Southern League (Division One)
Team: Shaw, McDonald, Fidler, Duff, Lintott, Downing, MacDonald, Rogers, Skilton, Drake, Barnes
Attendance: 6,000
On 17th October 1908, Rangers took on West Ham United at Park Royal. The following match report later appeared in the Reynolds’s Newspaper:
‘Playing at home yesterday before about 6,000 people, Queen’s Park Rangers gained a very meritorious victory over West Ham by 3-0.
They were good value for their win, too, as at all points of the game they outplayed the Eastenders, who never at any time showed any combination worthy of the name.
The only change on the Rangers’ side was Drake for Gittens, but West Ham were minus Waggott, Foster, and Piercy, for whom Burton, Miller and Young played.
At the start the exchanges were fast, and both goalkeepers were tested in the first five minutes.
Two fruitless corners fell to the Rangers before Drake, with a fine cross-shot, brought Kitchen to his knees.
Then Rangers got through, only to be ruled offside, while at the other end, Miller hit the bar with a rasping shot.
After a brief delay owing to Shaw being laid out from a collision with Shea, the Rangers gave a fine display.
The wingmen, Barnes and McDonald, plied the inside men with fine centres, but the West Ham defence held firm until just before the finish of the first-half, when McDonald put the ball right in the goal-mouth, and Skilton put the finishing touch to a really fine bit of work.
The West Ham forwards played a good thrusting game at times, but there was little attempt at combination, and the locals crossed over leading by a goal.
Directly after the restart, Miller had a fine chance of equalising. He worked his way cleverly through the defence, but was robbed in the last yard by Shaw.
Then the Rangers got going, and some pretty work by Barnes and Drake gave Skilton a chance, which the centre-forward took full advantage of, and the Rangers were 2 goals up.
The West Ham amateur, H. Eastwood, played a fairly good game for his side, but much of his work was wasted owing to the want of support he received.
Jarvis, at left-half, was also seen to advantage, and one shot from him missed the net by inches.
The Rangers then got going again and forced corner after corner. Kitchen, in goal, was rather weak, several times fumbling the ball badly, but he managed to clear his lines until just before the finish, when Rogers took a pass from McDonald and scored a third goal for his side.
It was a good bustling game, but the Rangers were at the top of their form, while West Ham were all at sea.’
Rangers went on to lose 0-3 a few days later at Crystal Palace.
Steve Russell
(Thanks to Colin Woodley for sending me the match report)