THFC6061
Paul Robinson
Tottenham Hotspur host Queens Park Rangers at White Hart Lane on Sunday 23rd September in the 5th round of 2012-13 Premier League matches.
This will be the 134th time the two teams have met and Rangers come into the game in 18th place in the table on 2 points after their 0-0 home draw with Chelsea, while Spurs are in 10th place on 5 points after a 3-1 away win at Reading.
Queens Park Rangers were founded in the same year as Tottenham Hotspur - 1882 - with the merger of two local teams, St Jude's and Christchurch Rangers. Most of their players were based in the Queen's Park district of North-West London and the club had a very nomadic early history moving to over 20 different grounds before settling down at Loftus Road in 1917. The White City Stadium was also home for short periods.
The first meeting between Spurs and QPR came in November 1890 in the second qualifying round of the London Senior Cup and resulted in a 1-1 draw. Spurs won the replay at home 2-1. The Spurs team featured several of the youngsters who founded the club, including Jack Jull and Robert Buckle.
Two friendly matches were played in 1892 & 1893 before the next competitive game in September 1899 in the Southern League. Both teams were also members of the Southern & District Combination League during that 1899-1900 season. Spurs won three of the four matches that season with one match drawn.
The clubs played eight more seasons in the Southern League together and were also members of the Western League from 1900-01 to 1905-06.
Tottenham generally had the upper hand over their West London rivals during this period .
Tottenham Hotspur joined the Football League for season 1908-09 and thereafter matches for the next 40 years against Queens Park Rangers were limited to minor competitions, friendlies and matches played during both World Wars.
The first Football League meeting between the two clubs came in Division Two in October 1948 with Eddie Bailey scoring the only goal at White Hart Lane while the return fixture at Loftus Road ended in a 0-0 draw.
Spurs did the 'double' over Rangers the next season on their way to the Division Two title, winning 3-0 at the Lane with a Bill Nicholson goal and a brace from Les Bennett, while the reverse fixture at Loftus Road was won 2-0 with goals from Eddie Bailey and Les Medley.
As a Third Division club, QPR won the Football League Cup in 1967 beating holders West Bromwich Albion in the first Final held at Wembley Stadium and were also promoted to the Second Division with players like Rodney Marsh, the Morgan twins (Spurs would later sign Roger), Tony Hazell, Mark Lazarus, Mike Keen and former Spurs striker Les Allen. They won promotion again the next season and played their first season in the Top Flight of English Football in 1968-69.
Spurs won the home match that season 3-2 with goals from Phil Beal, Alan Gilzean and David Jenkins. The away fixture at Loftus Road ended in a 1-1 draw with Jimmy Greaves scoring for Spurs. QPR were relegated at the end of the season.
Rangers were back in the First Division for season 1973-74 and in October they beat Spurs in the Football League Cup second round 1-0. The League match at the Lane resulted in a 0-0 draw and QPR won the away game 3-1 with Martin Chivers scoring from the penalty spot for Spurs.
Honours were even the next season with Rangers winning 2-1 at the Lane and Spurs winning 1-0 at Loftus Road - John Duncan scored both of Tottenham's goals. 1975-76 saw QPR finish as First Division runners-up, which was their best ever finish in the Football League.
The first FA Cup meeting between the two clubs came during the 1980-81 season and Spurs drew a third round match at Loftus Road 0-0 but won the replay 3-1 at the lane with goals from Tony Galvin, Glenn Hoddle and Garth Crooks. Spurs would go on to win the FA Cup that season.
The teams met each other again in the FA Cup the very next season but this time it was in the Final at Wembley. Glenn Hoddle put Spurs ahead in extra time only for Terry Fenwick (later to sign with Spurs) to grab the equaliser five minutes from the end.
The replay was held at Wembley five days later and a 6th minute penalty scored by Glenn Hoddle was enough to ensure the silverware would remain in North London. Many neutrals felt that Rangers were hard done by, as they had played very well indeed.
Both Queens Park Rangers and Spurs were founder members of the Premier League, but Rangers only managed to remain for four seasons before being relegated at the end of the 1995-96 season. Honours were even during the eight games played in the competition with both Spurs & QPR winning three games each with two matches drawn.
The fixture at White Hart Lane last season in October was won 3-1 by Spurs. First half goals from Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart saw Spurs go in 2-0 up at half-time. Jay Bothroyd scored a header to put QPR a goal behind after 62 minutes but Gareth Bale's second goal of the game ten minutes later ensured that Tottenham would get all three points.
QPR won the reverse fixture at Loftus Road in April 2012 1-0 with an Adel Taraabt 24th minute goal enough for all three points.
During the summer, New Zealand defender Ryan Nelsen moved from Spurs to QPR on a free transfer.
Overall, Tottenham Hotspur have won 60 of the 133 matches played so far with Queens Park Rangers winning 34 and the remaining 39 games drawn.
Full History of Tottenham Hotspur v Queens Park Rangers Matches 1890-2012
They Played for Spurs & Rangers....
Clive Allen (player with both clubs & Spurs asst. manager)
Joe Allen
Les Allen (player with both clubs & QPR manager)
Arthur Archer
Ossie Ardiles (player with both clubs & Spurs manager)
Ronnie Boyce (scout with both clubs)
Alan Brazil
Tommy Cable
Radek Černý
Pascal Chimbonda
Peter Crouch
Chris Day
Frank Drabble
Mark Falco
Terry Fenwick
Les Ferdinand
Mike Flanagan
Theo Foley (QPR reserves coach, Spurs reserves manager)
Gerry Francis (QPR player, manager of both clubs)
Andy Gray
Harry Gilberg
George Graham (QPR coach, Spurs manager)
Allan Harris (coach with both clubs)
Steve Hodge
Percy Humphries
Ben Ives (player with both clubs, Spurs scout)
Stephen Kelly
David Kerslake
Joe Knowles
Billy Lane (Spurs player, QPR coach)
Dave McEwan
Danny Maddix
Bert Middlemiss
Roger Morgan
Alan Mullery (Spurs player, QPR manager)
Ryan Nelsen
Tony Parks
Dean Parrett
Charlie Rance
Rohan Ricketts
Wayne Routledge
Neil Ruddock
Frank Saul
Peter Shreeves (QPR coach, Spurs manager)
Andy Sinton
Sleve Slade
Peter Suddaby (Academy director with both clubs)
Adel Taarabt
Erik Thorsveldt
Terry Venables (player & manager of both clubs)
Kyle Walker
Paul Walsh
Pat Welton (QPR player, Spurs asst. manager)
Alf Wyman
Clive Wilson
Luke Young
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 1993-94 to 2012-13
Queens Park Rangers Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 1993-94 to 2012-13
Premier League London Derbies 2012-13 Results, Fixtures & Mini-League Table
