The straw poll conducted last week, in which we outlined the two confirmed bids for QPR and asked members which of them in principle they preferred, produced a healthy response. As of midday today, 629 votes have been cast. The poll has been carefully scutinised to ensure that only vote per member has been counted. The result is:
Bid A – 103 votes
Bid B – 526 votes
Around 20 people replied pointing out that there was insufficient information given to make an informed judgement. This we fully acknowledge, but repeat it was merely a straw poll and recognise that many people would have wished to qualify their vote if the sale of the club really did depend on the result.
But it doesn’t, and Andrew Ellis’s bid (outlined as Bid A and which plans to move QPR out of Loftus Road and to a purpose-built stadium and hotel and leisure complex) remains Chris Wright’s preferred bid, it seems. This, despite Maurice FitzGerald’s bid (outlined as Bid B and which keeps QPR at Loftus Road and develops the community aspects of the club) being the preferred choice of over 80 per cent of Trust members.
It was only a straw poll, and so it would be misleading to make categorical assertions at this stage about the result. But 80 per cent is just too high a figure, and the return both statistically sound and representative of QPR fans in general, simply to dismiss out of hand. Indeed, it mirrors the result produced by two previous independent polls carried out on the subject of moving ground. If nothing else, it sends out a clear message to Chris Wright and the Administrators that selling to Andrew Ellis is clearly not supported by the fan-base.
Up until now, as an Interim Committee given a mandate to take QPR 1st forward to a democratically elected supporters trust, where (then) the properly surveyed views of members will dictate policy, we have had to rely on what we believed was the majority opinion of QPR fans. As such our platform from day one has been to keep QPR in the local area.
That wording must remain very deliberate, because we recognise that the question of QPR moving away from Loftus Road, and moving outside the area, are two very separate arguments and carry two weights of opinion. In other words, the issue of ‘if and when QPR move from Loftus Road’ needs to be qualified by the question of ‘where to?’.
Despite accusations from one of two directions that the wording of the outlined bids was biased in favour of Bid B (something we refute totally), the straw poll was conducted in line with our stated policy of presenting as many details as possible about the nature of the bids and allowing members to decide which they prefer.
The result does not – and can not – mean that QPR 1st is about to give its unqualified backing to Maurice FitzGerald’s bid. But as someone who has repeatedly vowed to put the long-term interests of QPR ahead of his own financial loss, and who stated very clearly after the Wimbledon merger business that, as custodian of the club, he would always listen to the wishes of QPR fans, our expectation is that Chris Wright, in conjunction with the Administrator, will fully consider the poll results before relinquishing control of the club.