Ollie pays tribute to fans

Last updated : 13 May 2004 By Mark O' Haire

QPR manager Ian Holloway paid tribute to the fans after his side came back from the brink of oblivion to earn their place in Division One.

Rangers beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 on Saturday to win automatic promotion and Holloway reckons it was down to everybody connected with the club.

He said: "We should change our name to QPR United. We've had such hardship ever since I took over. Everybody has worked so hard - from the fans to the board.

The Rs have faced a battle to stay afloat since going into administration two years ago and it was the fans who raised the money for Rangers to buy Jamie Cureton and they also paid the wages of Arthur Gnohere.

Holloway said: "They feared they were going lose their club. We could have gone out of existence."

Around 8,000 supporters made the trip from West London to Sheffield.

Holloway said: "They made it seem not like an away game."

The manager thinks that the same ethos also runs through to the playing staff.

He said: "Those lads have worked their socks off and they haven't even got contracts. They are going to go down in QPR folklore.

"About 55 per cent of that team are out of contract but no-one has come whingeing to me.

"Even when I played here I felt the players had a selfish streak. At Bristol Rovers we were proud of the shirt. Everybody is a part of it.

"What I wanted to do when I took over here was to put the club first. I had a massive mission to get the club back in the first division."

Holloway himself is out of contract but he wants to stay on at Loftus Road and he hopes that he has done enough to convince the board.

He said: "Hopefully I've done enough to keep me at this club. It's a fantastic club and I believe it goes in cycles. Hopefully we are on an upward cycle.

"I think we have to look forward to to our challenges in life. I get knocked down but I keep getting up."

Rangers knew that if Bristol City won their match at home to Blackpool they would need to match that result at Hillsborough. And within 20 minutes the giant scoreboards announced that the west country side were 2-0 up.

The goalflashes were greeted by cheers from the home supporters and this riled Rangers who went ahead on 36 minutes when skipper Kevin Gallen forced the ball home after Paul Furlong and Martin Rowlands had both had efforts blocked.

They extended their lead three minutes into the second half when Furlong turned in a cross from Marc Bircham. That goal put Rs and their supporters in party mode but they were brought down to earth shortly after when Jon Shaw pulled one back just before the hour mark.

But their nerves were settled in the 68th minute when a cross from Rowlands was turned into his own net by Chris Carr.

Gallen said: "It was a great day for the fans, a great day for the team, a great day for everybody."