Loftus Road
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| Loftus Road | |
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| Full name | Loftus Road Stadium or Rangers Stadium |
| Nickname | Legoland, The Bush or The Blue Box |
| Built | 1896 |
| Opened | 1904 |
| Capacity | 19,148 |
| Home of | Queens Park Rangers |
| Pitch size | 112 x 72 yards |
Loftus Road is a spacious football stadium in London, W12. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers and has a capacity of 19,148.
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[edit] History
The stadium was first used by Shepherd's Bush F.C. from 1904, an amateur side that disbanded in World War I and QPR moved there in 1917, from their previous home of Park Royal Showground.
The four stands are called the Loftus Road End (often shortened to The Loft), Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand (often called Little South Africa) and the School End, which is for away supporters.
During the summer of 1981 an artificial pitch was installed at Loftus Road, the first such surface to be used in British professional football. But it was removed in April 1988 because of football legislation and replaced with grass.
It was home to Wasps R.F.C. (now called the London Wasps) between 1996/97 and 2001/02, who 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.
Loftus Road was the first 'neutral' venue to capitalise on hosting international friendlies (not involving England). The ground has more recently played host notably involving 'home' ties for the Jamaican and Australian national teams to capitalise on the large Australian and Caribbean populations in West London.
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 14th of November, Australia drew with Ghana 1-1 in an international friendly at Loftus Road.
[edit] South Africa Road Stand and The Paddocks
The biggest of the four stands at Loftus Road. Including The Paddocks, it is a two tier stand with a row of boxes separating The Paddocks and the upper tier. It is also where the dugouts, changing rooms, suites, tunnel, offices, the club shop , the box office and press conference rooms are. The Paddocks area is the cheapest in the ground, whereas the upper tier is the most expensive. This is the stand where Gianni Paladini was alleged to have been held at gunpoint.
[edit] The Loft
A two tier stand that's behind the goal and traditionally where most members and season ticket holders sit. This is third most expensive stand to sit in. Q.P.R. generally attack this end in the second half, because it is believed to be good luck (similar to Liverpool F.C. and The Kop end. The police are based in this stand and it is home to the members' bar in the ground, The Blue and White. This stand is frequently sold out and the hardest place to get a ticket in and impossible if you are not a member.
[edit] The Ellerslie Road Stand
This stand is constantly renamed and sponsored, but Q.P.R. fans refer to it as the Ellerslie Road Stand. It is a single tired 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 Q.P.R. painted across it. It is home to the famous "R Block" where, along with the Lofts Q and P blocks sit Q.P.R's partizan following. Most of the noise is generated from this stand as well as the Loft. This stand is many of the fan's favourite because of the view and atmosphere. This is the second most expensive stand. It is also home to the commentary gantry.
[edit] The School End
At the west end of the ground is the school end. In appearance it is a carbon copy of the Loft. 'The School' seats the away fans and the upper tier has been opened to home fans if the lower tier is sold out. It is the end in which the scoreboard is, where Trevor Sinclair scored his famous overhead kick against Barnsley and where one of the best team goals in English football history was scored in 1975 by Gerry Francis against Liverpool.
[edit] The Future
Gianni Paladini and the board are looking at ways of extending the grounds capacity to 28,000. This is hard because the ground is surrounded by buildings and the only expandable stands would be The Loft and Ellerslie Road Stands. The other two stands are nigh on impossible to expand because they are near enough on the road as it is.
There is also talk of Q.P.R. moving out of Loftus Road and building a new stadium in Feltham, but this is seen as being a move too far away from The Hoops' spiritual home and fanbase. Rangers have twice flirted with moving to the White City Stadium in the past, however there was new speculation of a ground-share with Fulham F.C. for a new 40,000 seater stadium in 2005 at White City, but this has firmly been put on hold by both clubs.
[edit] Trivia
- The stadium's highest recorded attendance of 35,353 was in a game against Leeds United on 27 April 1974, before it was converted into an all-seater stadium, for the beginning of the 1994/95 season.
- Their supporters' unkindly nicknamed the ground "Legoland", "The Bush" or "Loftus Gaol".
- All the roads surrounding Loftus Road have South African connections.
[edit] External link
| Football League Championship venues, 2006-2007 |
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| Britannia Stadium | Carrow Road | Deepdale | Elland Road The Hawthorns | Hillsborough | Home Park | Kenilworth Road KC Stadium | Layer Road | Loftus Road | Molineux Stadium Ninian Park | Oakwell Stadium | Portman Road | Pride Park Stadium Ricoh Arena | Roots Hall | Selhurst Park | Stadium of Light St Andrews | St Mary's Stadium | Turf Moor | Walkers Stadium |
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