1971–72 Queens Park Rangers F.C. season

Queens Park Rangers

1971–72 season
Chairman	Jim Gregory
Manager	Gordon Jago
Stadium	Loftus Road
Football League Second Division	4th
FA Cup	Fifth round
Football League Cup	Second round
London Challenge Cup	Semi-Finals
Top goalscorer	League: Rodney Marsh 20 All: Rodney Marsh 23
Highest home attendance	25,257 Vs Norwich City 3 April 1972
Lowest home attendance	7,616 Vs Carlisle United 29 April 1972
Average home league attendance	14,556
Biggest win	4-1 Vs Carlisle United (11 December 1971)
Biggest defeat	1-3 Vs Oxford United (29 September 1971)
Home colours Away colours

During the 1971–72 English football season, Queens Park Rangers competed in the Second Division

Season summary

Despite a 12-game unbeaten run to finish the season, promotion was not achieved and QPR finished the season in 4th place.[1] John O'Rourke was signed from Coventry City in a record fee of £60,000 (an abandoned transfer had failed in 1967 from Middlesbrough) in addition Future Republic of Ireland international Terry Mancini was signed from Leyton Orient.Late in the season wantaway England international Rodney Marsh was sold to Manchester City for a record fee for both clubs of £200,000

Kit

Admiral were QPR's kit manufacturers.

Results

Second Division

Table

Main article: 1971–72 Football League § Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Birmingham City (P)	42	19	18	5	60	31	1.935	56	Promotion to the First Division
3	Millwall	42	19	17	6	64	46	1.391	55
4	Queens Park Rangers	42	20	14	8	57	28	2.036	54
5	Sunderland	42	17	16	9	67	57	1.175	50
6	Blackpool	42	20	7	15	70	50	1.400	47	Qualification for the Watney Cup

Source: ^[citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(P) Promoted

[1]

Results

QPR scores given first

  Win   Draw   Loss

Second Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	Position
14 August 1971	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3-0	Francis, Marsh 2	13,270	2
21 August 1971	Middlesbrough	A	2-3	McCulloch, Marsh	20,574	9
28 August 1971	Millwall	H	1-1	Marsh	16,730	9
31 August 1971	Fulham	A	3-0	Saul, McCulloch, OG	21,187	4
4 September 1971	Swindon Town	A	0-0		15,915	7
11 September 1971	Preston North End	H	2-1	Saul, McCulloch	13,578	6
18 September 1971	Burnley	A	0-1		13,770	8
25 September 1971	Watford	H	3-0	McCulloch, Marsh 2	15,698	4
29 September 1971	Oxford United	A	1-3	Busby	11,670	8
2 October 1971	Norwich City	A	0-0		22,950	8
9 October 1971	Birmingham City	H	1-0	Marsh	16,039	7
16 October 1971	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0-0		16,716	7
19 October 1971	Luton Town	H	1-0	Leach	15,858	6
23 October 1971	Blackpool	H	1-1	Marsh	16,471	6
30 October 1971	Portsmouth	H	1-1	Morgan	15,934	6
6 November 1971	Cardiff	A	0-0		16,892	6
13 November 1971	Bristol City	H	3-0	Merrick OG, Marsh, O'Rourke	14,898	5
20 November 1971	Hull City	H	2-1	O'Rourke, Morgan	12,627	4
27 November 1971	Charlton Athletic	A	1-2	Clement	16,268	4
4 December 1971	Sunderland	A	2-1	Marsh, O'Rourke	13,576	4
11 December 1971	Carlisle United	A	4-1	Marsh 2, O'Rourke, Leach	9,243	4
18 December 1971	Swindon Town	A	3-0	Venables, Marsh 2	13,517	2
27 December 1971	Orient	A	0-2		19,081	3
1 January 1972	Burnley	H	3-1	Leach 2, Marsh	14,614	2
8 January 1972	Millwall	A	0-0		24,376	2
22 January 1972	Oxford United	H	4-2	Leach, Marsh 2, Saul	13,283	2
27 January 1972	Luton Town	A	1-1	Francis	17,280	2
12 February 1972	Blackpool	H	0-1		13,690	3
19 February 1972	Portsmouth	A	0-1		15,583	4
4 March 1972	Bristol City	A	0-2		11,105	6
11 March 1972	Birmingham City	A	0-0		35,557	6
18 March 1972	Middlesbrough	H	1-0	Clement	11,467	4
25 March 1972	Preston North End	A	1-1	O'Rourke	12,304	5
31 March 1972	Watford	A	2-0	Evans, Salvage	14,719	5
1 April 1972	Orient	H	1-0	O'Rourke	12,042	3
3 April 1972	Norwich City	H	0-0		25,257	3
8 April 1972	Hull City	A	1-1	O'Rourke	12,830	4
15 April 1972	Charlton Athletic	H	2-0	Leach, Francis	12,976	4
22 April 1972	Sunderland	A	1-0	Busby	13,751	3
25 April 1972	Fulham	H	0-0		20,605	4
29 April 1972	Carlisle United	H	3-0	Clement, Leach, O'Rourke	7,616	4
2 May 1972	Cardiff City	H	3-0	Leach, O'Rourke, Ferguson	8,430	3

London Challenge Cup

Date[2]	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
28 September 1971	First Round	Wimbledon	A	1-1
4 October 1971	First Round Replay	Wimbledon	H	4-1
11 October 1971	Quarter-Final	West Ham	A	1-0
25 October 1971	Semi final	Orient	A	2-3

Football League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
7 September 1971	Second Round	Birmingham City	H	2-0	Marsh, Francis	15,032
5 October 1971	Third Round	Lincoln City	H	4-2	Marsh, McCulloch, Saul, Morgan	12,723
26 October 1971	Fourth Round	Bristol Rovers	H	1-1	Marsh	17,045
2 November 1971	Fourth Round Replay	Bristol Rovers	A	0-1		24,373

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
15 January 1972	Third Round	Fulham	H	1-1	Mancini	23,707
18 January 1972	Third Round Replay	Fulham	A	1-2	Clement	24,181

Preseason

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
31 July 1971	Swansea City	A	2-1	Marsh, McCulloch	3,000
6 August 1971	West Ham United	H	2-0	Leach, Marsh	7,030

Squad

Position	Nationality	Name	League Appearances (substitute)	League Goals	Cup Appearances	F.A.Cup Goals	League Cup Goals	Total Appearances	Total Goals
GK		Phil Parkes	42	6				48
GK		Alan Spratley
DF		Dave Clement	42	6	3	1		48	4
DF		Tony Hazell	42	6				42	6
DF		Ian Gillard	24	2				26
DF		Ron Hunt	29(1)	6				36
DF		Terry Mancini	23	2		1		25	1
DF		Ian Evans	8	2	1			10	1
DF		Ian Watson	2					2
MF		Michael McGovern	(1)					1
MF		Martyn Busby	28(1)	2	2			31
MF		Mike Ferguson	16	1	1			17	1
MF		Gerry Francis	38	6	3		1	44	4
MF		Mick Leach	28(3)	2	7			33	7
MF		Ray Seary	(1)					1
MF		Terry Venables	27	6				33
FW		Frank Saul	18(3)	6	2		1	27	3
FW		Andy McCulloch	17(7)	3	4		1	27	5
FW		John O'Rourke	26	2	8			28	8
FW		Rodney Marsh	30	6	17		3	36	20
FW		Barry Salvage	13(3)		1			16	1
FW		Ian Morgan	9(3)	2	2		1	14	3

Transfers In

Name	from	Date	Fee
Terry Mancini	Leyton Orient	October 1971	£25,000
John O'Rourke	Coventry City	October 1971	£60,000
John Beck	Queens Park Rangers Juniors	May 1972
Don Givens	Luton Town	July 1972	£35,000

Transfers Out

Name	from	Date	Fee	Date	Club	Fee
Rodney Marsh	Fulham	March 1966	£15,000	March 1972	Manchester City	£200,000
Frank Saul	Southampton	May 1970	£40,000	March 1972	Millwall

Notes and references

1. Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (17 August 1972). Rothmans Football Yearbook 71–72. Queen Anne. pp. 306–308. ISBN 978-0362001075.
2. "nonleaguematters". Non league Matters. 14 February 2022.