It’s hard to know whether letting him go is a mistake or not, but I really wish him well and hope he goes on to achieve bigger and better things in the game. He’s definitely been a fan favourite and it’s hard to get players like that who fans can identify with in the way we did with him. Sometimes it’s worth keeping guys like that around because they can be worth their weight in gold if they can help get the fans going.

The type of idolism Lee had with us was born out of loyalty and years of service and I loved the way he just got on with the game. Whenever he was called upon to get the team out of jail and whether he made the save or not, he just kept at it with minimal fuss.

I’ll never forget the Southampton game at home in the aftermath of Ray Jones’ unfortunate death because there was a five minute spell in that match when it seemed like it was Southampton versus him, and I admired how he kept his nerve and held the team together in those moments.

I’m disappointed at the way his career fizzled out at Rangers because he deserved so much more and Nottingham Forest have clearly got themselves a good goalkeeper in a deal that probably works out for the best. Players like Lee need to play football and if it’s not going to be here then it’s better he does elsewhere.

At 24 he still has plenty of time to improve his game and there’s no reason why he can’t make it to the top if he keeps working at it.

Good luck Lee and thanks for wearing that jersey with pride and respect for us.

For the men, I managed to get to 26 home fixtures (including pre-season, the league cup and 1 U18s final, with 1 watched on television), plus 10 away (including 1 game watched on television), totalling to 36 matches.

For the Ladies I managed to get to 17 home fixtures and 19 away, totalling to 36 matches and also managed to attend one non-QPR fixture when I saw Arsenal Ladies take on Watford Ladies, which gave me an idea of what the best team in the country were like.

I actually missed more games than I thought I would for both teams, but that still left me with a grand total of 73 matches this season, which will be hard to top next season I’m sure!

The list:

Stevenage Borough 1:3 QPR
QPR 1:2 Chievo Verona
QPR 2:1 Barnsley
Swindon Town 2:3 QPR (with Sam)
Sheffield United 3:0 QPR
QPR 4:0 Carlisle
Aston Villa 0:1 QPR (with Leonie and Richard)
QPR 4:1 Southampton (watched on TV)
QPR 0:2 Derby County
QPR 1:1 Blackpool
Birmingham City 1:0 QPR (watched on TV)
QPR 2:1 Nottingham Forest
Reading 0:0 QPR (with Leonie and Valentina)
QPR 1:0 Birmingham City
QPR 1:0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 1:0 QPR (with Leonie and Sam)
QPR 1:2 Burnley
Watford 3:0 QPR (with Leonie)
QPR 2:1 Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace 0:0 QPR (with Sam)
QPR 1:0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
QPR 3:2 Preston North End
Charlton Athletic 2:2 QPR
QPR 0:0 Watford
QPR 0:0 Burnley
QPR 1:1 Coventry City
QPR 0:0 Reading
QPR 1:3 Ipswich Town
QPR 0:1 Norwich City
QPR 0:0 Sheffield United
QPR 1:0 Swansea City
QPR 2:1 Bristol City
QPR 0:0 Crystal Palace
QPR 3:2 Sheffield Wednesday
QPR 0:0 Plymouth Argyle

QPR U18s v Grimsby Town U18s

Brentwood Ladies 3:4 QPR Ladies
Denham Ladies 0:6 QPR Ladies
Staines Ladies 1:7 QPR Ladies
Lewes Ladies 3:0 QPR Ladies
Belgium Team 0:0 QPR Ladies
SK Ladies Staden 2:3 QPR Ladies
QPR Ladies 6:1 Oxford Ladies
Stony Stratford Ladies 6:0 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 13:2 Maidenhead Ladies
Chesham Ladies 0:1 QPR Ladies
Ascot Ladies 2:11 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 0:3 Oxford City Ladies 3rds
QPR Ladies Reserves 10:0 Aylesbury Ladies
QPR Ladies Reserves 5:1 Marlborough Ladies
Enfield Ladies 3:0 QPR Ladies
QPR Ladies 3:1 Yeovil Ladies
QPR Ladies Reserves 3:5 Chinnor A Ladies
QPR Ladies Reserves 4:2 Stony Stratford Ladies
Denham Ladies 1:5 QPR Ladies
QPR Ladies 13:1 v Old Actonian Ladies
Oxford City Ladies 3rds 3:4 QPR Ladies Reserves
Marlborough Ladies 1:6 QPR Ladies Reserves
Brighton Ladies 0:1 QPR Ladies
Weston St. Johns Ladies 0:3 QPR Ladies
Winnersh Ladies 1:10 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 1:2 Ascot Ladies
QPR Ladies 2:1 Forest Green Rovers Ladies
Slough Reserves Ladies 8:0 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies 13:0 Reading Royals Ladies
Marlborough Ladies 0:2 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 3:1 Denham Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 0:0 (aet, 3-2 win on pens) Oxford City Ladies 3rds
QPR Ladies 4:1 Plymouth Argyle Ladies
Aylesbury Ladies 0:2 QPR Ladies Reserves
QPR Ladies Reserves 1:1 Wycombe Wanderers Ladies Reserves

Arsenal Ladies 1:0 Watford Ladies

I know some people won’t be shouting from the rooftops at his arrival, but I’m quite intrigued and excited by his potential. I think he will have learned from his time at Portman Road and his experiences there will benefit him and us going forward.

Ipswich played some superb stuff under his reign and he was a clever little player who was brought up the right way at Liverpool, Southampton and Ipswich, so he’s had a very good footballing education. As a player he liked to keep it simple but played the ball quickly and I saw a lot of that style in the Tractor Boys over the years and I think it’s a style that will actually suit us.

Although he didn’t quite deliver what the Ipswich board wanted in his time there, I still feel he did a good job and that he’s ever so slightly unlucky to have been sacked. I’m sure others will disagree with that view, but fans can be fickle sometimes and expectations can always reach astronomical levels as we only know too well.

I hope this move will help him raise his game further and that it elevates him to a new level. If he can get the players playing football in the right way and produce some of the better performances he got out of his players at Ipswich, and on a more consistent and regular basis, then it will be a job well done.

It’s time to get behind the manager and give him our support, so welcome aboard Jim, good luck and let’s hope that Ipswich’s loss is our gain!

I did not realise how exhausting it was going to be, coupled by the fact that I was often following the men up and down the country too but I’d like to think that the hard work and commitment to the cause paid off in the end. I did over 70 matches this season and countless training sessions as well, so along with my day job it has been a gruelling, intense and non-stop year.

And working with these Ladies has made me understand more clearly how difficult it is to get things right and run a successful football club. Despite our successes, it’s been a very taxing season and we’ve overcome many challenges and hurdles along the way.

But it has been a marvellous journey that has enriched my life beyond my expectations and I am thrilled to have been a part of it. To experience any joy with QPR is always going to be special, but to get off your own backside and be given the opportunity to get involved and contribute something has been extraordinary. I’ve learned an awful lot.

So here I am, one season in and posing with the Women’s South West Combination League Championship trophy that the first-team won to reach the promised land of the FA Women’s Premier League Southern division.

To stand with this in my hands is a real honour and a privilege that makes me very proud and my journey with the team this season has reminded me that there’s still an awful lot to love about QPR.

It took us a long time to get going in this match and I felt a bit sorry for the players about that because it wasn’t really their fault. Due to this being a midweek evening game and kicking off at the unusual time of 7:15pm, we had very little time to prepare properly and that showed in the first half hour.

But once we got going we put in another good performance, particularly in the second-half and came away slightly disappointed that we didn’t take all three points.

You learn a lot of lessons about preparation and in the future we need to make sure this is always spot on because in hindsight an early kick-off did not help us at all. We had players and staff arriving late from work or wherever they needed to come from and that meant we didn’t have a proper warm-up or time to organise and sort things out in the manner we would normally do.

I hope we won’t be making that mistake again because it’s not a good way to run a football team and it doesn’t matter if it’s the first game of the season or the last, it’s important to do things properly all the time and this frustrated me from the outset.

The things we didn’t do well in the first-half were only a result of our lack of preparation as we weren’t sharp out of the blocks and made some elementary mistakes. We were a little bit prone to congesting our own space again, as we did against Aylesbury, and it cost us a goal that we didn’t need to concede.

We were also guilty of ball watching in that period and not going in for challenges when we should have been and we had too many walking or flat-footed at times and not supporting one another. We spoke about that at half-time and the need to press the play as a unit and provide options and we did a much better job of it in the second-half.

I thought Wycombe were a tidy little team. They had height and pace and a nice combination of strength and technically gifted players, so they had a decent balance about them and were a good test for us in that sense.

We coped relatively well with their pace and their goal was really our own doing as we had wide players drifting in centrally and causing a bottleneck in the midfield area. That led us to losing possession in a dangerous area and they took advantage of that with a long-range strike that beat Jess Devoti from a good 20-25 yards. It was still a good shot mind but it was avoidable from our point of view.

The defensive performance of the team was pretty good actually but it was always on the borderline of high risk because our shape and positioning was lopsided and we were leaving gaping holes all over the place. It would have taken just one mistake, such as a missed tackle, a missed header, one missed pass or a simple slip and they would have been in and outnumbering us in and around the penalty box.

The problem stemmed from some basic situations. Kesleigh Danielle Long was too far forward on the right and not helping Jade Bowley enough at right-back, which led to Melanie Randall often coming out of the centre-back position to cover. Whenever Mel did come out Jade B didn’t tuck in behind her and therefore if we lost the ball, suddenly Amber Luzar was isolated and outnumbered in the middle.

Wycombe did not capitalise on this but at the same time, whenever Mel, Jade B or Amber were called upon to defend, they always managed to get in that last ditch challenge or mop up the mess, so the defending was pretty good even if it was high risk stuff.

As the half went on though we began to create some good moments in the attacking third and when we did decide to pass the ball around we opened them up beautifully but without the killer finish or decisive pass to create that golden chance. Instead we had a few nearly moments before finding an equaliser through the most unlikely source!

We won a free-kick around 45-yards out and Jess stepped up from her goal to fire home the most unimaginable equaliser ever. She struck the ball in under the crossbar and the Wycombe keeper unfortunately made a bit of a meal of it in the process and deflected the ball into the corner of the net, so we went in at the interval at one apiece.

I told the players at half-time that the only problems we had were the ones we created ourselves. All we needed to do was hold our shape a little better and ensure that the full-backs were being covered by their respective wingers rather than the centre-backs being dragged out of position and all over the place. I also expressed a need for the wingers to stay wide, especially when we had the ball.

So we decided to change things around and moved Vicky James into the centre of defence and Mel out to left-back and brought Kylie Worster over to the left of midfield too. Mel just loves a tackle anyway and we felt that would give her the opportunity to press her opponent whilst making sure we maintained a core shape centrally. Jade Creighton came on up top along with Anita Afonso in the midfield.

And in the second period I thought we created the better opportunities and had all of the dangerous moments without every really creating that one killer chance to score. I think had we managed to we would have taken it, but it didn’t come because we were a little bit naïve at times and made the wrong choices or decisions at the vital moment and scuppered our own good work accidentally.

Bar one strike from them, which produced a fantastic save from Jess, they weren’t nearly as threatening as in the first-half and I really liked the way our players always tried to find a way to win the game. We played some great knocks and through balls throughout the match and the introduction of Anita, Jade C and Allana Ashmeil in the second period definitely made a difference and allowed us to play with another style.

There were long periods in that final 45 minutes where it seemed like it was one way traffic with us building momentum and looking for a way to penetrate their defence. But you could see why they’ve got one of the better defensive records as they held their lines well and utilised the offside trap at good moments and have a mixture of strength, height, fitness and technical players at the back.

We haven’t actually passed the ball as well as we did back in the months of January and February but we are still a right handful. In this game we were almost trying to bulldoze our way to a win, which has worked for us at times in some matches this season.

Going forward I’d like to see us passing and moving with a little more intelligence, but I thought Jade Creighton’s strength and ability to hold up the ball in this match was excellent and she caused them many problems wherever she was on the pitch. It allowed us to penetrate and build up the play in the final third in a way that we didn’t in the first-half.

At the back, I was very pleased with all the defenders, particularly Amber and Vicky, who were very disciplined but also played with quality too and that’s exactly what we needed to gain control over the play. Amber has really put in some storming performances since she joined and proved that even with a sore foot she was determined to stay on the pitch and see the game out.

Overall I’m really pleased with the squad. I can clearly see that we’re making progress and in the past couple of games we’ve mixed and matched it a bit, more because we want to learn a little more about some of our players as well as giving others more minutes under their belts and am very pleased by what I’ve learned about certain combination of players.

We’ve also managed to do all of this and remain very competitive and that bodes well for the future. It’s becoming more difficult to work out what our best team or best eleven is and that’s a very nice problem to have and gives us a chance to play more dynamically when we need to and adapt to the different types of opposition out there.

After almost a season with this team and at this level, I believe I understand what’s required for the next campaign and with the correct preparation I think we’ve got an outstanding chance to go further.

Team: Jessica Devoti, Jade Bowley, Alex Lupano (Jade Creighton), Melanie Randall, Amber Luzar, Kesleigh Danielle Long (Allana Ashmeil), Natalie Worster (Anita Afonso), Vicky James, Scarlett Hanrahan, Kylie Worster, Chloe Julien

Subs: Jade Creighton, Allana Ashmeil, Anita Afonso

Goals: Devoti

I was pretty pleased with this performance and result. It may have been a long way from our best, but we always looked like we could go up a gear or two if we really had to and we’ve found a new maturity and desire to keep the ball out of the back of our own net too.

We were a little bit untidy overall and didn’t quite get into our rhythm or stride, so we didn’t take advantage of many situations that we normally would, but it wasn’t something to be concerned about. It was just how the game panned out and sometimes football can be like that and you could sense our lot got a little frustrated, but at the same time, we showed good patience to make sure we took our opportunities when they came.

We also made a lot of changes to the side, so it wasn’t easy for everybody to just pick up where they left off as several of the ones coming back in hadn’t completed 90 minutes for some time. In that sense, it was a real success, as it will have done those players the world of good in terms of their fitness and confidence. And despite leaving some very good players on the bench, I told them I still expected us to win and cope without many problems.

The main problems we had in this match were with positioning across the park. The strikers were coming a little too deep and the midfield were often a little too far forward and at times that meant we suffocated our own play. We could have done a better job of spreading wide quicker and having the front two running beyond a bit more, so we congested our own work now and then but player to player, we were better than they were on an individual level.

But credit to Aylesbury because they tried to take advantage of the space and gaps we left whenever we were careless. They did try to play some nice stuff in the holes and little pockets of space we left open and I was impressed by that because there’s not many teams at this level that I’ve seen who are able to identify and seize on those moments. Our defence coped though and took care of all the dangerous moments that may have occurred before they materialised.

I also asked the players, particularly one or two individuals, to try and play more patiently and concentrate on taking a touch before distributing or kicking the ball. One or two of them have been prone to whacking the ball first-time and I was pleased to see them having a go at carrying out those instructions because I think it added to their performance and gave a little more quality to their play.

Vicky James scored the opening goal after bursting onto a through ball from the back and dispatching it with relative ease. That was her first strike since joining the club and she did well in midfield having filled in at centre-back for a couple of games. Allana Ashmeil then put the game beyond doubt in the second-half after racing through to fire in her 26th goal of the season. It was good to see her back in on the goals again.

But Amber Luzar was the pick of our players and was a class above on the day. She was excellent in defence, mopping up any danger before it arrived, keeping it simple when it mattered but also playing a pivotal role in starting most of our attacks from the back. Had we had one or two other players in that kind of form then we may have well won this by a lot more on the day.

Overall it was a job well done and I’m very pleased with the defensive performances of the team in the past few weeks because it’s giving us belief that we can shut out teams and that’s just one conceded in our last four games, which is much more like it!

I also have to give credit to the players for the result because on this evidence they still look hungry to win football matches and that’s important. Having won the League Plate and with only 2nd place at most up for grabs in the league, it’s easy to switch off, put your feet up and think the season’s over. But not here.

We’ve shown that we’ve got pride in ourselves and a respect for everybody else, which is admirable, and you can tell we just want to go out there and win as many games as possible. It’s the right attitude and that will bring us more success before the season’s out.

Team: Jessica Devoti, Alex Lupano, Nkechi Chukwueke (Scarlett Hanrahan), Melanie Randall, Amber Luzar, Sam Black (Chloe Julien), Natalie Worster, Kesleight Danielle Long (Jade Bowley), Vicky James, Kylie Worster, Jade Creighton (Allana Ashmeil)

Subs: Scarlett Hanrahan, Chloe Julien, Jade Bowley, Allana Ashmeil

Goals: James, Ashmeil

The QPR Ladies completed an amazing season by thumping their closest rivals in Plymouth Argyle to secure the title and promotion to the FA Tesco Premier Women’s Southern Division!

You couldn’t really have asked for a better performance from these ladies because it was nearly faultless and contained just about everything that’s great about this team. There was a beautiful balance about us and we showed our best traits that have lit up our season from our resilience at the back, to our grit and determination in midfield and our flair going forward. It was a performance full of character and personality and boy do we have that in droves.

We entered the match with our fair share of problems. Susannah Abbott, who has had a sensational season, was ruled out with a virus and we had Tammy Scrivens, Seun Odeniyi and Jade Holes all carrying bad ankle injuries and faced late fitness tests. Even our first-team coach Tony Milstead was also unable to make the game either due to a knee injury but none of it mattered as we just got on with the job at hand.

We decided to risk playing Tammy and Seun while Jade took a place on the bench. Seun had to be withdrawn early on in the match after her ankle gave way around 20 minutes in thanks to a 50-50 challenge.

Before the game I told the players that they deserved this and to go out there and win in style and to take Plymouth apart. I told them to show them why we’d been top all season and to send them packing back home and to make their remaining three games in hand an absolute misery by giving them nothing to play for. I also asked them to trust each other on the pitch and told them that we trusted and believed in them and would be there behind them all the way from the side.

I hadn’t meant to really say anything as we’d already had talks from Tino and Miguel, but in the heat of the moment, it just came out and I’m pleased that I did because I’ve been wanting to tell these players just how highly I think of them all season and how impressed I’ve been with their application and attitude.

From the minute the first whistle blew we looked relaxed but up for it. I really loved the way we bullied them aggressively all over the park but in an honest and fair fashion. There was a focus and determination about our play that told its own story - there was no way we were not going to win this game let alone not lose it.

There’s been times this season when we’ve not been as clinical as we would have liked, but it all came to fruition here and when it mattered we produced the goods and took our chances really well. Cherrelle Albert opened the scoring with a brave and courageous goal by pouncing on a defensive error and beating three players to the ball to head home. Prior to that Eartha Pond hit the crossbar with a stunning strike from about 35 yards from a free-kick which had the Plymouth keeper beaten hands down.

We had dominated proceedings and had put in a really committed display that had our opponents rattled but we still sensed there was more to come from our team. At half-time we explained to them what we wanted to do tactically and we knew they had to come out and go for the result, so we needed to show a bit more care and patience and play a little more football to open them up as we hadn’t really built the play across the back four as we’d done at various points this season. We felt we could score another and we told the team to go out there looking for more goals and to not be afraid of continuing to take the game to them.

In the second-half Plymouth did fashion out a fortunate chance after a high looping shot from distance, which didn’t seem to be much of a threat, got caught up in the sun and gave Emily Bourne a problem. She couldn’t see it properly as it came down and bounced off her and landed right at the feet of a Plymouth player who had a free shot on goal, but Emily recovered quickly and narrowed the angle before making a brilliant save from point blank range.

We then went down the other end and Eartha Pond extended our lead from the penalty spot from what I thought was a soft penalty, even though it was hand ball. It was one of those that you can see why they are or aren’t given, and on this occasion I thought it was more of a penalty than not, but we’ve been on the back end of so many poor decisions this season that we were happy this one went in our favour and that sucked the life out of Plymouth.

Eartha fired in her second to triple our lead shortly after and then we scored the goal of the match through Amy Murphy. We won the ball in the defensive midfield area and scored from a scintillating counter attack. Carla Williams picked up the ball wide on the left and held it up before playing in Cherrelle who dribbled forward with pace and laid in Amy Murphy who was flanking quickly from the right. As the play spread from one side to the next at pace, Amy still had a lot to do and needed to take a good touch to set the ball in her stride which she did beautifully before firing in off the post for added effect! A marvellous goal.

Plymouth did get on the scoresheet with a consolation goal from the penalty spot in injury time, but it was too little too late and with them ending the game with just 9 players thanks to two late red cards, there was never any doubt we were going to win and we’d beaten them convincingly when they had all 11 on the pitch.

I was actually a little bit surprised at how they lost their discipline and got players sent off. You could sense the occasion got to them and that they felt the game was slipping away from them once we got our noses in front. They looked a beaten side early on and sort of played in a manner that gave the impression they were feeling sorry for themselves. But that can happen in important games and you have to say they sort of let themselves down a little bit because there was a lot of back chatting to the referee, our players, our staff and there was also an incident where one of their players threw the ball in the face of one of ours as she lay hurt on the floor after being fouled. I still liked some aspects of their play however and could understand why they were up there with us, even if they did lose their focus at times during the game. They’ve got some quality players who are a handful to deal with.

But our performance was worthy of Champions and was a fitting way to end the campaign. It was the biggest game of the season for both sides and with them beating us 3-0 just a few weeks ago, you would have thought we’d be running scared for this one. They had to win to stop us from taking the title and put their destiny in their own hands, but we were the ones who played without any fear and with a steely determination to prove that we are the best there is in the division.

It wasn’t our best football we’ve played this season but it was our most complete in the sense that we showed all the bits and pieces we’ve had to during the campaign that we’re good at. The hunger, desire, passion and commitment was there for all to see and we were ruthless in our quest to win the title and the personality of the team flourished like a rainbow on the day.

Tammy Scrivens put in a phenomenal performance in the midfield. It’s a long time since I’ve seen a player put in a display as commanding as that one. It was sensationally powerful and she led by example by winning pretty much every tackle and header she went for and bossed the midfield from start to finish. I lost count of the amount of times she broke up dangerous attacks or put her body on the line to bully Plymouth into submission. She had winner written all over her and did it with a badly bruised and swollen ankle to boot. She drove the team forward in a way that other players can learn from and it was so pleasing to see her using her experience by also taking the time to put her arm around her young midfield partner in Leigh Holes and guiding her throughout the match.

Melanie Bidewell and Simone Dwyer did an equally similar job at the back and won all their tackles and headers in what was a typically committed display from these two. You could really tell how much these two ladies wanted it and how much it meant to them by the way they played. I thought Melanie was outstanding and put in her best performance from the games her play I’ve seen this season. At one point in the second half she popped up on the left wing of all places and went on a sensational mazy run that took her into the edge of the box…had she scored from that one I think it would have been a contender for goal of the season!

Amy Murphy also deserves a mention because the way she grafted for the team was immense. Her willingness to work both ways for her team-mates was really admirable and her tactical awareness from a defensive perspective for a right-winger was outstanding and on the day, this part of her play was really on another level. The amount of times she tracked back and covered players or mopped up danger when Plymouth broke from deep was something to really marvel at. She also scored a beautiful fourth goal from a stunning counter attack of our own and she deserved that for her performance.

And the way we scored that, and the style in which we scored it, has made that my favourite goal of the season.

Having reached the end of the campaign and seen many teams now, I’d still say that the best team I saw us come up against was Yeovil Town who I thought were a terrific little side with a beautiful system and style their suited their players and strengths. But I still haven’t seen anything that’s better than us yet, and while I am a Rangers man and Rangers fan, I know in my heart that I’m not being biased when I say that. We’ve won more games, scored more goals, conceded fewer and showed better consistency than any other team this season and that’s why we’re worthy Champions and it feels so, so good to be able to say that.

As a Rangers fan, I’ve never been able to say those words before and I can’t tell you how pleased and proud I am to be able to now and that it was these players and this team that gifted that to me.

Well done ladies, you’ve worked your socks off all the way from pre-season until now and you’ve earned your rewards which you richly deserve. A wonderful end to a magnificent season and I’ve loved every single minute of it.

Team: Emily Bourne, Ceryl Guard, Seun Odeniyi (Nicki Crump), Simone Dwyer, Melanie Bidewell, Amy Murphy, Eartha Pond, Tammy Scrivens, Leigh Holes (Carla Williams), Lucy Dewar (Hannah Curnow), Cherrelle Albert

Subs: Jessica Devoti, Jade Holes, Nicki Crump, Hannah Curnow, Carla Williams

Goals: Albert, Pond 2 & Murphy

And with great pleasure, I leave you now with a series of photos I took of that goal… You Rs!!!

I hope the club introduces some form of code of conduct for these type of events, because it’s a lot of money for people pay to go to and the player’s need to respect that a little more and at least stop for a bit to pose for pictures, sign autographs and have a chat.

They say it’s the same every year but it shouldn’t be that way. Top marks for Gareth Ainsworth though for staying behind until late and spending plenty of time with as many people as possible.

Photos
Album 1

If you happen to be going do feel free to say hello and of course, if you want a photo taken, especially if there’s someone from the club you’re desperate to be snapped with then don’t be afraid to ask!

I never realised just how much I would enjoy the experience and since I’ve been involved I’ve felt very humbled and honoured to follow these players on their journey.

Watching them train and develop as the season has progressed has been a satisfying, humbling and fascinating experience. I’ve loved every minute of it, but the most important thing is its felt very much like the Rangers I’ve always known and loved. I’ve kicked myself more than once for not getting involved sooner, it’s been that brilliant.

As a Rangers man I have the clubs blood running through my veins and I’ve been following the men’s team since I was a little boy. But I can honestly say and with a great deal of surprise, that I’ve enjoyed following and watching the ladies team much more this season, and by some distance. I admit that I never would have thought this would be the case at the start.

It’s hard to describe this to people who haven’t seen them in action, but any Hoops fan would be immensely proud of them if they’ve seen what I have and how well these players have represented the club.

I feel very privileged to be in their company and I still see myself as just a fan, so when a fan gets the chance to play a part, however small, in a journey like theirs, it can be overwhelming but in such a nice way.

It boils down to one match, but this is why we’re here and this is what we came to play football for. We want to test ourselves in the most extreme and difficult scenarios and thrive on the nerves and pressure that brings.

I’m so proud of the players and believe they will do it, but whatever the result, they’ll always be Champions in my eyes. Thank you so much for inspiring me and making me rediscover my passion for football.

But let’s go out there and show everybody why we’ve been top all season and claim what we believe is ours and what we deserve. Let’s take the game to them and express ourselves on the pitch with the style and verve that we have done all season.

If we do that, then I have absolutely no doubt that we’ll be alright.

Be there and witness it for yourselves:

QPR Ladies v Plymouth Ladies (kick-off 2pm)

Brook House FC
Farm Park
Kings Hill Avenue
Hayes
Middlesex
UB4 8BX