominant display and deserved victory at high-flying Reading live on Sky in mid-January — the Royals first home defeat of the season in the league. A well-worked goal by Jamie Mackie which owed much to clever approach work by Pawel Wszolek and Ryan Manning settled the game but Idrissa Sylla, Mackie and Joel Lynch all came close to adding a second goal. Yann Kermorgant hit the bar late on with a header he should have scored but Rangers were good value for their victory.

Reading: Al Habsi 5; Gunter 6, Moore 6, Van Den Berg 6, Obita 5; Kelly 6; Beerens 6, Williams 6, Swift 6 (Meite 73, 5), McCleary 6; Kermorgant 4

Subs not used: Cooper, Evans, Samuel, Wieser, Watson, Moore

Bookings: Moore 85 (handball), van den Berg 89 (foul)

QPR: Smithies 6; Furlong 7, Onuoha 7, Lynch 7, Bidwell 7; Manning 7 (Doughty 86, -), Hall 8, Luongo 7; Mackie 7 (Comley 90+2, -), Wszolek 8, Sylla 7 (Lua Lua 73, 6)

Subs not used: Ingram, El Khayati, Shodipo, Ngbakoto

Goals: Mackie 28 (assisted Manning)

Bookings: Mackie 33 (kicking ball away), Wszolek 87 (foul)

QPR 1 Reading 1, Saturday October 10, 2016, Championship

Things started well for Rangers in the first meeting between these sides last season. Mide Shodipo’s drive through the heart of the visitors and deft chipped pass set Pawel Wszolek away for a well finished opener after 11 minutes. But Reading were level soon after when Dan Williams was left unattended at the back post for a simple equaliser and although Seb Polter headed a second half corner wide when he should have scored it was only a string of saves from Alex Smithies that kept the score level in a lifeless encounter.

QPR: Smithies 7; Perch 5, Onuoha 5, Hall 6 (Caulker 35,5) Lynch 5; Henry 5, Borysiuk 6; Shodipo 5 (Washington 53,6), Chery 5, Wzsolek 6 (Sylla 73, 5) ; Polter 6

Subs not used: Ingam, Gladwin, Hamalainen, Luongo

Goals: Wzsolek 11 (assisted Shodipo)

Bookings: Lynch 56 (foul)

Reading: Al-Habsi 6; Blackett 5 (Obita 66, 6), van den Berg 6, Moore 6, Gunter 6; Evans 7, Williams 8; McCleary 7 (Harriot 84, 6), Swift 7, Beerens 7, Kermogant 7

Subs not used: Samuel, Gravenberch, Watson, Jaakkola, Kelly

Goals: Williams 21 (assisted McCleary)

Bookings: van den Berg 49 (foul)

QPR 1 Reading 1, Saturday April 23, 2016, Championship

A standard midtable Championship match between these two played out to a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road in April 2016. QPR had tested Ali Al Habsi, who’d gifted them a win in the corresponding fixture, with a free kick from Tjaronn Chery and a shot on the turn from Seb Polter before Grant Hall scored his first goal for the club — a towering back post header back over the keeper from Ale Faurlin’s beautifully flighted corner. But Reading had been pinging dangerous shots in on Matt Ingram long before Latvian Deniss Rakels struck an equaliser five minutes before half time and a draw was a justified, if fairly dull, outcome.

QPR: Ingram 7; Perch 6, Onuoha 6, Hall 7, Kpekawa 6; Luongo 6, Faurlin 7; Gladwin 7 (El Khayati 70, 6), Chery 6 (Washington 87, -), Phillips 6 (Petrasso 77, 6); Polter 6

Subs not used: Hill, Lumley, Diakite, Hoilett

Goals: Hall 35 (assisted Faurlin)

Reading: Al Habsi 7; McCleary 6, Ferdinand 6, Cooper 6, Taylor 6 (Gunter 77, 6); Evans 6, Norwood 7, Cox 6, Quinn 6 (Hector 71, 6); Kermorgant 6 (Vydra 81, -); Rakels 7

Subs not used: Bond, Piazon, John, Barrett

Goals: Rakels 41 (assisted Kermorgant)

Bookings: Norwood 24 (foul)

Reading 0 QPR 1, Thursday December 3, 2015, Championship

Neil Warnock signed off his second spell at the club with a last gasp win at Reading back in December that season, on the eve of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's arrival as manager. The result was somewhat fortuitous, with Reading enjoying much more of the ball and chances, and striking the bar in the second half when Robert Green inexplicably allowed Nathan Blackman's free kick to fly right past him and flush against the woodwork. The winning goal, in stoppage time, owed much to a goalkeeping error at the other end as Ali Al Habsi inexplicably fumbled a tame header from Nedum Onuoha into the net off a late corner.

Reading: Al Habsi 3; Gunter 6, Hector 5, Ferdinand 6, Taylor 5; McCleary 6, Fernandez 5 (Robson Kanu 73, 5), Williams 6, Norwood 7; Blackman 6 (John 80, -), Vydra 5 (Sa 80, -)

Subs not used: Bond, Obita, Hurtado, Cooper

Booked: Norwood 67 (foul)

QPR: Green 5; Perch 5, Onuoha 7, Hall 6, Konchesky 5; Phillips 5, Fer 5, Sandro 7, Faurlin 7, Petrasso 6 (Austin 63, 6), Hoilett 6 (Chery 76, 6)

Subs not used: Henry, Angella, Smithies, Angella, Tozser

Goals: Onuoha 89 (assisted Faurlin)

Booked: Fer 28 (foul), Hall 40 (deliberate handball)

QPR 1 Reading 3, Sunday February 16, 2014, Championship

Although Harry Redknapp's QPR side went on to win promotion at Wembley in 2014, they endured a prolonged loss of form through the spring when Charlie Austin was out injured. One of several attempts at replacing the talismanic front man, Kevin Doyle, bundled a goal in against his former club Reading at Loftus Road in February but it was only an equaliser after Danny Williams had headed the visitors in front. After half time Pearce was able to head home unmarked at a corner, and Garath McCleary made the most of Benoit Assou Ekotto's disinterest by moving into acres of space and pinging in a third from long range.

QPR: Green 6; Hughes 5, Dunne 5, Hill 6, Assou-Ekotto 5 (Benayoun 78, 5); Hoilett 6, Kranjcar 5, Barton 6, Traore 6; Doyle 6, Keane 6 (Zamora 57, 5)

Subs not used: Onuoha, Jenas, Henry, Murphy, Maiga

Goals: Doyle 20 (assisted Traore/Hoilett/Keane)

Bookings: Hoilett 14 (foul), Hill 25 (foul), Barton 60 (foul), Kranjcar 62 (foul)

Reading: McCarthy 6; Gunter 6, Gorkss 6, Pearce 7, Obita 7; McCleary 8 (Kelly 90+3, -), Williams 8, Akpan 7, McAnuff 7; Pogrebnyak 6 (Robson-Kanu 85, -), Le Fondre 7 (Hector 73, 6)

Subs not used: Federici, Drenthe, Guthrie, Blackman

Goals: Williams 10 (assisted Le Fondre), Pearce 56 (assisted McAnuff), McCleary 58 (unassisted)

Sent off: Gorkss 70 (serious foul play)

Bookings: Williams 29 (foul), McCleary 46 (foul), Obita 90 (foul)

Reading 1 QPR 1, Saturday November 9, 2013, Championship

Reading were grateful to their goalkeeper Alex McCarthy for holding QPR at bay when these two sides met live on Sky in November 2013. McCarthy saved well from Charlie Austin twice and Matt Phillips once in the first five minutes of the match, and Junior Hoilett hit the cross bar from long range. When a long range strike from Garath McCleary deceived Robert Green on the hour it looked like being a tale of two goalkeepers but a late free kick from Joey Barton restored parity and a point was the least Rangers deserved for one of their better away performances of the season.

Reading: McCarthy 8; Gunter 6, Morrison 6, Gorkss 5, Kelly 5; McCleary 7 (McAnuff 89, -), Guthrie 6 (Akpan 89, -), Baird 6, Obita 5; Pogrebnyak 6 Robson-Kanu 6 (Sharp 89, -)

Subs not used: Federici, Pearce, Cummings, Le Fondre

Goals: McCleary 62 (unassisted)

Bookings: Pogrebnyak 66 (foul)

QPR: Green 7; Simpson 7, Hill 6, Dunne 6 (Onuoha 46, 6), Assou Ekotto 6; Barton 7, O’Neil 6 (Johnson 66, 7); Phillips 7, Jenas 5 (Kranjcar 31, 5), Hoilett 7; Austin 6

Subs not used: Traore, Chevanton, Murphy, Henry

Goals: Barton 76 (free kick, won Austin)

Bookings: Assou-Ekotto 44 (foul)

Reading 0 QPR 0, Sunday April 28, 2013, Premier League

Rangers and the Royals bizarrely managed to relegate each other when they met in a dreadful encounter at the Madejski Stadium in 2012/13. Marooned as the bottom two in the Premier League after a string of poor results they had effectively had their fate sealed over the previous weeks, but a bore draw in front of the Sky cameras at the Madejski Stadium mathematically sealed both teams’ fates. It was a game best remembered for Jose Bosingwa, substituted in the second half of a lousy personal performance, laughing his way down the tunnel at the final whistle as QPR geared up for life in the Championship.

Reading: McCarthy 6, Gunter 6, Mariappa 6, Morrison 6, Kelly 5 (Harte 76, 6), Karacan 5, Guthrie 6, McAnuff 7, McLeary 6 (Le Fondre 64, 6), Blackman 6 (Robson Kanu 55, 6), Pogrebnyak 5

Subs not used: Taylor, Pearce, Caricco, Hunt

QPR: Green 6, Bosingwa 4 (Da Silva 73, 5), Onuoha 7, Hill 6, Traore 6, Granero 6, Mbia 6 (Mackie 89, -), Jenas 6, Taarabt 5 (Hoilett 68, 5), Bothroyd 5, Remy 5

Subs not used: Cesar, Ben Haim, Derry, Park

Bookings: Granero 71 (foul), Da Silva 90 (foul)

QPR 1 Reading 1, Sunday November 4, 2012, Premier League

QPR’s winless run at the start of last season stretched out to ten league matches with another poor performance and result against lowly Reading at Loftus Road in November that season. The Royals had already been to W12 and triumphed 3-2 in the League Cup the month before, and those familiar defensive fragilities were on display again when former QPR favourite Kaspars Gorkss scored from a set piece after a quarter of an hour — his second goal in as many appearances against his former employers. Rangers rallied slightly after half time and Djibril Cisse seized on a through ball from Jose Bosingwa to notch an equaliser, but the display and scoreline left a lot to be desired. Things deteriorated further with subsequent defeats against Stoke and Southampton which ultimately saw Mark Hughes sacked as manager.

QPR: Cesar 6, Bosingwa 4, Ferdinand 4, Nelsen 8, Traore 5 (Onuoha 84 -), Hoilett 6, Granero 6, Diakite 7, Taarabt 7, Mackie 5 (Zamore 81,-), Cisse 6

Subs Not Used: Green, Hill, Derry, Wright-Phillips, Faurlin

Goals: Cisse 66 (assisted Bosingwa)

Reading: McCarthy 8, Gunter 6, Morrison 6, Gorkss 7, Shorey 6, McCleary 5 (Kebe 62, 7), Tabb 7, Leigertwood 7, McAnuff 6 (Robson-Kanu 79, 6), Roberts 7 (Le Fondre 88, -), Hunt 6

Subs: Federici, Pearce, Cummings, Pogrebnyak

Goals: Gorkss 16 (assisted Morrison)

Bookings: Hunt 33 (foul), Le Fondre 90 (diving)

QPR 2 Reading 3, Wednesday September 26, 2012, League Cup

After a patchy start to the campaign, QPR’s 2012/13 season really started to come off the rails in September when newly promoted West Ham and Reading both came to Loftus Road and won, scoring six goals between them in the process. The Royals went first, without a win themselves in the league and fielding a mixture of first and reserve teams for a League Cup clash. QPR stuck their first choice 11 out there and seemed to be on course for due reward when Junior Hoilett powered through the visiting defence and scored his first QPR goal. Although Reading subsequently equalised when former QPR defender Kaspars Gorkss headed in a free kick, the home side restored their advantage after half time with a fabulous long range strike from Djibril Cisse. That looked like being that, but a physical Reading side forced their way back in and a mixture of their persistence and QPR’s defensive incompetence allowed first Nicky Shorey to curl in a long range free kick and then Pavel Pogrebnyak to back heel in from close range. The Russian subsequently missed a stoppage time penalty that would have made it 4-2. Reading went on to lose 7-5 to Arsenal in remarkable circumstances in the next round.

QPR: Cesar 6, Dyer 6 (Nelsen 64, 5), Mbia 6, Hill 7, Onuoha 5, Mackie 5, Granero 6, Faurlin 7 (Diakite 87, -), Park 5 (Zamora 67, 6), Hoilett 6, Cisse 6

Subs not used: Green, Derry, Wright Phillips, Ehmer

Goals: Hoilett 14 (unassisted), Cisse 71 (unassisted)

Bookings: Mbia 26 (foul), Cisse 71 (over celebrating)

Reading: McCarthy 7, Cummings 6, Gorkss 7, Mariappa 6 (Morrison 79, -), Shorey 7, Kebe 6 (McCleary 69, 6), Karacan 6, Tabb 6, Robson Kanu 6, Pogrebniak 6, Hunt 7

Subs not used: Taylor, Gunter, McAnuff, Le Fondre, Church

Goals: Gorkss 15 (assisted Shorey), Shorey 76 (unassisted — free kick), Pogrebnyak 81 (assisted Hunt)

Bookings: Kebe 60 (foul), Robson Kanu 84 (dissent)

Previous Results

Head to Head >>> Reading wins 38 >>> Draws 22 >>> QPR wins 30

2017/18 QPR 2 Reading 0 (Washington 2)

2016/17 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Mackie)

2016/17 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Wszolek)

2015/16 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Hall)

2015/16 Reading 0 QPR 1 (Onuoha)

2013/14 QPR 3 Reading 1 (Doyle)

2013/14 Reading 1 QPR 1 (Barton)

2012/13 QPR 1 Reading 1 (Cisse)

2012/13 QPR 2 Reading 3** (Hoilett, Cisse)

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

Connections

Brian Bedford >>> QPR 1959-1965 >>> Reading 1954-1955

Welsh born centre forward with an astonishing goal scoring record during his six years with QPR — second only to George Goddard in Rangers’ all-time scoring charts.

Bedford initially attracted the attention of Charlton while in the RAF but went on to make only a handful of appearances for Reading and Southampton as a youngster before catching QPR’s eye with 32 league goals in 75 appearances along the south coast at Bournemouth.

Alec Stock paid a whopping £750 to bring him to Loftus Road from Dean Court and he proceeded to terrorise the Third Division over the coming years. He scored 180 goals for Rangers in 283 appearances, including seven against Bournemouth in meetings with his former employers.

In 1960/61 he scored 37 goals in 48 appearances but QPR narrowly missed out on promotion into the Second Division. Two seasons after he left for Scunthorpe Stock’s QPR side cruised to the title and League Cup success while Bedford scored a respectable 23 goals in 37 appearances for the Iron in 1965/66. He spent our double year down the road at Brentford before winding down his football career with the Atlanta Chiefs. He retired from the game aged 36 and then went on to be a professional tennis player for the next 17 years.

Bedford said: “I didn't pick up a tennis racket until I was 33, when I was playing football in the American league for Atlanta and living in Williamsburg. Some friends over there got me hooked on tennis and I carried on playing when I got back from England. After I retried in 1968 I got all the necessary tennis coaching qualifications and turned pro in 1970. I carried on in tennis until my knees have out but I spent a very happy 17 years coaching at the Barn Elms Sports Centre in Barnes.

"When I signed for QPR, Alec Stock had just been named as the new manager. I travelled up to West London to be interviewed by the Club and Alec said: 'You'll score 30 goals a year for me son.’ Just like that! So I said 'You're joking?' as my record down at Bournemouth was something like 32 goals over three years. But Alec said 'Yes you will!' And he wasn't far wrong, was he? Alec played a big part in my goal scoring. We used to play with those old fashioned players called wingers. We always seemed to get good wide men at the club like Mark Lazarus who could provide excellent crosses. So I was the benefactor of that.

"I recall that the top wage in the Third Division - which Rangers were in at the time - was about £35 to £40 a week. Ridiculous really, but it was still much better than the average working man's salary. Not only that, as far as I was concerned I was getting paid for something I loved doing. That was a big thing for me.

"Jim Gregory was appointed as chairman of QPR and he started pouring some money in with new players being signed. Unfortunately, I was just starting to go a little bit over the hill as far as age was concerned. I was nearly 32 years old then. The club had to offload some of the playing staff and I was one of them, I'm afraid. I had six very happy seasons at Rangers. Then they transferred me to that Godforsaken place called Scunthorpe. I don't think Alec Stock wanted me to sign for any other London team or any nearby club in case I embarrassed him. It was very sad. I didn't like leaving Loftus Road. But you have to move on don't you? That's life."

He worked later as a tennis coach, and the stadium manager at Loftus Road, before returning to Wales for his retirement.

A more fulsome interview with Brian is available on the always excellent QPRNet.com website.

Others >>> Jamie Mackie, QPR 2015-present, 2010-2013, Reading (loan) 2014-2015 >>> Stephen Kelly, Reading 2003-2005, QPR (loan) 2003 >>> Alex McCarthy, QPR 2014-2015, Reading 2007-2014 >>> Kevin Doyle, QPR (loan) 2014, Reading 2005-2009 >>> Anton Ferdinand, Reading 2014-2016, QPR 2011-2013 >>> Matt Connolly, Reading (loan) 2012, QPR 2008-2012 >>> Kaspars Gorkss, Reading 2011-2015, QPR 2008-2011 >>> Mikele Leigertwood, Reading 2010-2014, QPR 2008-2011 >>> Jamie Cureton, QPR 2004-2005, Reading 2000-2003 >>> Tony Thorpe, QPR 2003-2005, Reading (loan) 1998 >>> Steve Morrow, QPR 1997-2001, Reading (loan) 1991 >>> Les Ferdinand, Reading 2005, QPR 1987-1995 >>> Simon Osborn, QPR 1995, Reading 1994-1995 >>> Michael Meaker, Reading 1995-1998, QPR 1990-1995 >>> Brian Bedford, QPR 1959-1965, Reading 1954-1955

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GroveR added 20:43 - Mar 28 I'm trying to work out how Boswinga merits a 4 from that god awful game. Turning up, wearing the shirt and successfully impersonating a footballer for a 3 is about as much as I reckon. -1m for being a bit of a cùnt would be a fairer assessment. Not an exact science these match ratings 😂
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