Stan Bowles

A few years ago I held a poll on my web site to decide the greatest player to ever wear a QPR shirt. 

The result was not a surprise and that man is without a doubt the greatest footballer ever to grace Loftus Road.

That man of course is Stan Bowles whose wonderful skills and showmanship helped make the mid 1970's such a golden era in the history of Queens Park Rangers.

Stan won just five international caps mostly due to his antics off the field rather than the genius he displayed on it. Like most football geniuses his talent on the field was matched with many off field problems and his private life is almost as fascinating as his playing career.

Former Rangers star Don Givens describes Stan as "the most talented player I ever played with or saw in action" and not many QPR fans that saw him would disagree.

After Rodney Marsh was sold QPR fans can be forgiven for thinking it was the end of the world. Our number ten shirt, which has become so special, was now vacant and we no one thought that Rodney would ever be replaced. But he was and the legend of the number ten shirt grew even stronger and just the sight of the QPR number 10 shirt today conjures up memories of Stan Bowles and Rodney Marsh.

Stan's career had been a roller coaster from the start when he joined Manchester City as a kid. He didn't support any football team as he grew up in Manchester and his time at Man City didn't last long.

In an old interview with Stan he describes what happened saying "I got the sack from City because Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison thought I was barmy. It was in my wild days and they couldn't stand it, so they packed me off down the road to Crewe".

It was at Crewe where Stan began to get things right on the field playing over 50 games for Crewe before moving to Carlisle which settles him down. He finally got to move away from Manchester where he was getting into more and more trouble in his personal life and I'd thoroughly recommend his autobiography "Stan the Man" to read more about his and many cracking stories about his time at Loftus Road.

At Carlisle he began to make a name for himself and he earned a move to QPR. Gordon Jago convinced him that he would like the style of play and fit in well with Terry Venables and youngsters like Gerry Francis. Stand jumped at the chance and had the time of his life. In an old interview he said "Gordon was right about Rangers, I did fit in and I loved everything about the place, the football, the ground, the supporters it was just tremendous."

Stan became good friends with Gerry Francis and they really hit it off on the field. They linked together so well and formed the basis for our best ever team in 1976.

Stan was the darling of Loftus Road. Not only was he the best player but he was also a great character. On the pitch he would leave defenders for dead with some outrageous skills that we can only dream about seeing again today.

During the 1975/76 season he reached his peak as did the rest of the team as we came so close to winning the championship that year. It wasn't about trophies though, Stan was an entertainer and always gave his best for the club and the fans loved him for it.

It's sad to say he never made his mark on the international scene as often as he should have. At the time the national team seemed to be in a crisis with us failing to make two world cups in a row and the team seemed to change for every match.

Stan was once asked by the BBC to recall a story involving that time as an England player and his response was never shown on the Three Lions documentary.

Stan said in a magazine interview: "I recounted the story about how my old England boss Don Revie got us a nice little pay increase, £200 for an England cap. I appreciated Don for that even though it's just a spit in the ocean compared to what today's average players earn. I'm not bitter - just skint.

Emlyn Hughes, who some of you might remember as the pipsqueak on Question Of Sport, told Don "I don't need money to play for England. I'll play for the three lions on the shirt." I must confess to losing my temper, temporarily at this point. Here was Hughes suggesting none of us should get paid money for playing! "You can play for the f**king lions," I said quickly, to nip in the bud any consensus of opinion, "and I'll have your £200."

Stan made his mark in Europe with QPR in 1976/77 season. QPR were in the UEFA cup and Stan was outstanding in this tournament where he made history.

Stan a scored a hat trick to help knock out Norwegian club Brann Bergen with a 4-0 win and in the second leg we ran riot winning 7-0 with Stan getting another hat trick. This set the trend for the tournament, Stan scored twice in a 3-3 draw with Slovan Bratislava and we went on to win the second leg 3-2. Stan scored again in the third round against FC Koln.

We were now in the quarter finals of the UEFA cup and Stan scored in the first leg as we won easily 3-0. The game was due to be played at Wembley but the FA refused QPR permission so we played at Loftus Road instead. It looked like we would make the semi finals and perhaps go on to win it but injuries hit the team and we lost the second leg 3-0. Rangers eventually lost on penalties but Stan ended the tournament with 11 goals to become the top scorer ever in the competition.

The team though were past their best and after seven years at Rangers Stan was sold. He did have the chance to move to Germany when Hamburg made an offer but Stan was not keen. He said "Hamburg came in for me before they made a move for Keegan and I agreed to meet them in the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater Road. Whilst I was waiting in the hotel I had a call from Jim Gregory who was about to come over to the hotel. He asked me how I was feeling about the move and I told him I didn't really want to go. So he said "okay I won't bother coming over then" so I just walked out of the hotel and I never even met the Germans".

Stan moved in 1979 to join Nottingham Forest. It is well known he never got on with Brian Clough. He was told to play on the right wing and that never suited him. He was sold after a few months to Leyton Orient and ended his playing days at Brentford in 1983.

Stan's off field problems are well documented and in 1987 he had a testimonial to raise some money for him. QPR played Brentford and it was billed a battle of the number 10's as Rodney Marsh also played. It gave a new generation of QPR fans the chance to see Stan in action and he was still a treat to watch.

Numbers wise only Don Givens (54), Gary Bannister (56) and Les Ferdinand (80) have scored more top flight goals for QPR than the 51 scored by Bowles. 

The next in line behind him is Gerry Francis with 34.

Stan holds the record for most goals in the UEFA Cup at QPR (11), a record unlikely to ever be broken

He is joint 8th for the most goals scored in the FA Cup (8) and 3rd in the list for most goals in the League Cup (7) behind Gary Bannister (9) and Rodney Marsh (20).

Stan is a legend at Loftus Road and all the words in the world cannot do justice to the pleasure he has give QPR fans over the years. There will never be another Stan Bowles, the greatest player to ever wear a QPR shirt.

Stan in Numbers

Thanks to QPR Historian Chris Guy for this figures taken from Retro QPR Facebook page

Bought from: Carlisle United – (£112,000) 8/9/72

Debut: 16/9/72 versus Nottingham Forest (Home) 3-0 Division Two – 1 goal

Last game: 8/12/79 Wrexham (Home) Division Two drew 2-2

Last goal: 1/12/79 Cambridge United (away) Division Two lost 1-2

Transferred to Nottingham Forest – (£250,000)- 11/12/79

League appearances – 255 - goals 70

F.A. Cup appearances – 25 - goals 8

League Cup appearances 27 - goals 7

UEFA Cup appearances 8 - goals 11 (a then record for the U.E.F.A.Cup competition)

Total : 315 appearances - goals 96

Home appearances 161 - goals 54

Away appearances 154 - goals 42

Total 315 appearances - goals 96

First half. 36

Second half 60

Shots 62

Headers 18

Penalties 14

Free Kicks 2

Total 96

Milestones

50th game 8/10/73 – (203rd player to reach this milestone)

50th league game 10/11/73

100th game 8/10/74 (92nd player to reach this milestone)

100th league game 8/2/75

150th game 11/11/75 (61st player to reach this milestone)

150th league game 28/8/76

200th game 27/12/76 (36th player to reach this milestone)

200th league game 27/3/78

250th game 27/3/78 (21st player to reach this milestone)

250th league game 3/11/79

300th game 22/9/79 (14th player to reach this milestone)

Goals

50th v Spurs - away – 21/12/74 in his 111th game (95th league)

Hat-tricks (4)

Swindon Town – home – 17/2/73 -Division Two

Derby County – away – 23/8/75 – Division One

Brann Bergen – home– 15/9/76 - UEFA Cup 1st round 1st leg

Brann Bergen – away – 29/9/76 – UEFA Cup 1st round 2nd leg

Shirt numbers

Number 10 shirt – 294 appearances

Number 7 shirt – 19 appearances

Number 11 shirt – 2 appearances

Rest in Peace Stan The Man