Morris Stanley ‘Stan’ Nichols was born in Stondon Massey, Essex, on 6th October 1900. The earliest newspaper reference Colin has unearthed so far appeared in the West London Observer on 27th August 1926: ‘In this, only his second season in County cricket, M. Nichols, the young Essex bowler, has taken 100 wickets. Last season he Continue reading
The Old Packhorse, 434 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London W4
Not to be confused with the Packhorse & Talbot further down the road, the Old Packhorse is situated on the corner of Acton Lane and Chiswick High Road. The former was actually called ‘The Packhorse’ until 1811. On a very hot Sunday afternoon recently, I popped in there with my son for some refreshment. The Continue reading
Remembering Peter Angell – “After Arriving at Loftus Road, I made my League Debut against Walsall – on the Left-Wing”
QPR legend Peter Angell sadly passed away on this day in 1979. As a way of remembering him I’ve reproduced an article that he wrote for ‘Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly’ in February 1960: ‘They said that Soccer is devoid of sentiment. But it was a typical goodwill gesture on the part of that gentleman of Continue reading
Crawley Town (3) – QPR (3)
Team: Walsh (Mahoney), Paal (Hamalainen), Clarke-Salter (Gubbins), Dickie (Dunne), Adomah (Kakay), Johansen (Dozzell), Field (Masterson), Thomas (Owens), Chair (Shodipo), Roberts (Kelman), Dykes (Bonne) Attendance: 2,674 (including 1,346+ R’s fans) I met up with Sammy at Park Royal and we then headed off to Victoria Station. Later, I bumped into Ray Marno at Crawley Railway Station Continue reading
Remembering Former QPR Player & North Kensington Boy, Harry Daniels
After R’s fan Lance Hockley had informed me on Facebook that Harry Daniels was his wife’s uncle, with Colin Woodley’s assistance, I began to research his career. Harry was born in North Kensington on 25th June 1920 and probably grew up at 32, Manchester Road, London W10. A lost street which is now buried underneath Continue reading
Raynes Park Vale (2) – QPR U23 (2)
Team: Halwax, Trialist, Mahorn, Woodman, Anthony (E), Aoraha, Cotter, Murphy, Flaherty, Alfa, Lloyd Attendance: 302 For the first pre-season match, and a new ground, I met up with my mate and Swedish R, Simon Staal, at Rayners Lane before linking up with Sammy at Hanger Lane Station. After arriving nice and early at the ground, Continue reading
In Memory of Frank Clarke
Frank James Clarke was born in Willenhall, Staffordshire, on 15th July 1942. He played for Willenhall Town early in his career and Frank was also an amateur with Wolverhampton Wanderers at some point. Frank joined Shrewsbury Town in 1961 where he went on to make 218 appearances and score 89 goals, in all competitions. He Continue reading
Remembering Kimikawa de Castro: “She was our very own Mayor of Shepherd’s Bush”
On this day in 2014, Alix Culbertson reported for the local Gazette the shocking news that Kimi de Castro had passed away the previous weekend! ‘Family and friends have paid heartfelt tributes to a community activist who is fondly remembered as the unofficial Mayor of Shepherd’s Bush. Kimikawa de Castro, of St. Stephen’s Avenue died Continue reading
8th November 1890: A Fulham Defender Scores Four Own Goals for the Rangers, whilst at Tottenham the 1st Team Bow out of the London Senior Cup
On 8th November 1890, the Rangers Reserves took on Fulham at Brondesbury Park and amazingly it was reported in the West London Observer the following week that the visitors’ captain had actually put the ball into his own net, not once, not twice, but four times! ‘Fulham Reserves v Queen’s Park Rangers 2nd – These Continue reading
From 1950: St. Just (3) – QPR (5) – ‘Good Football from Both Sides was Seen by a Large Crowd’
Attendance: 4,000 ‘The Cornishman’ announced on 2nd March 1950 that the R’s were set to visit St. Just for an exhibition match. The game was scheduled for later that month on Monday 13th, kick-off 5pm, sharp. Dave Mangnall promised to send a strong side to face the Saints and it was hoped that the Western Continue reading