Tribute To Joe Gallen – Part Two

Like a lot of others Joe, I was shocked and upset to hear how things turned out for you. Just to be at Loftus Road at the final home game and see you and your players walking around the pitch was special. The respect and pride amongst QPR fans for your lap of honour is something I will not forget. Best of luck for the future.

Garry Coady – Ireland QPR

Joe, many thanks for all your hard work and achievements. People like you are what football is all about, you are a credit to your profession. No doubt, your staff, players, parents and fans alike, hold you in the highest esteem because you’ve earned it. Thanks for always making myself feel welcome on many occasions. I wish you the very best for the future as I do all the Gallens and hope that one day you will return to our once proud Club. Good luck.

Jimmy Murray

We would like to say a big thank you to Joe Gallen for all the support and guidance he has given our son over the past few years. He is a fantastic coach and a very good human being. He has held the boys together through some very hard and trying times for the Youth department. I’m sure he will be missed by all the boys. Good luck Joe, we’re sure that QPR’s loss will be someone else’s gain. Thanks for playing a big part in our son’s development.

Gary and Kalitsa Parrett

Thanks for everything that you did Joe and all the best for the future

Roger Stokes

I would like to thank Joe for all he has done for the Youth set-up. Watching the youngsters play at Harlington, it was clear to see from the team spirit, how important the coaches mentoring was in creating such a strong bond between the players. The results spoke for themselves as well as the development of players moving into 1st team places and some moving on to other Clubs. This is the legacy that Joe leaves behind. I have read and heard many tributes for Joe from player’s parents and they have always been glowing. We know how much parents can push youngsters into youth sport but to hear such praise for a mentor to these kids is testimony to a good man.

Johnqprhayes

Joe Gallen, you depart QPR with your head held high and you retained your dignity throughout what must have been a very difficult period for you. Thanks for the success you brought to QPR and best wishes for the future.

Bill Moloney

A lot of QPR fans were sad to see you leave the Club and this itself is a great tribute to the job you done. You worked in very difficult and tragic circumstances but you still managed to achieve success, be it with results or helping youth players progress in their careers. Be assured that your good work will not have gone unnoticed and another job will not be far away. All the best.

Declin Daly

Not only is Joe a great Coach but he is one of the nicest and most genuine people you could wish to meet. I always felt that Joe managed to get the balance just right in his direction of the Youth teamfirm and authoritative but with kindness and understanding as well. He was so well respected by the boys, parents and supporters. Over the last fourteen months there were some traumatic events and Joe had to be more than just a Coach. He helped the lads through everything and winning the title at Brighton on the last day of the Season was so well earned and deserved. Tom and I felt proud and privileged to be there to share the sheer delight on that morning as Joe and the boys celebrated. Little did we guess what lay ahead and I still find it hard to get my head around it all ! Joe, you are a true diamond and you are going to be missed very much by the lads, parents and our Saturday morning mob. Good luck in the future but it’s hard to accept that it won’t be at QPR.

Pat and Tom

Joe and his staff have done wonders with the Centre of Excellence at QPR. As a supporter for over 35 years and a parent of a youth team player, I can honestly say that this Club is absolutely rotten above the youth section. Joe and his staff have worked tirelessly throughout, culminating with the fantastic achievement of winning the U18’s League Championship. This, on top of the scouting, training school boys, taking the Reserve team and dealing with contracts. There is no other employee at QPR who has worked as hard and with as much enthusiasm as Joe has. To top it all, he loved the Club as we do. QPR and the regime that run it do not deserve Joe Gallen and one day this despicable act of vengeance will come back to haunt us all. Good luck Joe, you are one of the best.

U16 Parent

All I can say about Joe is that the man is QPR and boy it shows. After all the things that have gone on at our Club, one man worked hard, head down and working with one goal in mind. It is a shame that the pride, loyalty and caring he had for the Club was repaid with a needless act of pure stupidity. As a person, Joe always acted in a manner which I felt was of a man who took deep pride in what he was doing and a man who always acted with total respect for the person he was talking too. Some others could of learned a lot from Joe who was a genuine fella. I fear that we have put our Club back years in youth development through a personal vendetta. Thanks for all your hard work Joe and home is here for you in W12. You will be missed.

Paul Finney

In my opinion, Joe Gallen was one of the nice guys in this world. Joe was hit hard by some of the events surrounding the Youth team in the last year but he never lost belief in the boys/men that he worked hard with. The thing that sticks in my mind is that even in training or at a match, you could hear his voice for the whole time that he was there, giving words of encouragement or ‘advising where a player was going wrong’. I met Joe and his wife a couple of times socially and it was very clear that he loved his job and although the hours were long and hard, he just got on with it and his wife accepted it. JG had better perform with all he has done so far to OUR Club or we will be sunk without a trace. I have cancelled my QPR World subscription, my text alerts, have not bought the new away shirt and will probably not buy the home one either.

James

When the news broke, I was not totally surprised but I was and still am, absolutely disgusted. For me, the QPR Centre of Excellence was a rare positive from the last couple of years but everything is now so personal but that’s the way the current regime operates, shame on them.

Great memories of the German trip last year, the Youth sponsorship evenings and of course the games. Near the end of last Season, some of the Saturday morning mob headed for Northampton and en route, the team mini bus that Joe was driving, had a blow out on the motorway but thankfully everything was ok. Good luck Joe, I will miss you and your dismissal was personal and not in the best interests of Queen’s Park Rangers FC. I hope that you come back home one day but in the meantime, best wishes, good luck and thanks.

Steve Russell