Memory Match: QPR 4-2 Lincoln City (1971)

Tuesday 5^th October 1971: Queens Park Rangers 4 Lincoln City 2 (League Cup Third Round)

After the dismissal of manager Ron Gray early in the summer of 1970, trainer Bert Loxley had replaced him as a one-man coaching and management team, writes Malcolm Johnson.

However, not helped by a horrendous injury situation, Loxley had been replaced in turn by David Herd, who had been unable to avoid another re-election plea by City. The 37-year-old former Arsenal, Manchester United and Scotland centre forward had previously been sought as a player by City but instead had taken up what was to be his only managerial position.

In the summer he had dispensed with several of the players remaining from the Ron Gray era, in particular the long-established central defensive partnership of Ray Harford and Jim Grummett. Favouring a 4-3-3 formation, Herd had put together a successful midfield trio which featured the skill of Dave Smith, the hard work of newcomer Frankie McMahon and the strength of Trevor Meath. This had produced an unbeaten run of seven matches which saw City in seventh place in the league table, and City had also knocked out Third Division Blackburn Rovers in the previous round of the League Cup.

Queens Park Rangers had been a third-tier club for most of their existence until successive promotions had seen them reach the First Division in 1968 while winning the League Cup itself on the way. However, they were relegated after one season and had finished the last two seasons in mid-table in Division Two. They were currently in eighth place and had beaten fellow Second Division side Birmingham City in the previous round. The QPR manager was 39-year-old former Charlton defender Gordon Jago who had been promoted from the coaching staff to succeed former Tottenham double-winning striker Les Allen at the beginning of January.

The teams were:

City:

1. John Kennedy
2. Mick Bloor
3. Graham Taylor
4. Frankie McMahon
5. Terry Branston
6. Derek Trevis
7. Trevor Meath
8. Phil Hubbard
9. Percy Freeman
10. Allan Gilliver
11. Dave Smith
12. David Kennedy

QPR:

1. Phil Parkes
2. Dave Clement
3. Ian Gillard
4. Terry Venables
5. Ron Hunt
6. Tony Hazell
7. Ian Morgan
8. Gerry Francis
9. Andy McCulloch
10. Rodney Marsh
11. Frank Saul
12. Mike Ferguson

In goal for City was 32-year-old part-time professional and schoolteacher John Kennedy. The Northern Irishman now had over 200 appearances behind him after joining from Celtic in the summer of 1967.

22-year-old Mick Bloor had been signed in the summer from Stoke City’s reserves and had been first-choice right back from the start of the season. This meant that, with the popular George Peden still recovering from breaking his leg the previous season, the left back position was filled by Graham Taylor. The 27-year-old had been signed from Third Division Grimsby for a fee of £4,000 in the summer of 1968 after making almost 200 appearances for the Mariners.

33-year-old Terry Branston had been signed early in the previous season after long spells with Northampton and Luton, whom he had twice captained to promotion. He had not initially proved popular with supporters having been shoehorned into the side in place of the popular Jim Grummett and had then been in and out of the side, sometimes appearing at right back. However, he had now settled down and started to turn supporters’ opinion of him around to such good effect that he would be voted Player of the Season. Alongside Branston was Derek Trevis, who had arrived from Third Division Walsall in the summer of 1970 for £6,000 after previously making around 200 appearances for Colchester United. Something of a utility player, he had joined City as a striker, filling that role to good effect in the early part of the season before gradually moving further back into what was probably his best position.

In midfield, the flame-haired Frankie McMahon had started his career with his home-town club of Distillery before attracting the attention of Coventry City, who paid a fee of £5,000 for the then 19-year-old. However, after failing to make the grade with the First Division club, he returned across the Irish Sea in early 1971 to join top League of Ireland club Waterford. One of his senior team mates there was David Herd who signed McMahon for the Imps in the summer for an undisclosed fee.

Anchoring the midfield was big Trevor Meath, a Ron Gray signing from Walsall in 1969, who had suffered a serious knee injury early the following year. This had put him out of action until the end of 1970 but he was now fully fit again. The midfield trio was completed by the ever-popular Dave Smith who had joined in 1968 at the same time as Graham Taylor and was already well on his way to becoming a City legend, with a final total of over 400 appearances for the club. Previously seen as a left winger, Smith had begun to play regularly in midfield under Herd to good effect.

The longest-serving player at the club, having made his debut all the way back in 1966, was current leading scorer Phil Hubbard, whose ten goals included a hat-trick to see off Blackburn in the previous round. A player who could fill several roles with equal effectiveness, the 22-year-old appeared to have now found his best position as a striker, although his 19 goals in the previous season had come mostly from midfield.

Alongside Hubbard up front were two Bert Loxley signings in Percy Freeman, like Smith another club legend in the making, and Allan Gilliver. The 26-year-old Freeman had arrived on a free transfer from West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 1970 after just three appearances for the Baggies. He had scored a total of 15 goals in 29 games in an injury-hit season last time around but had just two so far in the current one.

It was partly due to Freeman being injured that Loxley had needed to strengthen the squad and paid the substantial sum of £10,000 for Gilliver’s transfer from Brighton in February. This was not too far short of City’s record, which still stood at the £14,000 paid for Andy Graver in 1955. Unfortunately, an injury in only his second game meant the big striker was to play little part as City finished in the bottom four. His first City goal had been enough to knock Scunthorpe out of the League Cup in the first round and he was now on five for the season so far.

City’s substitute was 20-year-old centre half David “Jack” Kennedy, signed during the summer from Leeds United’s reserves after three appearances in the first team. He had made one substitute appearance and one start for City so far.

QPR’s goalkeeper was 22-year-old Phil Parkes, not to be confused with the Wolves goalkeeper of the same name. Parkes was in his second season after joining from Walsall and would go on to play over 400 games for QPR, along with winning one England cap. He was then sold to West Ham for a world record fee for a goalkeeper, playing for them until he was nearly 40 and becoming the only footballer ever to play over 400 games for two different league clubs.

Dave Clement and Ian Gillard were well into a full back partnership that would serve QPR for many years. The 23-year-old Clement had come through the youth ranks, making his debut in the 1966/67 season, and would go on to make over 472 appearances for the club along with playing five times for England. Gillard, two years younger, had been a Tottenham youth player before joining QPR in 1968. He would outdo Clement in his number of appearances for QPR, finishing with a total of 485, but would only manage three caps for England.

In the centre of the defence, 26-year-old Ron Hunt was another youth product, having made his debut in 1964, and would go on to play around 250 games for the club before his career was ended by injury. Alongside Hunt was yet another youth product and long-serving player in Tony Hazell, who had also made his debut in 1964. After around 400 games, he would move on to Millwall and notch up another 150-plus games for them.

QPR had a formidable midfield featuring both Terry Venables and Gerry Francis, with the 28-year-old Venables having the distinction of being the only player ever to play for England at all levels of the game, including amateur, although he only managed two appearances for the full England side. Achieving early fame with Chelsea, he then moved to Tottenham, winning the FA Cup with them before joining QPR in 1969. He would later have a brief spell with Crystal Palace as a player before starting his glittering managerial career with them, culminating in leading England to the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championships.

The 19-year-old Francis had come through the youth ranks and would go on to play over 350 games for QPR before joining Venables at Crystal Palace. While with QPR, he was capped by England but, troubled by injury, played only 12 games, although captaining the side in eight of them. After early success as a manager with Bristol Rovers, he had two spells in charge of QPR sandwiching three years at Tottenham. While with QPR for the first time, he had been linked with succeeding Graham Taylor as England manager but the job went to his old team mate Venables instead.

Playing on the right wing was 24-year-old Ian Morgan, yet another youth product, who had played around 170 games for QPR since making his debut in 1964 and was perhaps less well known than his twin brother Roger, who had moved on to Tottenham two years before. In attack was the experienced Frank Saul, who in 1960, at the age of 17, had been Tottenham’s youngest-ever goalscorer. Playing alongside Terry Venables, he had scored one of the goals when Spurs beat Chelsea in the 1967 FA Cup final. A year later he had moved on to Southampton as part of the deal which took Martin Chivers to Tottenham and had joined QPR in 1970.

Big striker Andy McCulloch had joined from non-league Walton & Hersham a year ago and made a handful of appearances in the previous season. He had been first choice so far in the current one and had scored four goals. He was to move on to Cardiff City in a year’s time and would later be a regular opponent of the Imps playing for the likes of Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday.

QPR’s real star was 26-year-old Rodney Marsh, then at the height of his powers after joining from Fulham in 1966 and averaging a goal every two games since then with 23 in the previous season. With 20 goals to his name in the current one he would be sold in March to Manchester City for a club record £200,000. A month after this game, Marsh would win the first of nine England caps, and that he never played more often for his country was doubtless due to his being regarded as a ‘maverick’ player on the lines of his contemporary Stan Bowles and, for an earlier generation, Len Shackleton, with perhaps Jack Grealish being a present-day example.

The substitute was 28-year-old midfielder/winger Mike Ferguson, who had started his career with Accrington Stanley and had the distinction of scoring their last goal in league football before the club went out of business. He had then spent several seasons in the top two divisions with Blackburn and Aston Villa before joining QPR two years ago.

Prior to the match, David Herd said everyone was looking forward to the trip and that “we can do well.” If City could hold QPR to a draw, a replay would suit them down to the ground, he said. “Everything is within the capabilities of the side the way we are playing at home at present.”

In front of an attendance of 12,723, slightly below the usual at Loftus Road in the season so far, City took the game straight to their opponents from the start when, following a long throw by Percy Freeman, Dave Smith got in a tremendous shot on the run which hit goalkeeper Phil Parkes without him knowing a great deal about it. But then Rodney Marsh began to work his magic to take the game away from City as the home side switched the ball about with almost bewildering speed. Intense QPR pressure forced City back into their own half for long spells, but Trevor Meath occasionally won possession in midfield to set Smith racing through.

The opening goal came in the 21^st minute after Gerry Francis cut in from the right to put in a low cross which saw Ian Morgan dive low to head past John Kennedy. City’s keeper then made two full-stretch saves to prevent Morgan scoring again before City drew level after 34 minutes. Freeman won a corner on the left and, as Smith placed it in the goalmouth, it was Freeman who forced the ball over the line, with QPR appealing for handball.

But the home side were back in front just a minute later from a corner of their own won by some trickery from Marsh. The ball was headed on by Ron Hunt to Andy McCulloch, whose header went through a forest of legs and over the line before Graham Taylor could kick it away.

Taylor was unfortunately involved again three minutes after half time when a harmless ball bounced up and struck him on the hand for a penalty to be awarded. This was put away by Marsh, but City found some resilience to reduce the arrears after 70 minutes. Smith and Freeman broke through with the latter being fouled, and from Frankie McMahon’s free kick deep into the QPR defence, Phil Hubbard strode in to hit a low shot into the net with his left foot. However, once again the home side scored soon after a City goal when, two minutes later, Marsh tricked his way through and, although he was crowded out, the ball ran loose for Terry Venables to put in a quick centre which was headed in from close range by Frank Saul. City once again began to fight back, with David Kennedy having to replace the injured Derek Trevis, but the nearest they came to a goal was in injury time when Allan Gilliver set Hubbard up for a shot which hit the post.

Echo reporter Maurice Burton considered that City should be ‘walking tall’ despite their 4-2 defeat and that, but for the brilliant ball play of Rodney Marsh, QPR would have had much more of a struggle. He rated City’s entire team performance as good as any in the current season but had to admit the opposition in this match was a good deal better than anything they had previously encountered.

City drew praise from QPR manager Gordon Jago, who said, “This is not a Fourth Division side. We have watched them on three or four occasions, and they are a good team. We could not afford to take them lightly.” He said he had been particularly impressed by Dave Smith and Phil Hubbard.

Showing no ill effects from the cup defeat, City beat Exeter 4-1 at Sincil Bank the following Saturday and although a setback came with the career-ending injury suffered by Trevor Meath two games later, their continued good home form kept them in touch with the promotion places going into January. The Christmas Eve sale of Phil Hubbard then funded the purchase of a like-for-like replacement in Dixie McNeil plus centre half Tommy Spencer, which was followed by an 11-match unbeaten run to establish them in the top four. Unfortunately, dropped points in key games saw a final placing of fifth as promotion was missed by a single point.

Queens Park Rangers’ League Cup run came to an end in the next round with defeat to Third Division Bristol Rovers in a replay. However, league results improved to see them holding down third place going into February before, perhaps due to the sale of Rodney Marsh, they began to slip and finished fourth, two points shy of promotion.