In part 1 of this piece posted on 17th November 2020, I wrote about the first Rangers match that my father, Frank Percival, attended after he arrived home after the war at Barnet in the FA Cup. However, his first match back home was not to see Rangers play. That first match had been four Continue reading
Author: Martin Percival
Watching Football again……after a very Long Wait
November 1945 For most of us, the nine months since we last saw a live match in a stadium have been pretty excruciating. Back in 1945 however, many fans had to wait over six long years. 75 years ago, World War Two had just ended and football fans who had been in the Armed Services Continue reading
“Smashing Ralph” – Ray Wilkins…the tv advertising star
You know when you’ve been Tango’d! A lot’s been written about Ray Wilkins the footballer, tv pundit, coach and football manager but today, sadly the day of Ray’s memorial service, we pay tribute to Ray Wilkins the tv advertising star of the early 1990s. Ray had a good sense of humour and the initial idea Continue reading
Live Music Review – The Cold Blooded Hearts – Uxbridge Crown & Treaty – 17th December 2016
Gareth Ainsworth always played football with something of a rock ‘n’ roll like swagger. Those fans lucky enough to have been at the QPR away game at Rushden & Diamonds in August 2003 will recall his guitar twanging goal celebration after both of his two superb long range efforts that day – look them up Continue reading
Part 2 of the KLM/QPR Years, 1987 to 1990 – An Interview with Barry Evans
In part one of this interview, Barry Evans the Deputy General Manager – UK and Ireland for KLM during the 1980s and 1990s, went into the details of how the Dutch national airline came to be involved in sponsoring football initially with Brentford and later with QPR before continuing to talk about his love of Continue reading
The KLM/QPR Years, 1987 to 1990 – An Interview with Barry Evans
Rangers’ club sponsors from 1987 to 1990 were the Dutch national airline KLM, in conjunction with the Netherlands Board of Tourism. It was a period where the club developed strong squads via the traditionally successful formula for Rangers from the 1960s through to the 1990s – a mixture of players developed via the youth system Continue reading
‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ – The QPR Connection
Last Saturday at Wembley, when they played Jeff Beck’s ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ at the end of the game, it reminded me of Daphne Biggs, the long-standing QPR Supporters Club secretary and away travel organiser. I thought to myself “I’m sure there’s a lot of Ranges fans here today who don’t know the significance of Continue reading
28 Years Later … the Milk Cup nightmare lives on
The film ’28 Days Later’ and the follow up ’28 Weeks Later’ depicted a desolated, post apocalyptic London with a handful of human survivors feeling totally lost whilst they wandered amongst the devastation. For many Rangers fans that was precisely how we felt on 20th April 1986, after the 3-0 Milk Cup Final defeat versus Continue reading