Loftus Road
Encyclopedia
Loftus Road is a football
stadium
in Shepherd's Bush
, London
. It is home to the English football
team Queens Park Rangers
of the Premier League and has a capacity
of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End (often shortened to The Loft), Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End, which is used by away supporters. The stadium was shared between QPR and Premier League side Fulham
between 2002 and 2004, while Fulham's Craven Cottage
was closed for reconstruction. Loftus Road is the smallest stadium in the Premier League followed by the Liberty Stadium
, an amateur side that disbanded in World War I. QPR
moved to Loftus Road in 1917, having had their ground at Park Royal commandeered by the army in 1915. At that time the ground was an open field with a pavilion. One stand from Park Royal was dismantled and re-erected forming the Ellerslie Road stand in 1919. This stand remained as the only covered seating in the ground until 1968 and was replaced in 1972. It had a capacity of 2,950.
In 1938 a new covered terrace for 6,000 spectators was constructed by a company called Framed Structures Ltd at the Loftus Road end taking the capacity up to 30,000. It cost £7,000 (with £1,500 donated by the QPR Supporters Club) and was opened by the Rt Hon Herbert Morrison, the leading Labour MP and future war time Home Secretary, at the match vs Crystal Palace on 29 October. The section of the terracing that was covered was concreted at this time with the uncovered section later concreted in 1945.
In April 1948, after winning the Third Division (South) championship, the club bought the freehold of the stadium plus 39 houses in Loftus Road and Ellerslie Road for £26,250. When the club's finances were under pressure in the late 1950s the houses had to be sold.
On 5 October 1953 floodlights were used at Loftus Road for the first time for a friendly game against Arsenal. In the summer of 1966 the original floodlights were replaced by much taller floodlight pylons. In the summer of 1981 these in turn were replaced with the current floodlights.
In the summer of 1968 the South Africa Road stand was constructed at a cost of £150,000 to replace the old open terracing. In 1972 a new stand was completed in Ellerslie Road, replacing the tin-roofed grandstand, and first used in the match versus Oxford United on 2 December 1972. The changing rooms and offices were moved to South Africa Road.
The stadium's highest recorded attendance of 35,353 was in a game against Leeds United
on 27 April 1974. The following summer the paddock of the South Africa Road stand was converted from terracing to seating with the installation of 4,600 seats, thus lowering the capacity of the stadium to the 31,002 present for the last home match of the 1975/6 season against Leeds United
on 24 April 1976.
During the summer of 1981 an artificial pitch
of Omniturf
was installed at Loftus Road, the first such surface to be used in British
professional football. It was removed in April 1988 because of football legislation and replaced with grass. There were just three other league stadiums in the whole country with a plastic pitch, and by 1994 all of these had been ripped up.
New stands were opened at the School End in the summer of 1980 and one year later at the Loftus Road end. At the same time as the Loftus Road stand was built executive boxes were installed in the lower tier of the South Africa Road stand and the artificial pitch laid. The stadium capacity at this time was 27,000 and it was one of the most modern and advanced stadiums in Britain having been completely reconstructed over the 13-year period from 1968 to 1981.
On 8 June 1985 Barry McGuigan
successfully challenged Eusebio Pedroza
to become WBA world featherweight boxing champion at Loftus Road.
In the summer of 1994 the Loftus Road ground became an all-seater stadium
with the construction of seating in the lower Loftus Road stand. The last match where home spectators were able to watch the match from terracing was 16 April 1994 against Everton.
The largest attendance in recent times was 18,234 against Leeds United on 7 May 2011.
Loftus Road is also a nickname of the Bulgaria
n FC Spartak Plovdiv
ground, the Todor Diev Stadium
.
from 1996/97 to 2001/02, having moved from their home in Sudbury
, near Wembley
in Middlesex
. It was part of a 7 year ground share deal, by Chris Wright who had just bought Wasps as rugby union became professional. Wasps agreed to move out, to Wycombe Wanderers
' Adams Park
ground, at the end of the 2001–02
season to allow Fulham F.C.
to rent for 2 seasons between 2002 and 2004, while their ground, Craven Cottage
, was redeveloped. The success of Wasps at their new ground meant they didn't move back after Fulham left.
. The ground has subsequently hosted 'home' ties for the Jamaican
and Australian national teams to capitalise on the large Australian and Caribbean
populations in west London
and convenient for their star players who play in the British Isles
and continental Europe
.
In addition, in 2004, as part of the Gillette Tri-Nations
rugby league
competition, New Zealand
played Australia
(Australia winning by 32 points to 16). In 2005, Great Britain
lost to New Zealand at the stadium in the same competition, 26 – 42.
On the football front, on 14 November 2006, Australia drew 1–1 with Ghana
in an international friendly at the ground. In 2008, Australia played another friendly at Loftus Road against South Africa, the match ended 2–2. In 2007 Denmark
won 3-1 against Australia at Loftus Road. South Korea won 2–0 against Côte d'Ivoire
at Loftus Road on 3 March 2010.
generally attack this end in the second half because it is believed to be good luck. The police crowd observation box is located in this stand and it is home to the members' bar in the ground, The Blue and White Bar. A new colour scoreboard is located at this end, installed in Summer 2008, on the advertising boards between the upper and lower tiers.
on 28 November 2011 that the club was investigating the possibility of relocating to a new site in West London
in order to build a bigger stadium.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It is home to the English football
Football in England
Association football is a national sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game...
team Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
of the Premier League and has a capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End (often shortened to The Loft), Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End, which is used by away supporters. The stadium was shared between QPR and Premier League side Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
between 2002 and 2004, while Fulham's Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....
was closed for reconstruction. Loftus Road is the smallest stadium in the Premier League followed by the Liberty Stadium
Liberty Stadium, Swansea
The Liberty Stadium is a purpose-built sports stadium and conferencing venue in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium is all-seated, with a capacity of 20,532 making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea and the third largest stadium in Wales after the Millennium Stadium and the...
History
The ground was first used on 22 October 1904 by Shepherd's Bush F.C.Shepherd's Bush F.C.
Shepherd's Bush Football Club were an English football club based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, although they originally played in central and south London.-History:...
, an amateur side that disbanded in World War I. QPR
QPR
QPR usually refers to Queens Park Rangers F.C., an English football club.QPR may also refer to:*Queen + Paul Rodgers, a 2004-2009 musical supergroup*Queen's Park Rangers , a football club playing in the Grenada League...
moved to Loftus Road in 1917, having had their ground at Park Royal commandeered by the army in 1915. At that time the ground was an open field with a pavilion. One stand from Park Royal was dismantled and re-erected forming the Ellerslie Road stand in 1919. This stand remained as the only covered seating in the ground until 1968 and was replaced in 1972. It had a capacity of 2,950.
In 1938 a new covered terrace for 6,000 spectators was constructed by a company called Framed Structures Ltd at the Loftus Road end taking the capacity up to 30,000. It cost £7,000 (with £1,500 donated by the QPR Supporters Club) and was opened by the Rt Hon Herbert Morrison, the leading Labour MP and future war time Home Secretary, at the match vs Crystal Palace on 29 October. The section of the terracing that was covered was concreted at this time with the uncovered section later concreted in 1945.
In April 1948, after winning the Third Division (South) championship, the club bought the freehold of the stadium plus 39 houses in Loftus Road and Ellerslie Road for £26,250. When the club's finances were under pressure in the late 1950s the houses had to be sold.
On 5 October 1953 floodlights were used at Loftus Road for the first time for a friendly game against Arsenal. In the summer of 1966 the original floodlights were replaced by much taller floodlight pylons. In the summer of 1981 these in turn were replaced with the current floodlights.
In the summer of 1968 the South Africa Road stand was constructed at a cost of £150,000 to replace the old open terracing. In 1972 a new stand was completed in Ellerslie Road, replacing the tin-roofed grandstand, and first used in the match versus Oxford United on 2 December 1972. The changing rooms and offices were moved to South Africa Road.
The stadium's highest recorded attendance of 35,353 was in a game against Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
on 27 April 1974. The following summer the paddock of the South Africa Road stand was converted from terracing to seating with the installation of 4,600 seats, thus lowering the capacity of the stadium to the 31,002 present for the last home match of the 1975/6 season against Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
on 24 April 1976.
During the summer of 1981 an artificial pitch
Artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...
of Omniturf
Omniturf
Omniturf was the first artificial surface to be used by an English Football League club. The first club to install this 'plastic grass' surface was Queens Park Rangers who installed the new pitch for the start of the 1981/82 season...
was installed at Loftus Road, the first such surface to be used in British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
professional football. It was removed in April 1988 because of football legislation and replaced with grass. There were just three other league stadiums in the whole country with a plastic pitch, and by 1994 all of these had been ripped up.
New stands were opened at the School End in the summer of 1980 and one year later at the Loftus Road end. At the same time as the Loftus Road stand was built executive boxes were installed in the lower tier of the South Africa Road stand and the artificial pitch laid. The stadium capacity at this time was 27,000 and it was one of the most modern and advanced stadiums in Britain having been completely reconstructed over the 13-year period from 1968 to 1981.
On 8 June 1985 Barry McGuigan
Barry McGuigan
Finbarr Patrick McGuigan MBE , known as Barry McGuigan and nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, is a former Irish and British professional boxer who became a world featherweight champion.-Background:...
successfully challenged Eusebio Pedroza
Eusebio Pedroza
Eusebio Pedroza is a native of Panama who holds two records in boxing: His 19 defenses as world featherweight champion are a record for that division, and his seven years as world champion non-stop are a division record too...
to become WBA world featherweight boxing champion at Loftus Road.
In the summer of 1994 the Loftus Road ground became an all-seater stadium
All-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most soccer and American football stadiums in the United States and Canada are all-seaters, as are most baseball...
with the construction of seating in the lower Loftus Road stand. The last match where home spectators were able to watch the match from terracing was 16 April 1994 against Everton.
The largest attendance in recent times was 18,234 against Leeds United on 7 May 2011.
Loftus Road is also a nickname of the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n FC Spartak Plovdiv
FC Spartak Plovdiv
FC Spartak Plovdiv is a Bulgarian football club from the city of Plovdiv. Spartak Plovdiv currently plays its home matches at the 3,000-seat Todor Diev Stadium in the Kichuk Parizh district of Plovdiv. The stadium is named after the club's all-time greatest player Todor Diev...
ground, the Todor Diev Stadium
Todor Diev Stadium
Todor Diev Stadium is a football stadium in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Located in the south urban area of Kyuchuk Parij. It is the home ground of FC Spartak Plovdiv. Presently the stadium holds 3,500 people...
.
Ground sharing
Loftus Road was home to London WaspsLondon Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
from 1996/97 to 2001/02, having moved from their home in Sudbury
Sudbury, London
Sudbury is a suburb in the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow, located in northwest London, UK.Sudbury is an historical area having once extended from the 'South Manor- Sudbury' to the area that is now known as Wembley Central...
, near Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
in Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. It was part of a 7 year ground share deal, by Chris Wright who had just bought Wasps as rugby union became professional. Wasps agreed to move out, to Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers F.C.
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...
' Adams Park
Adams Park
Adams Park is a football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. It is the home ground of Wycombe Wanderers F.C. and the Aviva Premiership Rugby Union club London Wasps...
ground, at the end of the 2001–02
2001-02 in English football
The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
season to allow Fulham F.C.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
to rent for 2 seasons between 2002 and 2004, while their ground, Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....
, was redeveloped. The success of Wasps at their new ground meant they didn't move back after Fulham left.
Internationals
Loftus Road was the first 'neutral' venue to capitalise on hosting international friendlies not involving EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
. The ground has subsequently hosted 'home' ties for the Jamaican
Jamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...
and Australian national teams to capitalise on the large Australian and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
populations in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and convenient for their star players who play in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
.
In addition, in 2004, as part of the Gillette Tri-Nations
Rugby League Tri-Nations
The Rugby League Tri-Nations was a rugby league tournament involving the top three nations in the sport: Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand...
rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
competition, New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
played Australia
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
(Australia winning by 32 points to 16). In 2005, Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
lost to New Zealand at the stadium in the same competition, 26 – 42.
On the football front, on 14 November 2006, Australia drew 1–1 with Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
in an international friendly at the ground. In 2008, Australia played another friendly at Loftus Road against South Africa, the match ended 2–2. In 2007 Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...
won 3-1 against Australia at Loftus Road. South Korea won 2–0 against Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire national football team
The Côte d'Ivoire National Football Team or Ivory Coast National Football Team, nicknamed Les Éléphants , represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football...
at Loftus Road on 3 March 2010.
South Africa Road Stand and The Paddocks
The South Africa Road stand is the biggest of the four stands at Loftus Road. It is a two tier stand which includes The Paddocks and contains a row of boxes separating The Paddocks and the upper tier. It also houses the dugouts, changing rooms, suites, tunnel, offices, club shop, box office and press conference rooms. The Paddocks area is the cheapest in the ground, whereas the upper tier is the most expensive. The new exclusive W12 and C Clubs are located here.The Loft
The Loft is a two tier stand built in 1981 behind the goal and traditionally where most members and season ticket holders sit. This is the third most expensive stand to sit in. QPRQueens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
generally attack this end in the second half because it is believed to be good luck. The police crowd observation box is located in this stand and it is home to the members' bar in the ground, The Blue and White Bar. A new colour scoreboard is located at this end, installed in Summer 2008, on the advertising boards between the upper and lower tiers.
The Ellerslie Road Stand
The Ellerslie Road stand, built in 1972, is constantly renamed and sponsored, but QPR fans refer to it as the Ellerslie Road Stand. It is a single tiered stand and is the smallest in height, but not in noise and capacity. It is also the only stand not to be painted in blue and white hoops, instead it has "QPR" painted across it. It is home to the famous "R Block" where, along with the Loft's Q and P blocks sit QPR's partisan following. Most of the noise is generated from this stand, in addition to the Loft. This stand is a favourite of the fans because of the view and atmosphere. This is the second most expensive stand. It is also home to the commentary and television camera gantry.The School End
At the west end of the ground is the School End built in 1989. In appearance it is a copy of the Loft. Visiting supporters are accommodated in the 'The School End' upper tier; the lower tier is also allocated to them if demand is high. A new big screen was erected on the roof of the School End in the summer of 2008 which shows match highlights during the game and adverts. This joined a new colour scoreboard which is located on the advertising boards between the middle and lower tiers.The future
Following a number of years of uncertainty as to whether the club would expand Loftus Road or relocate to a new site in the event of a return to the Premier League, it was announced by chairman Tony FernandesTony Fernandes
Tan Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes CBE is a Malaysian entrepreneur and the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline "Now everyone can fly"...
on 28 November 2011 that the club was investigating the possibility of relocating to a new site in West London
West London
West London generally refers to the western portions of London, and may refer specifically to:*West *West End of London*W postcode area...
in order to build a bigger stadium.
External links
- Queens Park Rangers' Website
- Picture Gallery Loftus Road on londonfootballguide.com