Post by QPR Report on Dec 28, 2009 7:58:54 GMT
Edit/bump another year... Turning 84...
One of our greatest buys (after the obvious two or three)
- Born December 28, 1939: - Released by Arsenal at age 33 (who preferred Jeff Blockley and later Terry Mancini!), the ex-Arsenal captain who led Arsenal to the 1971 "Double" and won the "Player of the Year," was signed by Gordon Jago after our promotion back to Division One. In four seasons in the First Division, McLintock played 120+ games, scoring 5 goals and formed an elderly, but brilliant, defensive central pairing alongside David Webb. He was a major reason why QPR stabilized in the First Division and why they (so very, very nearly) won the Championship.
- After retiring in the summer of 1977, McLintock became manager of Leicester and a coach at a couple of clubs, including briefly at QPR. And QPR - at least partly because they no longer had Mclintock - were relegated a couple of seasons later. In a club profile of/Interview with Mclintock, earlier this year, Mclintock said ""They were four of the best years of my life,''..
"I was so happy during my time at QPR and that's me speaking straight from the heart"
McLintock's autobiography, True Grit- "Synopsis - Frank McLintock was a leading players of his generation and is acclaimed as one of the Arsenal's greatest captains. After transferring from Leicester, in 1970 he led Arsenal to a famous victory in the Fairs Cup and followed this up with even greater glory a year later, winning an historic league and FA Cup double. He left Arsenal in 1973 after being controversially dropped, and enjoyed four successful years at QPR. He retired from playing in 1977, to make an ill-conceived and hasty move into management. Following this difficult period he entered the often shady world of agents, and faced perhaps his worst moment in the game, becoming involved in the infamous bungs scandal over Teddy Sherringham's transfer from Forest to Spurs. Frank continues to retain a high profile in the game, appearing weekly as a Sky pundit. His is a captivating football story spanning 45 years during which he achieved fabulous success and faced shattering lows, all told with enthusiasm, humour, honesty and intense passion."
QPR Official Site Dec 28, 2009
QPR Official Site BLAST FROM THE PAST - Frank McLintock- In our latest instalment of exclusive past player interviews on www.qpr.co.uk, former R's legend Frank McLintock comes under the spotlight.
Few players achieve legendary status at more than one Football Club - Frank McLintock is the exception to the rule.
- When McLintock arrived at Loftus Road in 1973, he was already a legend of the beautiful game on the back of his memorable nine-year spell with North London giants Arsenal.
- When he retired from professional football in 1977, his glowing reputation had reached arguably even greater heights in W12.
- Described by former R's boss John Gregory as 'the first player I'd buy if I had the pick of any QPR players past and present,' McLintock joined Rangers for a paltry £20,000 in the summer of 1973.
- "Bertie Mee (the Arsenal Manager) didn't think I was capable of playing in the top flight any more, but I knew I could still produce the goods at the highest level,'' McLintock told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "It (joining QPR) was a simple choice to make - I didn't want my family to leave London.
- "I knew very little about QPR as a Club, but they'd recently got promoted so I saw it as a great opportunity, a great challenge if you like.
- "I didn't go there expecting much, but I received one of the biggest surprises of my life.''
- Indeed, having carved out a successful playing career down the road at Highbury, many viewed McLintock's move to Loftus Road as a step in the wrong direction.
However, in a QPR side full of flamboyance and guile, McLintock embodied the desire and will-to-win that saw Rangers - in Frank's own words - emerge as one of the 'greatest teams in the land.'
- "The quality within the QPR squad was something else. It took me totally by surprise,'' he told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "Gordon Jago was a real gentleman and Bobby Campbell the coach made me feel really welcome.
- "I arrived at QPR intent on proving a point to Bertie Mee and as it contrived a few years later, Arsenal dropped down the table and we were up there competing for the title.''
- After finishing eighth and eleventh respectively in McLintock's first two seasons in W12, Rangers mounted a serious charge for title in the 1975/76 campaign.
- "We were the best football team in the country that year, probably in the whole of Britain. It was a magnificent team to play for.
- "There was a great spine to the side. Phil (Parkes) was probably the number one ke- eper in the land at the time, up there with (Gordon) Banks as the best ever.
"Myself and Webby (Dave Webb) formed a nice little partnership at the back and Don Masson and Dave Thomas were class too. Don made the step up from division three side Notts County look so simple - it was amazing.
- "And then we had Gerry (Francis) and Stan (Bowles) - two of the best players ever to have graced the game. Gerry was just a fraction behind Stan, but they were both absolute class - a joy to play with.
- "It was a joy to behold playing in that team and the team spirit at the time was as good as I'd known throughout my playing career.''
- With just three matches of the season remaining, Rangers held a slender one point advantage over fellow title contenders Liverpool.
- Victory in all three fixtures would guarantee them the coveted Championship - but as fans of the beautiful game know only too well - football is anything but straightforward.
- Easter Saturday 1976 presented Rangers with a tricky away trip to Norwich City - and as R's fans now know - it was an afternoon which saw their title dreams all but evaporate.
- "We just made a mistake against Norwich in our final away game,'' recalled McLintock.
- "Dave Clement didn't get enough weight on his header back to Phil (Parkes) and their striker nipped in to score.''
- For the record, Norwich ran out narrow 3-2 victors, while Liverpool thumped Stoke City 5-2 at Anfield.
- Rangers now had to win their last two matches and hope that Liverpool lost one of their two remaining away games.
- The R's did all they could by beating Arsenal on Easter Monday, but the Reds also produced the goods, scoring three without reply against Manchester City.
- On the last Saturday of the season, QPR were at home to Leeds United and in front of their largest gate of the season - 31,002 - eased to a 2-0 win.
- Unbelievably though, Liverpool weren't playing their all-important final match of the season until ten days later due to international commitments. The wait was almost unbearable: "It was a crazy situation really - the type that wouldn't happen in the present day,'' recalled McLintock.
- "I owned a pub at the time. There were about 35-40 journalists down there for Liverpool's final game of the season against Wolverhampton. They'd all come along to get my reaction to winning another piece of silverware, or so I hoped!
- "We were all listening to it on the radio. They were one down with 15 minutes to go, but scored three to win the Championship and the rest is history.
- "It was such a disappointment, but so typical of that Liverpool side.''
Despite that setback, McLintock insists he has nothing but fond memories of his time in W12.
"They were four of the best years of my life,'' he said.
- "I was so happy during my time at QPR and that's me speaking straight from the heart.'' QPR
Dave Webb Talking about McClintock QPR Official Site
- "...It was probably the best team I ever played in. We were really ahead of the times with our passing football. Gordon Jago had a part to play in that. Then Dave Sexton took over, changed things slightly and gelled it all together.
"They were fun days and we had great flair players. Stan Bowles up front; Gerry Francis in the middle; and Dave Thomas wide. We constantly played the ball out from the back, which was very unusual in those days.
- "My centre-back partner Frank McLintock was always better at that than me, so we tried to make sure he was the spare man. But the full-backs, Dave Clement and Ian Gillard, were also extremely comfortable on the ball so we could build our moves up from defence. .."
- "In saying that, my main role was as a defender. Some people used to say that Frank McLintock and I were a bit too old. He was 37 and I was 30, so the pundits felt we were slow and we couldn't turn.
- "But we used to out-cute opposing strikers. We used a lot of know-how between the two of us and I recall that Rangers only conceded 33 goals in the League in 1975/76.
"I used to have little laughs out on the pitch with Frank - a sort of a nod and a wink to each other, because we did things as a pair that were almost sixth sense and like a married couple!
- "You might have left your partner in a position that people would think was vulnerable as a defender, but we both instinctively knew exactly how the other one wanted to play and what we wanted to do in matches. So we had total respect and trust in each other and it worked a treat." QPR
Don Givens on McLintock (QPRNet Interview)- "...We had someone in Frank McLintock who was a marvellous influence on the team, he’d come from Arsenal where things were done at a different level and he tried to introduce those things to QPR and help make it better for us. He didn’t always succeed on the club side of things but he did help the team. He was probably the most influential player I’ve ever lined up with." QPRNet
- See - McLintock/Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McLintock
From Bushman's Archives...
4th September 1973.
And you know when..
One of our greatest buys (after the obvious two or three) - Born December 28, 1939: - Released by Arsenal at age 33 (who preferred Jeff Blockley and later Terry Mancini!), the ex-Arsenal captain who led Arsenal to the 1971 "Double" and won the "Player of the Year," was signed by Gordon Jago after our promotion back to Division One. In four seasons in the First Division, McLintock played 120+ games, scoring 5 goals and formed an elderly, but brilliant, defensive central pairing alongside David Webb. He was a major reason why QPR stabilized in the First Division and why they (so very, very nearly) won the Championship.
- After retiring in the summer of 1977, McLintock became manager of Leicester and a coach at a couple of clubs, including briefly at QPR. And QPR - at least partly because they no longer had Mclintock - were relegated a couple of seasons later. In a club profile of/Interview with Mclintock, earlier this year, Mclintock said ""They were four of the best years of my life,''..
"I was so happy during my time at QPR and that's me speaking straight from the heart"
McLintock's autobiography, True Grit- "Synopsis - Frank McLintock was a leading players of his generation and is acclaimed as one of the Arsenal's greatest captains. After transferring from Leicester, in 1970 he led Arsenal to a famous victory in the Fairs Cup and followed this up with even greater glory a year later, winning an historic league and FA Cup double. He left Arsenal in 1973 after being controversially dropped, and enjoyed four successful years at QPR. He retired from playing in 1977, to make an ill-conceived and hasty move into management. Following this difficult period he entered the often shady world of agents, and faced perhaps his worst moment in the game, becoming involved in the infamous bungs scandal over Teddy Sherringham's transfer from Forest to Spurs. Frank continues to retain a high profile in the game, appearing weekly as a Sky pundit. His is a captivating football story spanning 45 years during which he achieved fabulous success and faced shattering lows, all told with enthusiasm, humour, honesty and intense passion."
QPR Official Site Dec 28, 2009
QPR Official Site BLAST FROM THE PAST - Frank McLintock- In our latest instalment of exclusive past player interviews on www.qpr.co.uk, former R's legend Frank McLintock comes under the spotlight.
Few players achieve legendary status at more than one Football Club - Frank McLintock is the exception to the rule.
- When McLintock arrived at Loftus Road in 1973, he was already a legend of the beautiful game on the back of his memorable nine-year spell with North London giants Arsenal.
- When he retired from professional football in 1977, his glowing reputation had reached arguably even greater heights in W12.
- Described by former R's boss John Gregory as 'the first player I'd buy if I had the pick of any QPR players past and present,' McLintock joined Rangers for a paltry £20,000 in the summer of 1973.
- "Bertie Mee (the Arsenal Manager) didn't think I was capable of playing in the top flight any more, but I knew I could still produce the goods at the highest level,'' McLintock told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "It (joining QPR) was a simple choice to make - I didn't want my family to leave London.
- "I knew very little about QPR as a Club, but they'd recently got promoted so I saw it as a great opportunity, a great challenge if you like.
- "I didn't go there expecting much, but I received one of the biggest surprises of my life.''
- Indeed, having carved out a successful playing career down the road at Highbury, many viewed McLintock's move to Loftus Road as a step in the wrong direction.
However, in a QPR side full of flamboyance and guile, McLintock embodied the desire and will-to-win that saw Rangers - in Frank's own words - emerge as one of the 'greatest teams in the land.'
- "The quality within the QPR squad was something else. It took me totally by surprise,'' he told www.qpr.co.uk.
- "Gordon Jago was a real gentleman and Bobby Campbell the coach made me feel really welcome.
- "I arrived at QPR intent on proving a point to Bertie Mee and as it contrived a few years later, Arsenal dropped down the table and we were up there competing for the title.''
- After finishing eighth and eleventh respectively in McLintock's first two seasons in W12, Rangers mounted a serious charge for title in the 1975/76 campaign.
- "We were the best football team in the country that year, probably in the whole of Britain. It was a magnificent team to play for.
- "There was a great spine to the side. Phil (Parkes) was probably the number one ke- eper in the land at the time, up there with (Gordon) Banks as the best ever.
"Myself and Webby (Dave Webb) formed a nice little partnership at the back and Don Masson and Dave Thomas were class too. Don made the step up from division three side Notts County look so simple - it was amazing.
- "And then we had Gerry (Francis) and Stan (Bowles) - two of the best players ever to have graced the game. Gerry was just a fraction behind Stan, but they were both absolute class - a joy to play with.
- "It was a joy to behold playing in that team and the team spirit at the time was as good as I'd known throughout my playing career.''
- With just three matches of the season remaining, Rangers held a slender one point advantage over fellow title contenders Liverpool.
- Victory in all three fixtures would guarantee them the coveted Championship - but as fans of the beautiful game know only too well - football is anything but straightforward.
- Easter Saturday 1976 presented Rangers with a tricky away trip to Norwich City - and as R's fans now know - it was an afternoon which saw their title dreams all but evaporate.
- "We just made a mistake against Norwich in our final away game,'' recalled McLintock.
- "Dave Clement didn't get enough weight on his header back to Phil (Parkes) and their striker nipped in to score.''
- For the record, Norwich ran out narrow 3-2 victors, while Liverpool thumped Stoke City 5-2 at Anfield.
- Rangers now had to win their last two matches and hope that Liverpool lost one of their two remaining away games.
- The R's did all they could by beating Arsenal on Easter Monday, but the Reds also produced the goods, scoring three without reply against Manchester City.
- On the last Saturday of the season, QPR were at home to Leeds United and in front of their largest gate of the season - 31,002 - eased to a 2-0 win.
- Unbelievably though, Liverpool weren't playing their all-important final match of the season until ten days later due to international commitments. The wait was almost unbearable: "It was a crazy situation really - the type that wouldn't happen in the present day,'' recalled McLintock.
- "I owned a pub at the time. There were about 35-40 journalists down there for Liverpool's final game of the season against Wolverhampton. They'd all come along to get my reaction to winning another piece of silverware, or so I hoped!
- "We were all listening to it on the radio. They were one down with 15 minutes to go, but scored three to win the Championship and the rest is history.
- "It was such a disappointment, but so typical of that Liverpool side.''
Despite that setback, McLintock insists he has nothing but fond memories of his time in W12.
"They were four of the best years of my life,'' he said.
- "I was so happy during my time at QPR and that's me speaking straight from the heart.'' QPR
Dave Webb Talking about McClintock QPR Official Site
- "...It was probably the best team I ever played in. We were really ahead of the times with our passing football. Gordon Jago had a part to play in that. Then Dave Sexton took over, changed things slightly and gelled it all together.
"They were fun days and we had great flair players. Stan Bowles up front; Gerry Francis in the middle; and Dave Thomas wide. We constantly played the ball out from the back, which was very unusual in those days.
- "My centre-back partner Frank McLintock was always better at that than me, so we tried to make sure he was the spare man. But the full-backs, Dave Clement and Ian Gillard, were also extremely comfortable on the ball so we could build our moves up from defence. .."
- "In saying that, my main role was as a defender. Some people used to say that Frank McLintock and I were a bit too old. He was 37 and I was 30, so the pundits felt we were slow and we couldn't turn.
- "But we used to out-cute opposing strikers. We used a lot of know-how between the two of us and I recall that Rangers only conceded 33 goals in the League in 1975/76.
"I used to have little laughs out on the pitch with Frank - a sort of a nod and a wink to each other, because we did things as a pair that were almost sixth sense and like a married couple!
- "You might have left your partner in a position that people would think was vulnerable as a defender, but we both instinctively knew exactly how the other one wanted to play and what we wanted to do in matches. So we had total respect and trust in each other and it worked a treat." QPR
Don Givens on McLintock (QPRNet Interview)- "...We had someone in Frank McLintock who was a marvellous influence on the team, he’d come from Arsenal where things were done at a different level and he tried to introduce those things to QPR and help make it better for us. He didn’t always succeed on the club side of things but he did help the team. He was probably the most influential player I’ve ever lined up with." QPRNet
- See - McLintock/Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McLintock
From Bushman's Archives...
4th September 1973.
And you know when..
