A bright future at QPR with help from Royal Panda
Last season was a major struggle for QPR both on and off the pitch. It looked at times that there might even be the possibility of the club being relegated to League One. This season is looking a lot rosier with an improved league position. Off the pitch, their finances are also looking a lot healthier thanks to their new sponsorship deal with Royal Panda.
Since being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2014/15 season, QPR have rarely been promotion challengers. They have never finished in the top 10 and the past two seasons have seen them flirting with relegation. Their highest placing in the past three seasons has been 16th with the club finishing just two points above the relegation zone in the 2017/18 season. Last term was another frustrating one with a 19th place finish, though they were 11 points above the bottom three.
The loss of all that Premier League revenue hit QPR hard. Their 2017 accounts showed that 64% of their turnover was being spent on wages. The club have been suffering heavy losses since their relegation as revenue drops and expenses remain high. That is the situation faced by many teams who fail to return to the top flight even with the parachute payments that are received.
That’s not all to worry about though with over £40m in debts being paid to previous owners. Then came the £42m settlement with the English Football League after breaking Financial Fair Play rules. That led to a transfer ban for the January 2019 transfer window, making life even more difficult last season.
Good news for the club has been the signing in 2017 of a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with online bookmaker and casino Royal Panda. It was great news too for the sponsors who had only recently received their sports book license to operate in the UK.
The sponsorship deal has pumped vital revenue into the club at a time when it was needed. Royal Panda have a strong presence at the club, not just on the shirts worn by their players. Fans can take advantage of special offers from Royal Panda on the QPR website. The deal runs out at the end of the 2020/21 season, who knows by then QPR might be back in the Premier League making a renewal of the deal even more likely.
The transfer ban ended this summer and QPR were extremely busy. New manager Mark Warburton revamped the squad with most of the 2018/19 squad leaving and new signings swiftly reaching double figures. Not that Warburton (who used to be a City trader) had a lot of money to rebuild the squad with. His new signings were a mix of loanees and young players who didn’t have a contact with a club.
Warburton knew it was a risky move but felt it “was called for.” He knows that the club has owners who “have a vision and a plan” after going through a “pretty tumultuous time.” Making so many changes to a squad can go wrong (ask Everton and West Ham fans) and the bookies believed it would be another season of struggle for QPR.
They surprised their critics though and earned 16 points from their first eight league games. QPR found themselves fourth in the Championship table and fans were again dreaming of a return to the Premier League.
Form has dipped of late though with a run of only two points from their last five league games. One thing is guaranteed for QPR fans and that is they will see plenty of goals scored. 13 of their 17 league games have had over 2.5 goals scored in them They have netted 27 times in the Championship this season (up to November 23) and only West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End (first and third in the table) have scored more than them. On the flip side though, QPR have conceded 32 league goals and only bottom of the table Barnsley have conceded more.
The recent poor run has seen QPR drop to 12th in the Championship. That’s only five points off the final promotion play-off position. After the problems of recent seasons, it’s good to report that QPR are ten points above the relegation zone.
2020 could be a big year for the club. Mark Warburton has already been quoted as saying that “anyone in the top 10 come March can sniff the Premier League.” QPR are only behind 10th place on goal difference and few good wins would see them right in the promotion play-off picture.
Improving their home league record is one key area where work is needed. Nine home league games this season have produced only three victories at Loftus Road with three draws and three losses. Away form is a case of blowing hot and cold with four win and four defeats.
What will QPR do in the January 2020 transfer window? Improving their defensive abilities must be a key aim. When you are averaging nearly two goals conceded in every match, it’s hard to win promotion. There won’t be a great deal of money to spend but a bit more wheeler-dealing in the loan market could just produce the required results.
Where does the future lie for the club though? Club owners believe they have outgrown Loftus Road which only has a capacity of just over 18,000, though the average attendance this season is just under 14,000. Club CEO Lee Hoos has described the ground as “unsustainable for a professional football club in the long term. It’s lack of non-match-day use is another reason for wishing to find a new ground.
One ambitious plan is to move into a 45,000 stadium. This would be a £425m redevelopment of the Linford Christie athletics stadium. The plan is for the ground to have a pitch that can be lifted turning itself into a roof. That way it wouldn’t be damaged when other events are held.
It’s just one of four options that are open to them after the club held discussions with the local council. Others are a bit cheaper with a lower attendance and don’t have that special pitch/roof. Getting things right on the pitch, regardless of whether it can turn into a roof is the key aim in the near future as well as ensuring finances are kept steady and hopefully Royal Panda can help them with that.
