Mixed Fortunes
Venables was replaced by Alan Mullery, who early in his brief reign presided over one of the worst defeats in QPR's history, a 0–4 loss against Partizan and elimination from the UEFA Cup despite a 6–2 1st leg advantage. Despite this loss the club's league form was generally decent, but Mullery was inexplicably sacked and replaced by former manager Frank Sibley in December 1984. The season rapidly deteriorated after this, and a bizarre run of form (in which the club alternated between winning and losing every match for nearly three months) combined with a dismal end to the season saw them only escape relegation due to Norwich City losing their last game.
Jim Smith replaced Sibley that summer and oversaw a period of relative stability for the club, comfortably avoiding relegation in his first two seasons and also being runners up in the 1986 League Cup, losing to Oxford United. They finished in fifth place in the 1987-88 season, but missed out on a UEFA Cup campaign due to the ban on English clubs in European competition which arose from the Heysel Stadium disaster. Despite the club being well-placed in the table the following campaign, Smith surprisingly resigned to take over at the First Division's bottom club, Newcastle United.
Following Smith's departure, Trevor Francis took over as player-manager and steered the club to another respectable finish, this time in ninth place. As the season drew to an end however, rumours of discontent between Francis and the senior players came to a head, and the effects rapidly became evident on the pitch as the club made a horrid start to the 1989-90 season, winning just 2 of their first 12 games and leading to the dismissal of Francis. He was replaced by Don Howe, and the club recovered well under the new manager, finishing in eleventh place, with only a poor end to the season preventing them from doing even better. However, they failed to improve significantly the following season, dropping one place to twelfth, which resulted in Howe's contract not being renewed at the end of the season.
Read more about this topic: History Of Queens Park Rangers F.C.
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