Today I'm going back 36 years to 1986 and Tottenham's top flight visit to Loftus Road to play Queens Park Rangers (QPR). The programme cover stars today are... well who knows but it's a delightful picture isn't it? The photo was taken six days earlier before QPR's Wembley League Cup Final against Oxford United. Sadly for "the R's", they were to lose that game 3-0 so I imagine that the smiles had disappeared from the faces of these ladies before the afternoon was out.
The featured game, played on QPR's infamous plastic pitch was something of a triumph for Spurs and they were three goals up by halftime. In the end it finished QPR 2 Spurs 5 with the Tottenham goals coming from Clive Allen (2), Mark Falco (2) and Glenn Hoddle. QPR's goals were scored by Leroy Rosenior and Gary Bannister.
In the Rangers line-up that afternoon was David Kerslake, a player who would go on to appear for Spurs in the future. Kerslake started out at QPR but struggled to get a regular start in the first team. In all he made 58 Football League appearances in five seasons with QPR scoring six goals from right back, before moving to Swindon Town which was the most prominent club of his playing days. From Swindon he moved to Leeds United for whom he was to make only eight League appearances before Ossie Ardiles paid £450,000 in 1993 to bring him to While Hart Lane. During four years with Spurs, Kerslake made only 37 League appearances and he moved on to Ipswich Town in 1997 before finishing his playing career back at Swindon Town. Following the end of his playing days Kerslake has moved into a variety of senior coaching positions and he is currently assistant manager at Lincoln City.
Another QPR player of interest to me that day was their number ten: John Byrne. Byrne had left York City in October 1984 having shone in a League Cup tie between the two clubs the previous month. In total Byrne made 175 Football League appearances for the Minstermen (scoring 55 goals) and he stayed at QPR for four seasons (126 League appearances and 30 goals). From QPR he moved abroad, but only just, pitching up at Le Havre in France where he would play for two seasons. Later in his career Byrne played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Sunderland, Millwall, Oxford United and Brighton again. Byrne was also capped by the Republic of Ireland and made 23 appearances for Eire scoring four goals. Famously, whilst at Sunderland, Byrne scored in every round of the FA Cup en route to the Final where he gained a Winners medal, albeit wrongly as the officials handed out the winners medals to the runners up and the players had to sort it out amongst themselves after they returned to the pitch!
A disappointing Spurs who had finished third the previous season under the management of Peter Shreeve could only manage tenth place this time around and the Board took action at the end of the season by sacking Shreeve and appointing David Pleat from Luton Town in his place. QPR finished three places and 13 points behind Spurs. Champions that season were Liverpool with Ipswich Town, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion all being relegated.
CRB Match No. 437
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