THE fiftieth anniversary is approaching for the greatest team never to win the League in England.
Back in 1975/76, Queens Park Rangers defied football odds by finishing their fixtures top of the old First Division table. But they were eventually denied glory by a rather unique set of circumstances that would not be allowed under modern day sports betting regulations.
I lived through that momentous season nearly 50 years ago. Here are my in-depth memories…
The 1975/76 campaign provided my happiest memories as a Queens Park Rangers supporter. It was the year we almost won the League.
I was a wide-eyed schoolboy and worshipped the Rangers players. They were larger than life characters with big hairstyles and bushy sideburns.
There was no such thing as squad rotation back then so we had a settled side that almost picked itself:
1 Phil Parkes, 2 Dave Clement, 3 Ian Gillard, 4 John Hollins, 5 Frank McLintock, 6 David Webb, 7 Dave Thomas, 8 Gerry Francis, 9 Don Masson, 10 Stan Bowles, 11 Don Givens. Sub: Mick Leach.
The manager was Dave Sexton. He was a very forward-thinking man and used to travel to watch matches in Germany and Holland every Sunday to study tactics. He was particularly fond of the fabulous Ajax side in that era.
Sexton moulded Rangers into a flair team that played a pleasing brand of ‘total’ football. Moves would build up from defence through to attack in Continental style. This involved a revolving policy whereby a player had to fill in at the back if one of his team mates went charging forward.
Our campaign started with a really tough fixture on the opening day at home to Liverpool. They were one of the foremost sides in Europe throughout the 70’s.
In front of the Match Of The Day cameras, Rangers swept to a comfortable 2-0 win. Our opening goal that day epitomised all of Sexton’s philosophies.
Giant goalkeeper Phil Parkes rolled the ball out from his box, then there was a rapid interchange of passes involving Don Masson, Gerry Francis, Stan Bowles and Don Givens before Francis ran clean to score.
Not one Liverpool player came close to touching the ball during the move. It easily won the BBC1 Goal Of The Season award.
Rangers subsequently hit the top of the Division One table for the first time in our history when a Mick Leach strike defeated Leicester City 1-0 at Loftus Road on Tuesday 23rd September 1975.
Results like the exhilarating 5-0 home victory against Everton on 11th October highlighted our possible title winning credentials. The newly named England captain Gerry Francis scored twice in that game.
However, a lean spell in December and January appeared to dent our challenge. Rangers won just twice in eight League outings and a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool five days before Christmas saw the Anfield club replace us as table toppers.
But the inner strength of Queens Park Rangers Football Club has shown time and time again that we are always at our most defiant when everyone has written us off.
The R’s went to Aston Villa on 31st January and ran out 2-0 victors. This started a run of 11 wins and a draw from 12 unbeaten games which sent Sexton’s Superhoops back to pole position.
With less than three weeks of the season remaining, Rangers were a point clear of Liverpool at the League summit. Manchester United, Derby and Leeds made up the chasing pack.
But Queens Park Rangers would definitely be crowned champions if we won our final three fixtures.
Some 15,000 R’s fans travelled to Norwich for an ill-fated encounter on Easter Saturday. We lost 3-2 and television replays later showed that the Canaries’ winning goal by Phil Boyer was clearly offside.
I can recall Dave Sexton’s bold words after that crushing result. He said we were still capable of winning the League if we picked up maximum points from the two remaining home games.
These were monumental matches that attracted a combined total of nearly 62,000 spectators to Shepherd’s Bush.
The first was on Easter Monday morning against Arsenal. A nervy Rangers fell behind when Brian Kidd scored for the Gunners, but veteran defender Frank McLintock quickly scrambled our equaliser against his old club.
Then with three minutes to go, my all-time hero Stanley Bowles was tripped in the box by Arsenal defender Richie Powling. Gerry Francis emphatically planted the resulting spot kick into the net and our crowd erupted into celebration.
QPR’s final match was at home to Leeds United on Saturday 24th April 1976. By now, the title was down to a two horse race between Rangers and Liverpool.
But Liverpool’s last game wasn’t scheduled for another 10 days. That situation wouldn’t occur in modern football because clubs have to finish the season all together.
Anyway, the Leeds fixture heralded a carnival atmosphere at Loftus Road. Although it was fraught with tension to begin with before Rangers finally made the breakthrough on 62 minutes at the Loft End.
Frank McLintock crossed from the right, Don Givens flicked the ball on and Dave Thomas threw himself forward to head spectacularly into the top left hand corner.
The memorable second goal came with eight minutes remaining from that magical left foot of Stanley Bowles.
Gerry Francis, Don Givens and Frank McLintock patiently started the approach play before Bowles gained possession way out wide on the right hand touchline.
Although Francis made a strong supporting run and screamed for the ball, Bowles decided to go it alone. He shuffled past a bank of lunging defenders before scoring with a crisp low shot.
I can still hear the immaculate Brian Moore’s ITV commentary ringing in my ears:
“And look at the space now here for Bowles…cutting in quick…Francis is right in there…still with Bowles…hit across the goal…YES!...Stan Bowles…number two!”
At the final whistle, I was amongst the thousands of fans who spilled on to the pitch to joyously salute our heroes. I remember being caught up in the middle of a frenetic “Knees Up Mother Brown” shindig before the repeated chant of ‘Cham-pions…Cham-pions…” rang forth.
We stayed behind for an hour afterwards singing our hearts out. The QPR players eventually emerged in the directors’ box to throw their hooped shirts down to a heaving mass of supporters below.
To me that day, it felt like Rangers had lifted the First Division crown. We had captured the hearts of the nation with our free-flowing football and had finished our fixtures on top of the pile. Having picked up 27 points from our last 30 available, we deserved to be champions.
However, the table read:
| Played | Points | |
| QPR | 42 | 59 |
| Liverpool | 41 | 58 |
| Manchester United | 41 | 54 |
There then ensued what seemed like the longest 10 days of my life. I was hoping, praying, waiting and agonising to see if Liverpool would slip up in their final game at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
On the fateful evening in question, I followed the action from Molineux via commentary on BBC Radio 2. There were no live televised League matches in those days so the R’s players were invited to a private screening at BBC TV Centre in Shepherd’s Bush.
Wolves took the lead and I leapt in the air. Surely this was our night, our time. But Liverpool battled back to win 3-1 with their three decisive goals scored in the last 14 minutes.
14 minutes! Queens Park Rangers were 14 minutes away from clinching the 1975/76 League title. But Liverpool nicked it by a point.
I was heartbroken. I shed a bucketful of tears that night and didn’t want to go to school the next day. Yet I was still immensely proud of my lovely Superhoops and have been ever since.
In later years, a career in the media has meant that I have been fortunate enough to meet and interview all the members of that QPR 1975/76 team who are still with us. Alas Dave Clement, John Hollins, Stan Bowles and Mick Leach have all sadly passed away.
Having become good friends with many of those players, I have realised that they are mere mortals after all. But I always thank them for the fantastic memories that indelibly shaped my life as a Rangers man.
*Credit for the photo belongs to Tony Incenzo*
