History Today returns as we once again look back at some memorable, and some not so memorable moments from our past. We delve into the archives to find a great win, a poor defeat, a debut, a hatrick and the birth of a former Rangers player all from 18th November in years gone by.
Win
The 1957-58 season was an important one for QPR and indeed all of the clubs in Division Three South as it would be the last season that the lower leagues would be regionalised. A top twelve finish would see you play in the new national third division the following year however any lower and you would instead be in the new fourth tier of English football. On this day in 1957 though it was The FA Cup that concerned The R's and their manager Jack Taylor.
Two days previously we had struggled to a 1-1 draw away at Clapton however the reply brought The Tons to Loftus Road and Rangers ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Arthur Longbottom, Leslie Locke and a Clapton own goal. This FA Cup run would not be the best and we tumbled out in the next round after a 6-1 away defeat at Hereford United.
More important than the short cup campaign though was our final league position that season and Rangers did indeed secure the top half finish they required to take their place in the new third division for the following season.
Defeat
Having been relegated from the top division in 1969 after just one season Rangers had taken a few years to regroup but by the early seventies Gordon Jago had built a side looking capable of promotion back to the elite.
However an inconsistent start to the campaign had left The R's off the pace by the time Millwall came to town on this day in 1972 and the visitors went away with all three points after securing a 3-1 victory at Loftus Road. Stan Bowles grabbed the consolation goal in this one.
The result spurred Rangers on to do better and they would lose only once in the next seventeen league games and finished the season in second place, just a point behind champions Burnley to secure that top flight return.
Born
Born on this day in 1967 Gavin Peacock made his QPR debut in 1986 but only made a handful of appearances before moving to Gillingham a year later. He would make more of an impact in his second spell in W12 which began with his return to Loftus Road in 1996 after signing from Chelsea for a fee of £800,000.
Peacock became a key member of the side through the late nineties and early part of this century. He went on to make over 200 appearances in a six year stay before leaving the club for a final time in 2002.
Debut
The 18th of November isn't the most popular day for QPR debuts in fact save for some wartime guest appearances I could only find one of any note. Harold Wassel isn't one of our most familiar pre-war players but he did make his Rangers debut on this day in 1905 after joining from Bristol Rovers.
Wassel would only go on to make three appearances in Hoops during a trying time for QPR. We had already been forced to move to play at The Royal Agricultural Showground in Park Royal, not an easy commute from Latimer Road in those days, and struggled in the Southern League set up. However the midweek Western League proved more enjoyable for the fledgling R's and they secured our first trophy, piping Southampton to the title by a point.
Hatrick
Harold Wassel's debut was not the only thing of note to occur on this day in 1905 though as his first game, a 4-3 home win over Watford, also saw an R's player bag a hatrick - Andy Thompson was the man who took home the match ball that day.
Unfortunately for Thompson those three goals would account for half of his total that season and after only scoring once in the following campaign he departed Rangers in 1907.
