We're Queens Park Rangers, we're Premier League!

"Where were you at 11.44 a.m.on Saturday 7th May 2011?" will be a question that no Rangers fan will have trouble answering for years to come! Me? I was in "The Adelaide" pub on the Uxbridge Road, enjoying a pre-match brunch and pint (or two!) with friends. Whilst there was certainly a celebratory air evident within the pub, it was all rather muted until THE news came through from Wembley. A Hoops fan sitting near me received a text instructing him to check the BBC website. Informing everyone that important news had come in, and commanding all around him to be quiet, he announced that there was to be no points deduction. The collective outpouring of relief and then unadulterated joy displayed by the Rangers fans around me is something that I will never forgot! After all the conjecture, the speculation about the Alejandro Faurlin enquiry outcome, that has for weeks dampened spirits and held celebrations in check, justice was seen to be done as QPR were rightfully crowned Football League Champions!





Events on the pitch during the match against Leeds that followed were largely irrelevant. Promotion had been secured, and the Championship had been won, and so it was all about celebrating these achievements! Celebrate I did, alongside the same group of people that I see every other week during the season as we make our fortnightly pilgrimage to Loftus Road. We've kept the faith, held onto the dream as the club lurched from one crisis to another, and now our commitment and belief had finally been rewarded! The celebrations taking place on the Uxbridge Road, after the game, will long live in the memory, as fans from various packed out hostelries spilt out onto the streets. Handshakes, high fives, embraces, celebratory chants, the popping and imbibing of much champagne, even impromptu conga dancing in the streets, were all in evidence!



Looking ahead to next season, in the Premiership, and inevitably there has already been much speculation in the media as to who's in and who's out amongst the playing and coaching staff. Marcello Lippi anyone? No thanks, I'd rather stick with Neil Warnock - he may not have the best Premiership track record, but he's worked wonders in getting us up and surely deserves the opportunity to prove himself in the top flight. No one can doubt that the playing squad needs a considerable overhaul. Warnock will have to be somewhat  ruthless as he attempts to mould and shape a team capable of holding their own in the top flight. He may well have to dispense wih the likes of Clint Hill and Shaun Derry, outstanding foot soldiers both during this promotion winning campaign, but whose aging, creaking bodies are unlikely to be able to cope with the weekly rigours of Premiership football. Whatever changes are made, I know most Rangers fans share a hope that the club don't go down the road of the likes of Blackburn, Chelsea and Manchester City and simply go out and buy success. Despite having a board of directors with considerable financial muscle, for a few years now, the club has retained its core identity, that of being a friendly, family club with a relatively small but loyal fanbase, and a cramped but atmopheric ground. I think it's very important that this identity is not significantly compromised in the quest for success - no invasion from the prawn sandwich eating, faceless corporate brigade please!