by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st

Message from the Football Supporters Federation

Safe standing was in the news again this morning as the Premier League claimed that only 5% of fans want to stand and actually use a dedicated standing area for 90 minutes – apparently backing the Sports Minister’s claims about the safe standing campaign being a “vocal minority”. Their claims were immediately challenged by supporters across the country and those in the Football League, such as Brentford FC, who sell out their standing accommodation week in, week out.

Since the minister’s decision to block a safe standing pilot at the Hawthorns last week, momentum has gathered behind Owen Riches’s safe standing petition on the Government’s official petition page – surpassing 70,000 signatures at the time of writing.

Now we’re urging all of our affiliates across the divisions to back the petition and share it among their memberships. It takes 30 seconds to fill in and sharing it across your social media and other networks could help it reach that all-important 100,000 mark.

If you support Safe Standing please sign and share the petition at the link below

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/207040

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st
Our thoughts are with the relatives and family of Ray Wilkins whose death was announced today.  He made a special contribution to our club, making 213 appearances as a player and, of course served as manager too.
He was a key part of one of our most successful teams and will live long in the memories of QPR supporters.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st

The next QPR Supporters Consultation Committee meeting is scheduled to take place w/c 29/01/2018 . Representatives from QPR1st will be attending. if you have any issues that you would like to be raised during the meeting please let us know via info@qpr1st.com by Friday 26/01/2018.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st
The Metropolitan Police’s football unit is meeting with representatives of football trusts on Thursday evening. QPR1st will be represented.  On the agenda are discussions on anti-terrorism arrangements and on child protection.
Are you aware of any policing issues you would like us to raise? If so, let us know on info@qpr1st.com.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st
QPR1st has been supporting the Olympic Stadium Campaign, made up of football supporter organisations, calling for openness on the deal that saw taxpayers money supporting West Ham at the former Olympic stadium. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has now said he will take control of the London Stadium in order to “renegotiate deals” and “minimise ongoing losses”.
The campaign has released this statement today:
After several years of hard work by the OS Campaign, we have achieved disclosure of information we were told could not be published, and achieved an inquiry appointed by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. That inquiry has reported this morning, detailing the ‘mismanagement of London [Olympic] Stadium finances by the previous Mayor’ (Boris Johnson): https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/mayor-london/our-publications/independent-review-olympic-stadium
Huge credit must go to the 14 organisations that have made up this campaign, and continued to work on it whilst the story disappeared from the headlines.
This doesn’t mark the end of the campaign, but it does finally place in the public domain, the recognition of one of our central arguments.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community

Our condolences goes to the family and friends of young QPR supporter Jason Issacs who died on Tuesday following an unprovoked knife attack by a group on mopeds in Northolt last Saturday.

The Metropolitan Police has announced a £20,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the killing.

More information

https://news.sky.com/story/knife-crime-is-out-of-control-in-london-says-family-of-murdered-teen-11141040 

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community
Our sympathy goes to the family and friends of former QPR defender and assistant manager Allan Harris who has died, aged 74.
As a player Allan came to QPR in 1967 and was a member of the 67-68 side that won promotion to the First Division for the first time in the club’s history.
Harris played more than 90 games for the club before transferring to Plymouth Argyle and later Cambridge.
After his playing days he returned to QPR for more success with the club as assistant manager to Terry Venables, helping the team win promotion to the First Division and to reach an FA Cup Final.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in All News, Boardroom, QPR1st

QPR announced on Tuesday that that its appeal to an arbitration panel against the English Football League’s Financial Fair Play fine, reported as being as much as £40m, had failed.   An appeal by QPR against the arbitration decision is expected.

This fine is far greater than any other fine imposed by the English authorities on any club in England, and has been reported as potentially the largest fine in sport.  We note that these FFP regulations have demonstrably affected a number of medium and small clubs while the real big-spenders in football have been free to splash the cash year after year.

QPR is not only a football team but it is also a major contributor to the local community, not least through its Community Trust. It cannot be acceptable to put a football club’s future on the line in pursuit of outdated fair play regulations.

As a supporters’ trust, QPR1st has always campaigned for the club’s owners to act in a financially responsible manner and always to put the club’s security and stability at the forefront of its strategy.

The financial record of QPR has improved markedly since the appointment of Lee Hoos as CEO two years ago. QPR1st want to see this new responsible stewardship of the club’s finances continue, without a disproportionate fine.

In due course, we expect a full account of  decisions made by our owners which appear to have led to  QPR being  in breach of the rules and to fully meet any financial consequences that may result from such decisions. We shall be writing to Mr Fernandes to stress this point.

QPR1st

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, QPR1st

QPR1st and the LSA met representatives of the club, the police and Millwall fans. Based on current intelligence the police have said that their response will be ‘graduated and proportionate’. There will be no specific escort of Millwall fans to the ground although officers will be stationed at key points. Millwall fans will not be held back at the end of the game.

The club has confirmed that Ellerslie Road will be the only entry/exit point for Millwall fans. At the end of the match they will be directed towards Bloemfontein Road. QPR fans are advised by the police to arrive early and those in Ellersie Road to leave in the direction of Loftus Road.

QPR1st representatives suggested keeping Millwall fans in after the match for a short period to minimise contact between the two sets of fans. It is understood that this option will only be considered if there is trouble on the night prior to the match ending.

by QPR1stPosted on Posted in Community, Events
Congratulations to all those at the club who did so much to make the Game for Grenfell an extraordinary success.  It was a remarkable event supporting people in need which should make all QPR supporters proud of the club we support.