We head back to 1967 for our first Sporting Great. Queens Park Rangers, aka, QPR aka Rangers or even the Rs, were in the Third Division of the English Football League. They had somehow managed to get through to the final of the English League Cup to play against West Bromwich Albion aka WBA of the First Division.
WBA had won the competition the previous system and were clear favourites to win again. This was the first final to be played over one leg and the first to be played at Wembley Stadium. Incredibly a there was a crowd on almost 98,000 crowd, many of them QPR supporters who made the relatively short trip from Shepherd’s Bush to Wembley Stadium.
Clive Clark a former QPR scored two goals in the first half of the game to put WBA ahead 2-0 and they looked like they were on for a comfortable win.
So with 27 minutes left to play, Roger Morgan scored to bring QPR back into the game, the mercurial Rodney Marsh made it 2-2 and finally in the 81st minute Mark Lazarus hit the winning goal to make it 3-2.
The underdogs had not only won a competition that based on league position they had not right to win, never mind be in the final, but they came back from being behind to win the game.
QPR went on to win the Third Division League title that season and were runners up in the Second Division the following season.
QPR although winners were not allowed to play in Europe because they were not from the First Division and would have to wait until the 1975-76 season when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup losing 7-6 on penalties to AEK Athens.
- The Funniest QPR Quotes … Ever* Gordon Law – Paperback
- QPR v Tottenham FA Cup Final 1982* – DVD
- WBA on Amazon.com*
- QPR on Amazon.co.uk*
- WBA on Amazon.co.uk*
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