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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 9:16:47 GMT
Now Official 'S HEAD TO ASIA IN PRE-SEASON Posted on: Wed 23 May 2012 Queens Park Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce that the First Team squad will travel to Asia this summer for a lucrative pre-season tour. Mark Hughes's side will play two friendly fixtures in Thailand and Malaysia. Speaking exclusively to www.qpr.co.uk, QPR Chairman, Tony Fernandes, expressed his excitement at the news the R's will be travelling to his homeland this summer. "We are very excited and honored to be heading to Asia for our pre-season tour," he said. "The fans in Asia have embraced QPR since we became involved with the Club and it's great that we can give so many of them a chance to come and watch the team play for the first time. "It is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our brand in this part of the World." He added: "This brings QPR to the global stage which is critical to our commercial efforts. "I'm also thrilled to be going to East Malaysia which in many ways is the home of AirAsia. To the best of my knowledge no-one has ever toured in Sabah. I'm thrilled that we have remembered all the people that have helped AirAsia get off the ground by bringing QPR to Sabah." The tour will commence on Tuesday 10th July, with Bangkok - the capital city of Thailand - being the first destination. The squad will train at the former Suphachalasai National Stadium in central Bangkok, prior to locking horns with a Thai All Star XI at the 60,000 capacity Ramajangala National Stadium on Saturday 14th July. Thereafter, the R's will jet to Kota Kinabalu, where Hughes's squad will train at the 35,000 capacity Likas Stadium, before playing a Football Association of Sabah Select team at the same venue on Wednesday 18th July. QPR CEO, Philip Beard, added: "Nothing beats watching the team live and by visiting Thailand and Malaysia, we are allowing fans from all three countries to experience just that. "It will also be a wonderful experience for the Club and our players, many of whom will be visiting Asia for the first time. "We will be working closely with our main sponsors, Air Asia, and our other partners in the region to ensure we can deliver our best ever pre-season tour." Further tour updates, including fan package options, will be available in due course, exclusively on www.qpr.co.uk www.qpr.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10373~2784993,00.html |
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Post by Bushman on May 23, 2012 9:22:39 GMT
I will be in Kota Kinabalu on the 10th June. I will check the Likas stadium out and post some pics.
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 9:28:09 GMT
Call me old fashioned but whats wrong with a Pre Season friendly at Margate for example ?
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 23, 2012 9:28:39 GMT
Much better than Warnocks usual Cornwall tour.
Big step up for the club.
Will be interesting to see if those stadiums sell out, you would think they might as it's not everyday a Premier League team plays in Malaysia or Thailand.
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Post by luckycharms on May 23, 2012 9:29:03 GMT
Very clever of Fernandes. Completely bypassing Peninsular Malaysia, the capital KL and the current political uncertainty and potential upheaval therein.
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 9:32:31 GMT
Much better than Warnocks usual Cornwall tour. Big step up for the club. Will be interesting to see if those stadiums sell out, you would think they might as it's not everyday a Premier League team plays in Malaysia or Thailand. Not sure what your thinking is here Son ? There's only so long you can spend on the sh!tter after a dodgy Cornish Pasty, but Thailand & Malaysia ? Hmmm I'm not to sure about that, knowing QPR, half our first team squad will come back with the Thai / Malay equivalent of "Delhi Belly" & spend the final month of pre-season sitting on the sh!thouse. Modern day football I suppose, but completely unneccessary IMO & its telling that the likes of Arsene Wenger dont go in for all this. |
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Post by luckycharms on May 23, 2012 9:35:22 GMT
Much better than Warnocks usual Cornwall tour. Big step up for the club. Will be interesting to see if those stadiums sell out, you would think they might as it's not everyday a Premier League team plays in Malaysia or Thailand. Sabah in economic terms is a backwater. Other then a few urban centres like Kota Kinabalu development elsewhere is sporadic. The migrant population both legal and illegal either equals or has long since surpassed the locals. The infrastructure is a few years behind the rest of Malaysia. I'd expect a lot of fans to come in from Peninsular Malaysia and International fans rather than many locals to be honest. |
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 9:36:38 GMT
Hope we take our own chefs / nutritional people!
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 23, 2012 9:40:03 GMT
Much better than Warnocks usual Cornwall tour. Big step up for the club. Will be interesting to see if those stadiums sell out, you would think they might as it's not everyday a Premier League team plays in Malaysia or Thailand. Not sure what your thinking is here Son ? There's only so long you can spend on the sh!tter after a dodgy Cornish Pasty, but Thailand & Malaysia ? Hmmm I'm not to sure about that, knowing QPR, half our first team squad will come back with the Thai / Malay equivalent of "Delhi Belly" & spend the final month of pre-season sitting on the sh!thouse. Modern day football I suppose, but completely unneccessary IMO & its telling that the likes of Arsene Wenger dont go in for all this. This tour is for two reasons. 1. TF is trying to make QPR a worldwide brand and a tour to Cornwall etc does not help that. Taking it to Asia where we already have some fans since TF took over will spread our name round even more 2. Money!!!! How much money would the club make from a tour to Cornwall?? Yes it will cost more to transport the players to Asia but we will sell out a 60,000 and a 35,000 seater stadium with travelling QPR fans and locals who want to see the rare occurrence of a Premier League team right on their doorstep. |
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Post by Bushman on May 23, 2012 9:45:03 GMT
Hope we take our own chefs / nutritional people! Take it you will not be going then.  |
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 9:47:40 GMT
Erm...............................we wont sell out any stadiums Rory, we are QPR, we will be greeted with mild curiosity or bemusement at best.
Also if someone wants to explain to me the wisdom of disrupting professional athletes pre season work with 10 hour flights & any of the other unnecessary nonsense that goes with it, then I'm all ears.
I bet Mark Hughes feels the same!
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 9:48:49 GMT
I bet I could spend the next ten years backpacking around Asia & not bump in to a QPR fan!
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Post by Bushman on May 23, 2012 9:52:11 GMT
I bet I could spend the next ten years backpacking around Asia & not bump in to a QPR fan! Result for the QPR fan. ;D |
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 23, 2012 10:08:05 GMT
Not likely klr, apparently we have a rapidly growing fanbase out there.
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Post by kempton ranger on May 23, 2012 10:15:48 GMT
Happy days relatives have a place in Ko samui.
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Post by klr on May 23, 2012 10:19:43 GMT
Not likely klr, apparently we have a rapidly growing fanbase out there. That's about as likely as the "local" Somalians on The White City Estate supporting QPR instead of Manchester United, quite simply never going to happen. |
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andygg
Dave Sexton
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Post by andygg on May 23, 2012 10:44:35 GMT
Hope we take our own chefs / nutritional people! The food in Thailand is fantastic, they wont have any problems there. |
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andygg
Dave Sexton
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Post by andygg on May 23, 2012 10:45:30 GMT
Happy days relatives have a place in Ko samui. Ive been there, it`s lovely. |
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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 10:47:37 GMT
We don't need every person in Malaysia or Thailand or India to buy a QPR Jersey....But if you just one person in a hundred...Or even one person in thousand....Builds from there.
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Post by RoryTheRanger on May 23, 2012 10:53:01 GMT
That's already started Mac, according some QPR fans on other boards and across other social media sites who have been to Malaysia recently, there are QPR shirts for sale all over the place and you see people walking around wearing them all the time.
Also the Premier League is huge over there so regardless of which Prem team it is a friendly will sell out.
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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 10:57:05 GMT
Will Joey Barton play? Just think what he could to our brand name/image!!
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andygg
Dave Sexton
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Post by andygg on May 23, 2012 10:57:53 GMT
Spreading the good name of QPR cant be a bad thing.......unless our Joey decides to chin a few of the locals.
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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 11:05:10 GMT
And if they get sick, they have a month to recover before the season kicks off.
(Which of course means the players won't be really match fit - or at least at their peak - for this tour)
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Post by gramps on May 23, 2012 11:18:33 GMT
Must also remember that, whilst the "Delhi Belly" thingy might not be a problem, other injuries can happen. Just our luck Cissé gets a broken leg, Jamie likewise and .................... Don't see Ale Faurlin playing in the pre-seasons somehow.
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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 11:19:26 GMT
True...but injuries can also happen in Cornwall...
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Post by Macmoish on May 23, 2012 11:35:09 GMT
As was just tweeted to me - and hadn't occurred to me: That's when John Terry trial is scheduled/Does that mean Anton Ferdinand won't be on the tour? (Presumably that's what it means)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2012 12:22:24 GMT
Call me old fashioned but whats wrong with a Pre Season friendly at Margate for example ? They will put our kit to shame |
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Post by nomar on May 23, 2012 12:51:54 GMT
Klr, you're a miserable old goat ain't ya!
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Post by londonranger on May 23, 2012 13:20:17 GMT
Rght Mac, the Beast of Bodmin I think actually ate two of our players, luckily they werent missed. Cornish Pasties, can cause bowel obstruction and that clotted cream is heat attack country.  |
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Post by gramps on May 23, 2012 13:24:19 GMT
Klr, you're a miserable old goat ain't ya!  |
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