In the wake of Andrew Ellis withdrawing his bid for the club, the local Council has reaffirmed its support for QPR. An official statement said: “Hammersmith & Fulham Council is heartened to see that the views of Queens Park Rangers fans are being taken into account in deciding the football club’s future.”
Mayor Andrew Slaughter added: “The council is not taking a view on any individual bid and in any case does not have the information to do so. We are simply restating our support for the club, the same support the administration has shown for all three football clubs in the borough. We believe QPR is an asset to the area. At the end of the day the future of every football club is decided on commercial grounds, but we are heartened to see that fans’ views, many of whom are local residents, are being taken into account.”
Meanwhile we have been taking further talks with Maurice FitzGerald, whose bid has been tabled, in an effort to learn more about the identity of his financial backers. We are also interested in speaking with Brian Melzack, who remains an interested party; and also with the ‘third’ party who we are led to believe is about to come in with a “renewed” bid.
Whilst there is no suggestion of any underhand dealings within the tabled bids, that they may or may not be backed by property developers is cause enough in itself to remain cautious about any or all of them. And whereas the QPR-supporting credentials of both Maurice and Brian are unquestioned, it is misleading of the media to report the bids as “fans consortiums” without knowing the identities of who make up the consortium.
It is important to stress then that QPR 1st does not endorse any one bid over another. We repeat our challenge to any new owners to go fully public about their short- and long-term plans for QPR and how that will be financed – a transparency that we believe will help increase QPR fans’ confidence, and indeed strengthen any bid into the bargain. Whilst uncertainty remains over the full identity of the new owners, then it is understandable if the fans remain cautious at best over the future of the club.