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Queens Park Rangers were formed
in the year 1882 by the old boys of Droop Street Board School. The
boys were members of the St. Jude's Institute as they used this
as the club headquarters, and in the early days were known as St.
Judes.
They obtained the name of Queens Park Rangers when they merged with
a team called Christchurch Rangers in 1886. They called themselves
Queens Park Rangers because most of the players came from the district
of Queens Park. Playing in light and dark blue halves, their first
fixtures were all friendly matches, and they played teams like Stanley,
Tottenham and Fulham. The only equipment the club owned were four
posts, and two lengths of tape for the cross bar. The club's proper
playing pitch was on a piece of waste ground near Kensal Rise Athletic
Ground and shortly afterwards they moved to Welfords Fields at a
rent of £8 a year.
In 1888 they rented the London Scottish ground at Brondesbury for
£20 and it was in this year they first started charging for admission.
In 1888/89 the pitch became unplayable, and between 1890 and 1892
they moved to four different grounds - Home Park, Kensal Rise Green,
The Gun Club at Wormwood Scrubs and Kilburn Cricket ground.
In 1892 QPR changed their colours to green and white hoops, and
joined the West London League.
In 1892 QPR won their first Cup - The West London Observer Cup,
beating Fulham 3-2 in the final. QPR won it again the next two years.
In 1894/95 QPR won the London Cup, and also entered the FA Cup for
the first time.
In 1896 QPR moved to Kensal Rise Athletic ground and charged adults
6d each for admission.
QPR turned professional on December 28th 1898, to stop their players
going to other clubs, and applied for permission to join the Southern
League. They played their first professional League match on 9th
September at Tottenham and lost 1-0. They won their first professional
match on 16th September 1899 by beating New Brompton. Turnbul scored
QPR's first goal in competitive League football. They finished eighth
in the League, and reached the Second Round of the FA Cup before
losing to Millwall.
Because of poor finances, QPR had to move to St. Quintin's Avenue
in 1901. Players had to change in a public house and walk to the
pitch. The inhabitants of the area complained that QPR were lowering
the tone of the neighbourhood and in 1902 QPR moved back to Kensal
Rise!
In 1904/05 they moved to The Royal Agricultural Society Ground at
Park Royal which could hold 40,000 spectators.
In 1905/06 QPR won the Western League Cup, but in 1906/07 they finished
in 18th place out of 20 in the Southern League.
In 1907/08 QPR moved to another new ground at Park Royal, capable
of holding 60,000 spectators. They won the Southern League for the
first time. At the end of the season they met Manchester United
for the first Charity Sheild match. They drew 1-2 - but lost the
replay 4-0. QRP expected to be elected to Division Two as they had
won the Southern League and resigned from it. However Tottenham,
who finished eighth, were elected, and QPR had to seek re-admission.
They had to play all their matches in mid-week as the fixture list
had been completed by the time they were re-admitted.
In 1911/12 QPR won the Southern League for the second time - this
time against Blackburn Rovers.
In 1912, because of a coal strike, QPR played two of their matches
at White City, and also went on their first tour of Europe - and
scored 40 goals in eight matches.
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