|
Post by Markqpr on Jul 12, 2011 21:20:30 GMT
I'd love to put that on my front door, but then the wife would never come home............wait a minute, anyone know where I can get that sign from?
|
|
|
Post by Macmoish on Jul 12, 2011 22:28:21 GMT
.................. so watch this space. The first episode will hopefully come tomorrow - starting in 1939 with just a little bit about how I was introduced to the game. Looking forward to it
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 13, 2011 9:42:03 GMT
The Old Days (2)
So here we go then. Please don't expect more of this thread than I can deliver. As I have already said, the old grey cells don't operate so well these days and the many bits of memorabilia, programmes, newspapers etc. have long since disappeared. Had quite a collection but my mother decided that, whilst I was serving with the R.A.F. in Germany, I had outgrown "all that junk" and it was consigned to the rubbish bin along with my cricket bat, football and a big collection of cigarette cards in albums which today are worth a lot of money. Hey-ho. Anyway, that's got that bit over so.............back to the grey cells.
IN THE BEGINNING
My father was a fan of Rs since he saw his first game in about 1918 or 1919 (Southern League?). He was taken by my grandfather who almost certainly saw his first game at the end of the 19th century - and possibly was even there in the St. Jude's days so my family QPR history goes back a long way. Sadly, my kids have absolutely no interest at all although I have nephews who follow the club.
I went to my first game with my father in 1939. To be honest, I can't really recount much about it other than being handed down over people's heads to the very front so I could see the game - even though I had not a clue of what was going on. I seem to remember that in those days the chant was 'Come on the R's' as opposed to the present 'Come on you R's' (bit of totally useless info for you there). Anyway, Dad had decided that at three years of age I was eminently at the age of football maturity and the time of my QPR indoctrination had arrived. Times were financially hard then and I guess he had to consider carefully the cost of an extra one going to a match when his wages were about £2 a week! In many respects times were a lot easier and I suspect that he may not even have been charged for a little boy almost in arms but rather nodded through at the turnstiles.
By a process of elimination I am fairly sure that this would have been the game against Torquay United on 25th February 1939 which was a 1-1 draw with our goal being scored by one Harry Lowe, an inside right who played some 250 games for the club and scored 51 goals. This trip would have been my birthday (21st February) present or part of it. At the end of the season we were 6th in Division Three South then everything went pear shaped with the outbreak of World War Two.
I have no clear recollection of other games that I may have attended in that year and I am not even going to hazard a guess - my brain aches already!
Hope this is an acceptable start - more to come. Now off to have a look at Bushman's excellent plethora of historical information.
|
|
|
Post by terryb on Jul 13, 2011 9:55:57 GMT
Thanks Gramps
I like the bit about The R's! When I started going in the 60's there was a lot of "Come on MY team".
Have not heard that since (except from me) or by any other teams fans.
|
|
|
Post by froggyranger on Jul 13, 2011 10:37:02 GMT
Chees Gramps, looking forward to the next instalment.
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 13, 2011 14:29:27 GMT
Working on it now, Froggy.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2011 15:32:31 GMT
More please gramps.....I enjoy a bit of social history and will have to start looking up the names of players, etc you mention to find out a bit more. Really enjoyed the first part and I am looking forward to the next......no pressure though!
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 13, 2011 16:28:55 GMT
More please gramps.....I enjoy a bit of social history and will have to start looking up the names of players, etc you mention to find out a bit more. Really enjoyed the first part and I am looking forward to the next...... no pressure though! Pity - I thrive on pressure!
|
|
|
Post by cpr on Jul 13, 2011 17:46:41 GMT
Nice one gramps. ;D
My favourite shout, for which, as a kid, I got a slap from my mum for shouting when I got home was....
RIP 'IS Rs OUT
Seemed to be commonplace when i was little. I get funny looks when I shout it now. ;D
|
|
|
Post by Zamoraaaah on Jul 13, 2011 18:46:24 GMT
Nice one Gramps. Keep 'em comin'.
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 13, 2011 19:09:20 GMT
Next one is tomorrow, hopefully - provided you all behave like good little Rs fans!
|
|
|
Post by thorstein on Jul 13, 2011 19:13:31 GMT
Great start Gramps. Bare with my lack of knowing the history, but where we at LR at this time and was ther an arena/ stands for the supporters? Would think some of you other would know this too. Hunger for more
|
|
|
Post by RoryTheRanger on Jul 13, 2011 19:14:00 GMT
Looking forward to it Gramps
|
|
|
Post by waterbuffalo on Jul 13, 2011 20:15:34 GMT
I think it is a great idea and I would love to read your memories and opinions of past Rangers seasons and players Amen, both you and londonranger can tell us stories to keep us warm on winter nights, wait a minute, there's no winter here. Foiled again!
|
|
|
Post by londonranger on Jul 13, 2011 22:20:54 GMT
All I could have was a Shandy. Or mix it with Tizer, the appetizer. Used to go to the off license between air raids.
|
|
|
Post by cpr on Jul 14, 2011 0:37:57 GMT
I think it is a great idea and I would love to read your memories and opinions of past Rangers seasons and players Amen, both you and londonranger can tell us stories to keep us warm on winter nights, wait a minute, there's no winter here. Foiled again! There is RAIN though and I mean RAIN!!!!
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 14, 2011 9:22:19 GMT
Great start Gramps. Bare with my lack of knowing the history, but where we at LR at this time and was ther an arena/ stands for the supporters? Would think some of you other would know this too. Hunger for more The events I am recounting virtually all took place at LR. My father was around as a lad when we first moved there and he told me it was little more than a park at that time. My memories of the ground, however, were mainly the South Africa Road side which was open terracing and when it rained you just stood there and got very wet indeed. The only seats were on the Ellerslie Road side which had a tin roof on it. In the early 30s the club played at White City Stadium for a couple of years but that didn't work. An attendance of 5,000 would look a bit silly in a 60,000 capacity stadium after all.
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 14, 2011 9:36:20 GMT
The Old Days (3)
AFTER THE WAR
Unfortunately my early years as a QPR supporter were put on hold during the war. Although I was born in Hammersmith Hospital and we lived in Shepherd’s Bush initially, we moved to Kentish Town in North West London prior to the outbreak of hostilities. There was no way my mother was going to take me across London to see a game and I was certainly not of an age where I could go on my own. We were evacuated in 1940 but I had to come home for hospital treatment following a very serious car accident which nearly cost me my life. That was pretty well my time from 1940 to 1946 taken up.
Football, of course, continued during those years, albeit on something of an ad hoc basis with many players turning out whilst in the army. Not least of these was one of my favourite all time QPR characters in every sense of the word. I wonder how many people remember Arthur Jefferson who was a regular during the war years? Jeff played at left back and my best memories of him were from 1946 on when league football as we (almost) know it recommenced. Jeff was like a tiger at the back; it cannot be said that there was any finesse about his play but if the ball came anywhere near our penalty area this stocky, bald-headed figure would belt it as hard as he could up to the other end. My good school friend Bill Cook and I – we really were best mates until his premature death – always longed to see Jeff boot the ball over the Ellerslie Road stand, which he did almost without fail in most matches. It rather became a matter of pride that he should achieve this. He was also always happy to head the ball away without hesitation when necessary. Anybody who, like me, played football in the 40s/50s will recall that the balls were made of leather and had a big lace which had to be tied up after inflating the ball. If it was soaking wet (leather absorbs water!) and your head made contact with that lace coming from a great height at speed, the pain was excruciating.
Jeff was always the muddiest player to come off the pitch. It seemed that even on the hottest and driest of summer days he would be covered in mud by the end of the game. If it was raining, apart from his bald pate he would be plastered head to toe in mud and virtually unidentifiable after ninety minutes. Those of us who can go back any distance will remember that it didn’t take too much to make our pitch a quagmire and Jeff loved sliding on his back (or front) in it. I have often wondered what the other players thought after the game in those days of communal baths. If Jeff got in first there was a danger of coming out dirtier than when you went in!
One final word about Jeff. The number three shirt was his for something in excess of 360 games and in all that time he scored just one goal. I was at that game in 1949 when we beat Bury 3-1 in Division two with an attendance of some 20,000 – not particularly high at that time. I don’t clearly remember how the goal was scored (I have vague memories that it might have been a penalty) but I do remember the crowd erupting more than usual because everybody’s favourite had actually put one in the net after 13 years of faithful service; not sure that anybody was more surprised or delighted than Jeff himself.
Talking of mud, the South Africa Road terraces had very rough steps leading down to the gate and more often than not it would be quicker to get out by sliding down the mud banks either side but you did so at your peril if it was raining. There were also, as I recall, some old, very smelly toilets with a corrugated iron roof which leaked incessantly.
More to come.
|
|
|
Post by Lonegunmen on Jul 14, 2011 9:40:19 GMT
Thing is gramps, not only are you enriching us with QPR memories but you are also inadvertantly enriching us with a social commentary which many of us enjoy learning about. There;s some real gem poster s on here that wont see 50 again - me being one, Yet I find now a hunger to learn more of the war years and 50's fromfans like yourself. earlier years as well but I'm not sure we have anyone pre 1939. My heartfelt thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 14, 2011 9:50:02 GMT
Thing is gramps, not only are you enriching us with QPR memories but you are also inadvertantly enriching us with a social commentary which many of us enjoy learning about. There;s some real gem poster s on here that wont see 50 again - me being one, Yet I find now a hunger to learn more of the war years and 50's fromfans like yourself. earlier years as well but I'm not sure we have anyone pre 1939. My heartfelt thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Thank you sir for your kind comments. Will keep dredging and maintain the history lesson as long as possible but so much water has passed under the bridge and, as I have previously said, I am more likely to be recounting memories of individual players than specific games - although there will be a few of those too. I just hope people will bear with me if there is sometimes a gap of a few days between postings. I lead a busy life in my dotage!
|
|
|
Post by thorstein on Jul 14, 2011 10:17:06 GMT
Great start Gramps. Bare with my lack of knowing the history, but where we at LR at this time and was ther an arena/ stands for the supporters? Would think some of you other would know this too. Hunger for more The events I am recounting virtually all took place at LR. My father was around as a lad when we first moved there and he told me it was little more than a park at that time. My memories of the ground, however, were mainly the South Africa Road side which was open terracing and when it rained you just stood there and got very wet indeed. The only seats were on the Ellerslie Road side which had a tin roof on it. In the early 30s the club played at White City Stadium for a couple of years but that didn't work. An attendance of 5,000 would look a bit silly in a 60,000 capacity stadium after all. Thanks Gramps Agree that would look a bit silly
|
|
ronski
Gerry Francis
I have some old QPR pictures how do you post them on this site.
Posts: 61
|
Post by ronski on Jul 14, 2011 17:50:30 GMT
I would add to the stories about Jefferson, that he took great delight in sending the opposing winger into the laps of the people who sat in the two rows of seats,that were in front of the Ellerslie Road stand.
|
|
|
Post by londonranger on Jul 14, 2011 18:22:15 GMT
As Jeff was brawl, Sir Ivor was finesse.
We lived nearer to the pitch and went a lot. My evacuation was short lived. Easy to get there from Harlesden on 628 and 630, down scrubs lane.
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 14, 2011 19:05:56 GMT
As Jeff was brawl, Sir Ivor was finesse. We lived nearer to the pitch and went a lot. My evacuation was short livedEasy but easy to get there from harlesded on 628 and 630, down scrubs lane. Thanks for reminding me of Ivor Powell MBE, LR. A consummate professional and brilliant wing half. I understand that he is still alive and only retired from coaching in Bath in the first half of last year at the age of 93 (almost 94). His birthday was 10 days ago when he achieved the grand old age of 95. Now he is unemployed perhaps we could get him on a free transfer?
|
|
|
Post by harlowranger on Jul 14, 2011 19:41:42 GMT
|
|
|
Post by gramps on Jul 14, 2011 19:52:36 GMT
Mind Harlow? I am grateful - thanks (we Essex boys must stick together!). Great pic of Jeff and I remember everybody in the other pics and saw virtually all of them play. What I can never understand is that Reg Allen always managed to keep his hair looking like that - even at the end of a game. A good advert for Brylcreem!
|
|
|
Post by londonranger on Jul 14, 2011 20:08:07 GMT
Yes even off field and I always used Brylcreem, to be like Reg.
|
|
|
Post by harlowranger on Jul 14, 2011 20:12:21 GMT
found these 3 little mentions of him Arthur Jefferson was a left back and a terrier. No matter what the angle the ball came at him….whack…it was volleyed back up field. A workman-like game ended in a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road. Harry Woodward, the Tottenham centre-half, was struck down by a first half free-kick from Arthur Jefferson and suffered concussion, so had to be carried off. Ironic that the match programme surmised in an article when substitutes would be allowed !! 12.3.1949 spurs 0 qpr 0 A simply worked goal was enough to take the points for Spurs in this home match with QPR in the Second Division. Len Duquemin played a square pass to Baily, who struck the ball in despite the desperate effort by Arthur Jefferson to stop it going over the goal-line. Bill Nicholson was outstanding in defence that day and Sid Tickridge also did his bit in clearing the ball off the line when Cyril Hatton looked like he would net the equaliser. 16.10.1948 spurs 1 qpr 0
|
|
|
Post by RoryTheRanger on Jul 14, 2011 20:31:03 GMT
Would be nice if Bushman could show us any pictures or info he has of Jefferson.
|
|
|
Post by harlowranger on Jul 14, 2011 20:32:51 GMT
Too true, or tell us if he knows who he scored his only goal against would ne nice. Cant find anything.
|
|