Many of Us Think We Are Bigger Than What We Actually Are??

[bushcelt1]

we are charlton athletic, in terms of size.

And what they achieved is possible for us to achieve.
We are bigger in terms of core support than fulham, they're not doing too bad either.

They have something in common though.... Appointed good managers (especially charlton) and had a plan.
Fulham really went for it and got keegan, and then tigana.

Maybe they got lucky?, but they grabbed the opportunity and went for it.
And i don't mean just splashing multi-millions on players.

agree with you mate but for 1 thing- fulham got in at the right time to fill the vacumm that chelsea left by charging too much.fulham hit the prem just at the right time ....i.e- a lot of kids who might have popped down the r'ss were lost at a time we were playing 2nd div football. It don't matter a #### to me what division we play in i am a hoop but we defo lost the bragging rights to a lot of potential children qpr fans in west london. If only for those big london irish familys now!!!!

[Loftladder]

You pick up support in the good times. x2 may be possible. With a ground holding 18K there's not much chance of building a bigger fan base than we have.

[stan_bowles]

give over. If we had a ground that could hold 30'000 we still would'nt fill it if we were in the prem. Qpr have a small and hardcore fan base that will not top the 25 plus. Half the 32,ooo at cardiff were qpr fans who are nans-uncles and mates. All might be rangers fans but are out for the jolly!! Half of ladbroke grove are qpr but don't go!! Time to get real just how big people think we are !!! I went to wembley in 82(and replay) and 86. We had thousands and it was ####ing great but the start of each season after we were getting 12,000-15,000. Stop the romantic dreaming!!! Been there and done it....

Well said mate and bang on.

We may hold the record for selling the most tickets for a Wembley cup final (68000) against Oxford,but how many of those ever went back to see us at LR next season?.

[QPR1234]

be honest pete reason we get 13k a week is because of the management in charge atm.. its not a case of fans just dont wanna go.. its fact they mostly cant afford to.

[silvercue]

I think we understand we are not a big club. But we have financial backing if we can make that push. We have a good future, unlike many clubs that are facing financial meltdown.

But do you think we are bigger than, say.....Reading? If so, why could we not attract a manager like Coppell? I would wager we never even approached him.

[Nodge70]

Whoah............

Had this debate with conners/Ali Russell/Ormand on the dotorg a while back.

We're relatively big news in the media - a relatively large-ish cheese in the perception of many, many movers and shakers.

A huge swathe of our current fanbase is like me, in their late 30's early 40's. I've been going since 1972 and I've only seen us play 3 seasons outside of the top two divisions. Additionally, 2001-2004 are the only 3 years outside of the top two divisions since 1967 - now over half the time of our membership of the Football League. This is not the history, or record, of a "small" club. Journalists and media types are of the same age and know Rangers from our lengthy period in the top flight.

We took 44,000 supporters to Wembley for the Milk Cup Final in 1986 and 33,000 to Cardiff, on a Sunday, for the Play Off Final - again, not the fanbase of a small club. All it needs is a bit of vision. Until Bates bit the bullet and showed the vision and took the risk Thompson clearly wasn't prepared to take in getting Hoddle and Gullit on board, our club was on a par with Chelsea. We consistently got far, far bigger crowds than Palace, Charlton, Southampton and Norwich. Our crowds haven't dipped - their increased exponentially due to a combination of factors - in the case of Norwich, a club cleverly marketed their geographic isolation and in the case of Charlton (who themselves modelled their rise on QPR) and Southampton, stadium development. We've been left behind in infrastructure and marketing nous. We're far bigger than the likes of Reading. Despite their recent PL history, commentators STILL refer to them as playing in "QPR style blue and white hoops". NB - we can't attract the likes of Coppell due to the (in my view, correct) perception of the senior administration of the football side of the club being "a joke".

The fanbase, football world and media interest are there. We are not a small club and we are not punching above our weight. We can easily match Fulham, Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley. All someone needs to do is find the right key to unlock the door again. Just *1* marque signing or top quality managerial appointment would go a huge way towards this. Alas, it seems, for reasons known only to the owners and GP, there is an unwillingness to take that final step.

[eghamR]

Whoah............

Had this debate with conners/Ali Russell/Ormand on the dotorg a while back.

We're relatively big news in the media - a relatively large-ish cheese in the perception of many, many movers and shakers.

A huge swathe of our current fanbase is like me, in their late 30's early 40's. I've been going since 1972 and I've only seen us play 3 seasons outside of the top two divisions. Additionally, 2001-2004 are the only 3 years outside of the top two divisions since 1967 - now over half the time of our membership of the Football League. This is not the history, or record, of a "small" club. Journalists and media types are of the same age and know Rangers from our lengthy period in the top flight.

We took 44,000 supporters to Wembley for the Milk Cup Final in 1986 and 33,000 to Cardiff, on a Sunday, for the Play Off Final - again, not the fanbase of a small club. All it needs is a bit of vision. Until Bates bit the bullet and showed the vision and took the risk Thompson clearly wasn't prepared to take in getting Hoddle and Gullit on board, our club was on a par with Chelsea. We consistently got far, far bigger crowds than Palace, Charlton, Southampton and Norwich. Our crowds haven't dipped - their increased exponentially due to a combination of factors - in the case of Norwich, a club cleverly marketed their geographic isolation and in the case of Charlton (who themselves modelled their rise on QPR) and Southampton, stadium development. We've been left behind in infrastructure and marketing nous. We're far bigger than the likes of Reading. Despite their recent PL history, commentators STILL refer to them as playing in "QPR style blue and white hoops".

The fanbase, football world and media interest are there. We are not a small club and we are not punching above our weight. We can easily match Fulham, Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley. All someone needs to do is find the right key to unlock the door again.

Great Post! ...and Goddard is talking sense as well!

[ScottJones]

Great post Nodge!

[Yousef]

It's not about we think we are bigger than what we are. It's about lack of ambitions despite having all the resources. Take Fulham for example. They got money with wisely spending and good management which helped them reach the premier league. We've got money with stupid management without realistic objectives and action plan. We are simply like a "Spoiled Girl".

[Mr Lofty]

Great post Nodge and full of common sense. Daft comments Pete. It is not a big name we are craving, just a good one. How about a manager who has reasonably succesfull record. Now that would be a good starting point.

Are you actually saying as we are not a big club we can only attract duffers?

[qblockpete]

Think we are craving a BIG name, to be honest. A "good one" simply indicates a preference which would still get the fan base split.

By the way, we are not a massive club but have alot of potential. Chelsea would be lucky to get 15,000 20 years ago and Fulham 5,000. The big problem we have is, fans are not starting to support the club. What I mean, is that fans normally come from an era, we are lucky we've has minor success 60's. 70's and 80's ( in terms of other big clubs), but nothing last 20 years on that scale, so you'll find our support base is probably over 30 and thats worrying, because it bcomes increasingly hard to encourage our kids to support the club and with SKY around kids in general follow the bigger clubs.

Saying that, if we went to the premiership without doubt we could sell 25,000per home game. Football has changed alot in the last 10 years alone

[Nodge70]

Think we are craving a BIG name, to be honest. A "good one" simply indicates a preference which would still get the fan base split.

By the way, we are not a massive club but have alot of potential. Chelsea would be lucky to get 15,000 20 years ago and Fulham 5,000. The big problem we have is, fans are not starting to support the club. What I mean, is that fans normally come from an era, we are lucky we've has minor success 60's. 70's and 80's ( in terms of other big clubs), but nothing last 20 years on that scale, so you'll find our support base is probably over 30 and thats worrying, because it bcomes increasingly hard to encourage our kids to support the club and with SKY around kids in general follow the bigger clubs.

Saying that, if we went to the premiership without doubt we could sell 25,000per home game. Football has changed alot in the last 10 years alone

Yup....

But.....

Our trophy haul in the past 50 years is identical to Newcastle and similar to Man City. No, we're not massive but we certainly aren't small time either.

Blue sky thinking!

[ScottJones]

Yup....

But.....

Our trophy haul in the past 50 years is identical to Newcastle and similar to Man City. No, we're not massive but we certainly aren't small time either.

Blue sky thinking!

The biggest small club in England ©Marc Bircham

[Mr Lofty]

When I say a good one I mean a good(ish) record. That's not opinion based. As far as splitting the fan base I guess Paul Hart wont do that. All will be united thinking it is a toss appointment. Great.

[Youvebeenrangered]

Whoah............

Had this debate with conners/Ali Russell/Ormand on the dotorg a while back.

We're relatively big news in the media - a relatively large-ish cheese in the perception of many, many movers and shakers.

A huge swathe of our current fanbase is like me, in their late 30's early 40's. I've been going since 1972 and I've only seen us play 3 seasons outside of the top two divisions. Additionally, 2001-2004 are the only 3 years outside of the top two divisions since 1967 - now over half the time of our membership of the Football League. This is not the history, or record, of a "small" club. Journalists and media types are of the same age and know Rangers from our lengthy period in the top flight.

We took 44,000 supporters to Wembley for the Milk Cup Final in 1986 and 33,000 to Cardiff, on a Sunday, for the Play Off Final - again, not the fanbase of a small club. All it needs is a bit of vision. Until Bates bit the bullet and showed the vision and took the risk Thompson clearly wasn't prepared to take in getting Hoddle and Gullit on board, our club was on a par with Chelsea. We consistently got far, far bigger crowds than Palace, Charlton, Southampton and Norwich. Our crowds haven't dipped - their increased exponentially due to a combination of factors - in the case of Norwich, a club cleverly marketed their geographic isolation and in the case of Charlton (who themselves modelled their rise on QPR) and Southampton, stadium development. We've been left behind in infrastructure and marketing nous. We're far bigger than the likes of Reading. Despite their recent PL history, commentators STILL refer to them as playing in "QPR style blue and white hoops". NB - we can't attract the likes of Coppell due to the (in my view, correct) perception of the senior administration of the football side of the club being "a joke".

The fanbase, football world and media interest are there. We are not a small club and we are not punching above our weight. We can easily match Fulham, Portsmouth, Hull and Burnley. All someone needs to do is find the right key to unlock the door again. Just *1* marque signing or top quality managerial appointment would go a huge way towards this. Alas, it seems, for reasons known only to the owners and GP, there is an unwillingness to take that final step.

Fantastic post nodge, agree with all of that.