Today for our ‘On This Day’ feature we take a look at QPR’s programme from the 1985/86 season. Read our review of the QPR programme below and see all the Division One issues from 1985/86 here.
The QPR programme packs in plenty of content, providing some of the best reading of any issue in the league.
The features provided include ‘The A-Z of QPR’, written by renowned football journalist Tony Pullein. The column profiles several Rangers’ players from down the years, as well as other trivia. The same writer also contributed ‘The Arsenal File’, which examined QPR’s matchday opponents and examined their form, honours, and ‘pointers’ towards the day’s fixture. ‘Statistics Wizard’ Derek Buxton offers further facts related to QPR’s fixtures against the Gunners, while the programme also includes a black and white Arsenal team picture and pen-pics on the back-cover team line-ups.
There are various opinion type pieces, including ‘Bush Telegraph’ which opines on the then government’s proposals to introduce mandatory membership ID cards for football supporters. The column notes how the Police, fans, and clubs alike were opposed to such a scheme and urged supporters to write to their MP to make this point known. There is also an extensive interview with Rodney Marsh, in which the former QPR star speaks of his ongoing affection for the club, his views on making the game more attractive, and his time running Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USA.
A full-colour team group adorns the centre pages of the programme, while another page shows Rangers’ forward Gary Bannister in goalscoring action from the club’s recent visit to Aston Villa. Recent fixtures are reported on in ‘It’s A Record’, which includes details of everything from the weather to the team line-ups and what the press made of the match. ‘Behind the Scenes’ meanwhile provides various snippets of news from around the club, while the familiar statistics pages are duly provided.
Despite being the smallest programme in the division for the 1985/86 season, with just 20 pages, the QPR issue’s small amount of advertising means there is plenty of space for worthwhile content and the programme successfully delivers on this with the range and depth of articles included.