The following article must have appeared in ‘Shoot’ magazine sometime in 1979:
“Hey, that was really something,” smiled top Radio One disc jockey Kid Jensen. “I’ll remember this morning for a long time to come.” Kid had accepted an invitation to train with his QPR heroes – and had the time of his life!
David McCreery, Gordon Hill, Bob Hazell and Tony Currie had all given him expert advice. And when the really hard work started, Kid came through the running and exercise routines in fine style, under the watchful eye of Rangers assistant-manager Ken Shellito.
“I’ll be a different player the next time we have a Radio One match,” Kid grinned. “My team-mates won’t recognise me!” In Kid’s own words, he plays football: “With more enthusiasm than skill”. That’s not surprising. He was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, where the top sport is ice hockey.
“I was really keen on ice hockey and the top Canadian stars were my heroes, when I was a boy. But when I came to Europe, to join Radio Luxembourg, a friend took me to see Rangers play, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
“I liked the atmosphere at Loftus Road right from the start. It’s a very friendly club and the team were playing exciting football. It was a good time to start following Rangers because that season, 1972-73, we won promotion to Division One.”
Kid’s shared the glory days with Rangers, but like all true supporters, he’s also tasted the bitterness of the Saturday night “we got thumped today” blues.
“There were some really miserable Saturday afternoons last season. Dark rainy, with the players ploughing through the mud, in front of a few thousand spectators (? average home league gates were still over 16,000). I felt like going to watch another London side sometimes, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to feel like a traitor. If you support a team, you’ve got to stick with them, even when the going’s tough. Managers may leave, players and Directors may leave, but fans go on for ever!”
This season, of course, Kid is more likely to leave the Rangers stadium with a smile on his face. “The atmosphere is so much better now. Tommy Docherty’s done a fantastic job. The fans believe in their team again. They’ll cheer them on, even when they’re two goals behind. That’s a healthy sign.”
“On paper, I believe we’ve got the best team in the Second Division. If we win promotion this season, I’m confident we can go on to do really well in Division One.”
Kid paused then laughed: “It’s funny the way supporters always talk about their teams as ‘we’. Still, I became a shareholder last year, so maybe that gives me the right! I certainly live through every minute of a match with the players. If we’re not doing well, it’s agony. When we score, I go berserkall that pent-up emotion comes flooding out!”
“We’ve had some great times with the Radio One team. We played a charity match at Wembley once. It was before a schoolboy international and there were 60,000 people there. It was like a fantasy world; a tremendous experience.”
“But my happiest memory is of scoring in front of 19,000 fans at Roker Park. I got the ball on the edge of the area and hit it first time into the corner of the net. There was a lot of luck involved, but it was a great feeling. I got so excited I knocked into my pal, Paul Burnett, and ran right over him.”
Now, after all that expert QPR coaching, Kid could emerge as the superstar of the Radio One squad. “At one time, I used to fly over from Luxembourg just to see the Rangers play,” said Kid, summing up a great day. “Now, I’ve had the chance to train with THE team.and it certainly was a thrill!”
I can recall listening to his Radio One Saturday morning shows and his regular mentions of the R’s. He later presented ‘Top of the Pops’ and I remember him also being at Capital FM.
He is quoted as saying in the above article that he felt like going to watch another London side sometimes, but he couldn’t do that as he didn’t want to feel like a traitor.” Well, as we know he did later become a Palace fan and apart from acting as an ambassador for the CPFC 2010 consortium, he is apparently the chairman of the Crystal Palace FC Vice President’s Club!
Steve Russell
Traitor!