We're back to 1994 for this week's memorable match ahead of Saturday's trip to Blackburn, and an unlikely rescue act from Karl Ready after Tim Sherwood hobbled Les Ferdinand at Ewood Park.

Memorable Match

Blackburn 1 QPR 1, Sunday April 24, 1994, Premier League

QPR halted a rotten run of results, and avenged a dreadful Tim Sherwood tackle on Les Ferdinand, by securing an unlikely point at Ewood Park that put paid to the home team’s 1994 Premier League title ambitions.

Gerry Francis’ team had absolutely flown through the first half of the season and looked good for European qualification themselves when they went on a run of eight wins from 13 top flight games through the autumn. That included classics still talked about to this day like the 2-1 at Newcastle where Jan Stejskal saved a last minute penalty, a 5-1 rout of Coventry w2here Bobby Gould resigned in the tunnel at full time, a 4-0 win at Upton Park, a Devon White-inspired home hammering of Ipswich, and a 1-0 W12 night under the lights against big spending, title chasing Blackburn.

Kenny Dalglish’s side recovered from that set back to pursue Manchester United for the title all the way down to the final weeks. They lost just one of the next 15 games and then, having been beaten narrowly at Arsenal, won six of the next seven to ramp up the pressure at the top. That run included what felt like a crucial 2-0 home win against Alex Ferguson’s men thanks to two goals from the free scoring Alan Shearer.

Rangers, meanwhile, faltered. They sold centre back Darren Peacock to Newcastle for £2.5m shortly after he’d hammered in a winner at home to Wimbledon. On top of the prior sales of David Seaman, Paul Parker, Roy Wegerle and Andy Sinton, this kicked off protests against young chairman Richard Thompson in earnest. The R’s lost 4-1 at Oldham, 4-0 at home to Leeds and 3-1 at Sheff Wed amidst howls of protest and pitch invasions.

Although they had rallied to beat Everton at home on the last day of terracing in the Lower Loft – Devon White punching in a winner past an incandescent Neville Southall – the London side were seen as little more than cannon fodder for Blackburn in a Super Sunday clash at Ewood Park. That was certainly the script referee Rodger Gifford was working to – allowing Shearer to stick a quick free kick into an unguarded net while Tony Roberts was setting up his wall, and inexplicably failing to send off Tim Sherwood for one of the worst tackles I’ve ever seen in a game which put Les Ferdinand out of action.

So far, so predictable, but there was to be a late sting in this particular tale. Blackburn had wobbled to a 3-1 loss at Southampton the week before and their title hopes were dealt a fatal blow ten from time when Karl Ready popped up in attack to slide in an unlikely equaliser. It was the decision to start with Ready rather than directly replace Peacock which had tipped the supporters over the edge in the first place so rather ironic that he should be the man to score. He played for the club for ten years, scoring 11 times, and QPR never lost a game he netted in.

Rangers eventually settled in ninth place, while Rovers stumbled to one win from the last five and finished eight points behind United at the top. They would be champions of England within 12 months, mind.

Blackburn: T Flowers, D May, G Le Saux, D Batty, C Hendry, H Berg, S Ripley, T Sherwood, A Shearer, M Newell (P Warhurst, 14), J Wilcox

Subs not used: A Wright, R Mimms

QPR: A Roberts, D Bardsley, C Wilson, R Wilkins, K Ready, S Yates, A Impey, I Holloway, L Ferdinand (S Barker, 22), D White, T Sinclair

Subs not used: J Stejskal, A McDonald

Referee: Rodger Gifford

Attendance: 19,913

Classic Encounters

LFW regular and AKUTR’s columnist Dave Barton has set up a QPR Memories YouTube channel, with a mixture of clips, classic games, and old highlights packages. His Blackburn packages are embedded below, give him a subscribe on YouTube or follow @QPR_Memories on Twitter.

Recent Meetings

QPR 1 Blackburn 3, Saturday February 14, 2026, Championship

QPR handed Michael O’Neill the perfect start to his Rovers rescue act by rolling over for a comfortable 3-1 loss at Loftus Road in his first game in charge. Rangers were heavy favourites for a game against a crisis-riddled visitor, but were distinctly second best despite Koki Saito’s brief respite between first half goals from Mathias Jorgensen. Saito’s fellow countryman Ryoya Morishita was outstanding throughout and added a deserved third in the second half.

QPR: Walsh 5; Edwards 5, Dunne 4, Cook 4 (Kolli 69, 6), Norrington-Davies 3 (Esquerdinha 79, 6); Madsen 5 (Smyth 69, 6), Hayden 4 (Morgan 79, 5); Bennie 3 (Mbengue 69, 6), Vale 4, Saito 4; Kone 4

Subs not used: Adamson, Hamer, Smith

Goals: Saito 35 (assisted Hayden)

Yellow Cards: Hayden 38 (foul), Vale 78 (foul)

Blackburn: Toth 6; Alebiosu 6, Carter 7, McLoughlin 6, Cashin 7; Baradji 6 (Montgomery 90, -), Tronstad 7; Morishita 8 (Forshaw 90, -), Jorgensen 8, Afolayan 6 (Miller 46, - (Pickering 54, 6)); Gudjohnsen 6 (Ohashi 74, 6)

Subs Not Used: De Neve, Michalski, O’Riordan, Ribeiro

Goals: Jorgensen 21 (assisted Morishita), 39 (assisted Tronstad), Morishita 50 (assisted Tronstad)

Yellow Cards: McLoughlin 36 (foul), Morishita 84 (dissent), Cashin 90+2 (kicking ball away)

Blackburn 0 QPR 1, Wednesday November 26, 2025, Championship

A rare win for QPR at Ewood Park secured by a late back post header from Paul Smyth in front of a hardy band of midweek travelling support. On a dreadful pitch and in a morgue-like atmosphere a dreadful game seemed to be drifting away to a 0-0 draw until substitute Smyth headed in Ilias Chair’s well flighted cross. Full of confidence, Smyth almost made it 2-0 immediately with a spectacular first time volley which Ainsley Pears saved almost by accident in the home goal.

Blackburn: Pears 6; Miller 4, McLoughin 5, Pratt 5; Alebiosu 5, Gardner-Hickman 5 (Forshaw 73, 5), Montgomery 5 (Tavares 82, -), Hedges 5 (De Neve 73, 4); Ohashi 5, Morishita 5 (Baradji 82, -), Gudjohnsen 4 (Gueye 73, 5)

Subs not used: Litherland, Michalski, Ribeiro, Ronnie Pickering

Yellow Cards: McLoughlin 22 (foul), Hedges 37 (foul), Ohashi 90+1 (foul)

QPR: Hamer 6 (Nardi 19, 7); Mbengue 7, Dunne 6, Cook 6, Field 6; Varane 6, Madsen 6; Dembele 6 (Smyth 71, 7), Saito 6 (Kone 71, 6), Chair 7; Burrell 6

Subs not used: Frey, Hayden, Kolli, Morgan, Morrison, Norrington-Davies

Goals: Smyth 78 (assisted Chair)

QPR 2 Blackburn 1, Tuesday February 4, 2025, Championship

QPR’s unlikely, and ultimately doomed, play-off push continued apace with a late 2-1 victory at home to Blackburn. All looked well when Michi Frey opened the scoring just five minutes in but Blackburn were threatening all night and equalised from the penalty spot ten minutes into the second half through Dolan. A draw looked like a fair outcome, but Jack Colback’s deflected drive off Alfie Lloyd’s suspicious handball assist won the day for Marti Cifuentes’ side.

QPR: Nardi 7; Dunne 7, Cook 6, Edwards 8, Paal 6; Morgan 6 (Colback 71, 6), Field 6; Smyth 6 (Min-Hyeok 66’, 6), Chair 7 (Fox 89, -), Saito 6 (Varane 89, -); Frey 6 (Lloyd 66, 5)

Subs not used: Walsh, Ashby, Morrison, Kolli

Goals: Frey 5 (assisted Chair), Colback 74 (unassisted)

Blackburn: Pears 5; Brittain 6, Hyam 5, Batth 5, Beck 6; Travis 5 (Forshaw 82,-), Buckley 6 (Rankin-Costello 82, -); Dolan 7 (Cozier-Duberry 64, 5), Weimann 4 (Cantwell 64, 6), Hedges 5 (Kargbo 87, -); Gueye 6

Subs not used: Toth, Sanderson, Litherland, Edmondson

Goals: Dolan 54 (penalty, won Brittain)

Blackburn 2 QPR 0, Saturday September 28, 2024, Championship

No repeat of the previous season’s rare win at Ewood Park when these sides met in September, as Jonathan Varane’s first half red card proved crucial. Varane was dismissed by Premier League referee Craig Pawson for a late lunge on the stroke of half time. Lewis Travis’ histrionics in the wake of the challenge were deeply embarrassing, which only made it more annoying when he opened the scoring during a second half onslaught which also included a rare goal from centre back Danny Batth. Not for the first or last time at this point of the season only Paul Nardi’s athleticism kept the score respectable – an outrageous triple save the highlight.

Blackburn: Pears 6; Pickering 6 (Cantwell 46, 8), Hyam 6, Batth 7, Carter 6; Tronstad 6, Travis 8 (Buckley 77, 6); Hedges 6 (Rankin-Costello 77, 6), Dolan 7, Weimann 6 (Cozier-Duberry 77, 6); Ohashi 7 (Gueye 65, 4)

Subs not used: Baker, Duru, McFadzean, Toth

Goals: Travis 53 (assisted Dolan), Batth 63 (assisted Cantwell)

Yellow Cards: Hedges 8 (dive), Travis 38 (foul), Dolan 88 (foul)

QPR: Nardi 7; Santos 4 (Ashby 46, 5), Cook 5, Dunne 5, Paal 5; Varane 3, Field 5 (Bennie 81, -); Saito 5 (Andersen 70, 5), Dembele 4 (Madsen 46, 5); Smyth 5; Frey 6 (Celar 75, 5)

Subs not used: Dixon-Bonner, Lloyd, Morgan, Walsh

Red Cards: Varane 45+1 (dangerous tackle)

Yellow Cards: Santos 35 (foul), Cook 59 (foul)

Blackburn 1 QPR 2, Saturday February 3, 2024, Championship

QPR’s first win at Ewood Park in almost a quarter of a century couldn’t have been better timed for Marti Cifuentes’ team as they attempted to avoid relegation from the Championship. After some unexpected late transfer window activity Wolves’ Joe Hodge and Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden debuted from the bench as part of their loan deals. Both were pivotal in a second half QPR took charge of with a long range goal from Ilias Chair off the back of keeper Aynsley Pears after hitting the post, and then a second scored by Hodge himself after a fine assist from Sinclair Armstrong. The Irish forward had one of his rocks and diamonds days, with a host of missed chances preceding that set up for Hodge, but he was pretty obviously fouled in the build up to Sam Gallagher’s goal which halved the deficit and made for a needlessly nervy finish – Asmir Begovic should have saved that, but did make a key stop in the dying seconds to preserve three priceless points.

Blackburn: Pears 5; Rankin-Costello 6, Hyam 6, Wharton 5, Chrisene 5; Dolan 6 (Ayari 67, 5), Tronstad 5, Moran 5, Sigurdsson 5 (Markanday 67, 6); Szmodics 5 (Telalovic 85, -), Gallagher 6

Subs not used: O’Riordan, Wahlstedt, Koumetio, Fleck, Garrett, McFadzean

Goals: Gallagher 73 (unassisted)

Bookings: Tronstad 39 (foul), Ayari 90+9 (foul)

QPR: Begovic 6; Cannon 7, Cook 7, Clarke-Salter 7, Paal 6 (Larkeche 79, 6); Colback 7, Dixon-Bonner 6 (Hayden 57, 7); Willock 5 (Smyth 57, 6), Dykes 5 (Hodge 57, 7), Chair 8; Armstrong 5 (Frey 77, 5)

Subs not used: Dunne, Archer, Fox, Drewe

Goals: Pears own goal 61 (assisted Chair), Hodge 64 (assisted Armstrong)

Bookings: Armstrong 41 (foul), Dixon-Bonner 54 (foul), Begovic 90+4 (time wasting)

QPR 0 Blackburn 4, Saturday October 7, 2023, Championship

Gareth Ainsworth’s brief and disastrous reign as QPR manager started, and effectively ended, with horrendous home defeats to his boyhood club Blackburn Rovers. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s team absolutely carved QPR apart on both occasions, scoring seven goals in the process including four in this October meeting which began bringing Ainsworth’s time at Loftus Road to an end. Two goals in the first half from Dolan and Sigurdsson, and another two in the second from Sigurdsson and Szmodics, did the extensive damage to a woeful Rangers side.

QPR: Begovic 4; Larkeche 2, Dunne 3, Clarke-Salter 4, Paal 3; Colback 3 (Smyth 71, 4), Duke-McKenna 3 (Dixon-Bonner 79, -), Dozzell 4, Chair 4; Dykes 3, Armstrong 4 (Kolli 79, 4)

Subs not used: Kakay, Archer, Willock, Cannon, Kelman, Adomah

Bookings: Clarke-Salter 22 (foul), Smyth 90+3 (dissent)

Blackburn: Wahlstedt 6; Hill 7, Carter 6, Hyam 7, Pickering 7; Tronstad 7 (Travis 60, 7); Rankin-Costello 8, Markanday 7 (Brittain 45, 7), Sigurdsson 8 (Moran 61, 7), Dolan 7 (Ennis 76, 6); Szmodics 7 (Gilsenan 89, -)

Subs not used: Wharton, Garrett, Telalovic, Hilton

Goals: Dolan 19 (assisted Rankin-Costello), Sigurdsson 23 (assisted Szmodics), 59 (assisted Dolan), Szmodics 66 (assisted Larkeche)

Bookings: Szmodics 43 (foul), Gilsenan 90 (foul)

QPR 1 Blackburn 3, Saturday February 25, 2023, Championship

The return of Gareth Ainsworth to QPR didn’t move the needle a great deal in his first match in charge. Dolan’s early deflected cross was headed home by persistent scourge of QPR Sam Gallagher, and although Tim Iroegbunam equalised for the R’s with a rare Loft End goal the visitors were back in front before the break when the home defence parted with embarrassing ease and Sammie Szmodics slipped home. Gallagher then got simple tap in for a personal second and team third after Rankin-Costello had somehow been allowed to squirm away from two tacklers out by the corner flag.

QPR: Dieng 4; Kakay 5, Dickie 2, Dunne 3, Paal 4; Iroegbunam 5 (Richards (!!) 88, -), Johansen 5, Field 5; Lowe 3, Martin 5 (Adomah 75, 2), Chair 5 (Dozzell 35, 3)

Subs not used: Amos, Archer, Dickson-Bonner, Gubbins

Goals: Iroegbunam 24 (unassisted)

Bookings: Johansen 37 (foul), Kakay 57 (deliberate handball), Field 59 (foul), Lowe 66 (foul)

Blackburn: Pears N/A; Rankin-Costello 8, Carter 6, Hyam 7, Brittain 6; Travis 7, Buckley 7 (Phillips 90+5, -); Thomas 7, Szmodics 7 (Hedges 69, 6), Dolan 7 (Morton 80, -); Gallagher 8

Subs not used: Pickering, Brereton, Garrett, Hilton

Goals: Gallagher 14 (assisted Dolan), 60 (assisted Rankin-Costello), Szmodics 45+2 (assisted Travis)

Blackburn 1 QPR 0, Saturday July 30, 2022, Championship

An earlier than ever start to the new league season, but more of the same for QPR who suffered their annual stupefyingly dull defeat at Ewood Park to kick the Mick Beale “era” off on a low note. Osman Kakay hit the bar early on but Rangers’ defending from set pieces was soon letting them down again when a series of partial clearances and some odd positioning by Seny Dieng allowed Lewis Travis to chip home from long range. Now six successive defeats for QPR at Ewood Park, four of them 1-0, and one win in 18 visits going back deep into the 1980s.

Blackburn: Kaminski 6; Brittain 6, Ayala 6, S Wharton 6, Pickering 6; Travis 7, Buckley 6; Gallagher 5, Hedges 6, Brereton-Diaz 7; Vale 5 (Dolan 64, 7)

Subs not used: Edun, Pears, Markanday, Dack, Barnes, A Wharton

Goals: Travis 34 (unassisted)

Bookings: Buckley 11 (foul)

QPR: Dieng 5; Kakay 6, Dickie 6, Clarke-Salter 6, Paal 5; Dozzell 5 (Thomas 64, 5), Johansen 5 (Armstrong 77, 5), Field 6; Chair 5 (Richards 77, 6), Dykes 5 (Bonne 77, 5), Shodipo 6 (Adomah 65, 5)

Subs not used: Walsh, Dunne

Bookings: Dykes 12 (foul)

Blackburn 1 QPR 0, Saturday February 26, 2022, Championship

QPR could have gone second with a win at Ewood Park in the early televised game back in late February 2022, but in truth the rot had begun prior to this match and really began to set in across a desperately poor 90 minutes. With a midfield three of Hendrick, Johansen and Field treading on each other’s toes/jobs, QPR attempted 463 passes in this game and the centre backs and goalkeepers accounted for 215 of those. Barbet, Dickie and Dunne all topped 60 each — Willock (11), Adomah (18), Odubajo (24), Gray (5), McCallum (9) just about got to that collectively. The backwards and sideways stuff became chronic. Blackburn themselves were also undergoing a post-New Year collapse from the play-off spots with star man Ben Brereton injured. Reda Khadra’s late winner, horribly messed up by goalkeeper David Marshall, was their first goal in six games and the only one they scored in nine matches, but it was enough to win this 1-0.

Blackburn: Kaminski 7; Lenihan 6, Van Hecke 7, Wharton 6; Nyambe 8 (Zeefuik 58, 5), Travis 6, Johnson 6, Pickering 7 (Giles 71, 7); Gallagher 6 (Hedges 68, 7), Dolan 8, Khadra 8

Goals: Khadra 76 (free kick, won Travis)

Bookings: Kaminski 90+1 (time wasting), Wharton 90+2 (time wasting), Travis 90+4 (foul)

QPR: Dieng 7 (Marshall 46, 5); Adomah 4 (McCallum 67, 7), Dickie 5, Dunne 7, Barbet 5, Odubajo 6; Hendrick 6, Field 6, Johansen 5; Chair 4, Willock 5 (Gray 62, 4)

Subs not used: Amos, Ball, Thomas, Dozzell

Bookings: Field 7 (foul), Chair 90+2 (foul)

QPR 1 Blackburn 0, Tuesday October 19, 2021, Championship

Blackburn’s unashamedly miserly attempt to drill a 0-0 draw out of the first meeting of the season at Loftus Road was hobbled by Ilias Chair’s spectacular late winner. Albert Adomah inspired Rangers continued efforts to break down stubborn resistance and the rewards came seven minutes from time when Chair whipped a 20 yarder around a defender and past the unsighted Kaminski.

QPR: Dieng 6; Adomah 8 (Kakay 86, -), Dickie 7, Dunne 7, Barbet 7, McCallum 6; Ball 5 (Austin 73, 6), Dozzell 5 (Amos 60, 7), Chair 7; Willock 6, Dykes 7

Subs not used: De Wijs, Archer, Gray, Duke-McKenna

Goals: Chair 83 (assisted Dickie)

Bookings: Dickie 28 (foul), Amos 90+4 (foul)

Blackburn: Kaminski 7; Nyambe 6, van Hecke 6, Ayala 6, Lenihan 6, Pickering 6 (Rothwell 45, 6); Travis 6 (Johnson 34, 5), Edun 5, Clarkson 5; Brereton-Diaz 5, Butterworth 6 (Gallagher 67, 5)

Subs not used: Dolan, Pears, Buckley, Poveda-Ocampo

Bookings: Clarkson 45+1 (foul), Butterworth 50 (kicking the ball away), Rothwell 55 (kicking the ball away)

Previous Results

Head to Head >>> Blackburn wins 31 >>> Draws 12 >>> QPR wins 19

2025/26 QPR 1 Blackburn 3 (Saito)

2025/26 Blackburn 0 QPR 1 (Smyth)

2024/25 QPR 2 Blackburn 1 (Frey, Colback)

2024/25 Blackburn 2-0 QPR

2023/24 Blackburn 1 QPR 2 (Pears og, Hodge)

2023/24 QPR 0 Blackburn 4

2022/23 QPR 1 Blackburn 3 (Iroegbunam)

2022/23 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

2021/22 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

2021/22 QPR 1 Blackburn 0 (Chair)

2020/21 QPR 1 Blackburn 0 (Barbet)

2020/21 Blackburn 3 QPR 1 (Dykes)

2019/20 Blackburn 2 QPR 1 (Hugill)

2019/20 QPR 4 Blackburn 2 (Wells, Eze, Osayi-Samuel, Hugill)

2018/19 QPR 1 Blackburn 2 (Smith)

2018/19 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

2016/17 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

2016/17 QPR 1 Blackburn 2* (Bidwell)

2016/17 QPR 1 Blackburn 1 (Chery)

2015/16 Blackburn 1 QPR 1 (Fer)

2015/16 QPR 2 Blackburn 2 (Austin, Onuoha)

2013/14 Blackburn 2 QPR 0

2013/14 QPR 0 Blackburn 0

2011/12 Blackburn 3 QPR 2 (Mackie 2)

2011/12 QPR 1 Blackburn 1 (Helguson)

2010/11 Blackburn 1 QPR 0*

2005/06 Blackburn 3 QPR 0*

2000/01 QPR 1 Blackburn 3 (Plummer)

2000/01 Blackburn 0 QPR 0

1999/00 Blackburn 0 QPR 2 (Wardley, Gallen)

1999/00 QPR 0 Blackburn 0

1995/96 QPR 0 Blackburn 1

1995/96 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

1994/95 QPR 0 Blackburn 1

1994/95 Blackburn 4 QPR 0

1993/94 Blackburn 1 QPR 1 (Ready)

1993/94 QPR 1 Blackburn 0 (Ferdinand)

1992/93 Blackburn 1 QPR 0

1992/93 QPR 0 Blackburn 3

1990/91 QPR 2 Blackburn 1** (Falco, Barker)

1986/87 Blackburn 2 QPR 2** (Bannister, Walker)

1986/87 QPR 2 Blackburn 1** (Byrne, Brazil)

1982/83 Blackburn 1 QPR 3 (Stainrod 2, Flanagan)

1982/83 QPR 2 Blackburn 2 (Allen, Fenwick)

1981/82 Blackburn 2 QPR 1 (Allen)

1981/82 QPR 2 Blackburn 0 (Gregory, Allen)

1980/81 QPR 1 Blackburn 1 (Francis)

1980/81 Blackburn 2 QPR 1 (Neal)

1970/71 QPR 2 Blackburn 0 (Marsh, Francis)

1970/71 Blackburn 0 QPR 2 (Leach, Saul)

1969/70 QPR 2 Blackburn 3 (Venables pen, Hazell)

1969/70 Blackburn 0 QPR 1 (Leach)

1967/68 Blackburn 0 QPR 1 (F Clarke)

1967/68 QPR 3 Blackburn 1 (Marsh, Wilks, Sanderson)

1951/52 Blackburn 4 QPR 2 (Nicholas, Addinall)

1951/52 QPR 2 Blackburn 1 (Addinall 2)

1950/51 Blackburn 2 QPR 1 (Hatton)

1950/51 QPR 3 Blackburn 1 (Addinall 2, Hatton pen)

1949/50 QPR 2 Blackburn 3 (Addinall, Hatton)

1949/50 Blackburn 0 QPR 0

1948/49 QPR 4 Blackburn 2 (Parkinson 2, Hatton, Hartburn)

1948/49 Blackburn 0 QPR 0

1911/12 Blackburn 2 QPR 1 (Revill)***

* - FA Cup

** - League Cup

*** - Charity Shield, played at White Hart Lane

Connections

Roy Wegerle >>> QPR 1990-1992 >>> Blackburn 1992

American international striker Roy Wegerle was one of those players who just seemed to really suit QPR. He followed in a long and illustrious history of maverick number 10s at Loftus Road and led the line superbly through the Don Howe and early Gerry Francis days at Loftus Road. One of his predecessors in that role and shirt number, Rodney Marsh, spotted the South African born striker playing for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the MLS and recommended him to Rangers for a trial.

Jim Smith, QPR manager in 1986, passed on him as Manchester United had done in 1980 but he was picked up by our near neighbours Chelsea and received a grounding in English football during a loan spell at Swindon. He never played regularly at Stamford Bridge and was eventually offloaded to Luton for £75,000. He starred at Kenilworth Road and 18 months after arriving went back to QPR to sign permanently and become QPR’s first million pound player in the process.

There he became a Loft hero, specialising in spectacular tricks and goals, and cooly taken penalties. He scored 31 goals in 89 league and four cup appearances. In 1990/91 he top scored with 18. That included an incredible run of six goals from his first six games and in fact by the time QPR played their fifth game of that season, at home to Luton on September 15, he was the only player to have scored for Rangers at all. Of course that day, after Wegerle had given the R’s the lead, the team went crazy and bagged six including Paul Parker’s only ever goal for the club.

He continued to score prolifically and the highlight of his time with the club came in October 1990 at Elland Road where Rangers came from two goals down to win 3-2 on goalkeeper Jan Stejskal’s debut. One of Wegerle’s two goals that day saw him ghost past five Leeds players before smashing the ball in from 20 yards and it was later named the Match of the Day Goal of the Season, only the second time a QPR player had won the award at that point and only Trevor Sinclair has won it since.

QPR were famed through the 1990s for immediately selling their best players as soon as a half decent offer came along and in March 1992 they did so again, offloading Wegerle to Jack Walker’s Blackburn Rovers revolution for £1.2m — a record fee paid by a Second Division club at the time. The money was rarely all invested back into the playing squad and indeed it wasn’t on this occasion, the spiral staircases at the back of the South Africa Road stand are still known as the “Wegerle stairs” to this day as that’s apparently where a chunk of the money went. To be fair Gerry Francis had taken over as manager and Les Ferdinand had finally developed into a world class striker by that stage so Wegerle’s star was on the wane slightly in W12.

Wegerle was part of a Blackburn team that won the play offs in 1992 to earn a place in the inaugural Premier League but they then then signed Alan Shearer from Southampton and, as happened to him at Loftus Road after Ferdinand’s emergence, he was sidelined and offloaded — this time to Coventry City. He played just 22 times for Blackburn, and only clocked up 53 appearances for the Sky Blues due to injury but scored nine goals and eventually won 41 USA caps scoring seven times.

When his contract expired at Highfield Road in 1995 he left and went onto play for Colarado, DC United and Tampa Bay Mutiny in the US. After retirement he tried his hand at professional golf and television pundit in the US.

Others >>> Dion Sanderson, Blackburn (loan) 2025, QPR (loan) 2022 >>> Gareth Ainsworth, QPR (manager) 2023, 2003-2010, Blackburn (trainee) 1989-1991 >>> Ben Gladwin, Blackburn 2017-2019, QPR 2015-2017 >>> Ryan Nelsen, QPR 2012-2013, Blackburn 2005-2012 >>> Junior Hoilett, QPR 2012-2016, Blackburn 2007-2012 >>> Chris Samba, QPR 2013, Blackburn 2007-2012 >>> Mark Hughes, QPR (manager) 2012, Blackburn (manager) 2004-2008, (player) 2000-2002 >>>> Bradley Orr, QPR 2010-2012, Blackburn 2012-2014>>> Jay Bothroyd, QPR 2011-2013, Blackburn (loan) 2004-2005 >>> Pascal Chimbonda, QPR 2011, Blackburn 2009-2011 >>> Marcus Bent, Blackburn 2000-2001, QPR (loan) 2010 >>> Steven Reid, Blackburn 2003-2010, QPR (loan) 2009 >>> Tim Flowers, Blackburn 1993-1999, QPR (coach) 2008 >>> John Curtis, Blackburn 2000-2003, QPR 2007 >>> Andy Taylor, Blackburn 2004-2008, QPR (loan) 2006 >>> Marlon Broomes, Blackburn 1994-2001, QPR (loan) 2000 >>> Darren Peacock, QPR 1990-1994, Blackburn 1998-2000 >>> Ray Harford, Blackburn (manager) 1995-1996, QPR (manager) 1997-1998 >>> Simon Barker, Blackburn 1982-1988, QPR 1988-1998 >>> Ossie Ardiles, Blackburn 1988, QPR 1988-1989 >>> Jim Smith, Blackburn (manager) 1975-1978, QPR (manager) 1985-1988 >>> Mike Ferguson, QPR 1969-1973, Blackburn 1962-1968

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