New QPR stadium: Rangers warned council won't give away land to multi-millionaires owners

In their sights: QPR’s owners say redeveloping the Linford Christie Stadium is the only way to keep the club in its traditional homeland

QPR have been handed a blunt warning by Hammersmith & Fulham council that it will not “hand over” for free the land that the club need to fulfil their ambition to build a new stadium in the borough.

The Labour-run authority has been irritated by the Championship team’s high profile campaign to secure the Linford Christie Stadium, near Wormwood Scrubs, as a location for a 30,000-seat ground.

A terse statement issued by the borough said: “QPR proposals are less about keeping football in the borough and much more about them playing property developer in White City.”

The rebuff comes the day after QPR released a report pointing out the huge economic benefits of a move to the new site in the north of the borough which would free up a major redevelopment of their current Loftus Road home. The study said the relocation could result in an extra £20million a year being pumped into the local economy.

The council statement went on to point out that the authority is a trustee of the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust “and as a trustee we can’t just give away over one hundred million pounds’ worth of land to QPR’s multi-millionaire owners.

“Linford Christie Stadium is a vital community asset in an open green space. We want to protect and enhance its use for the environment, athletics, recreation and the long-term benefit of all our residents. We will consult residents early next year about how we can best achieve this.”

The council has commissioned its own study on the future of the sports centre — home of the Thames Valley Harriers — which concluded that a major new concert venue could be built there. However, the club have warned that the site offers the last realistic hope of keeping QPR in the borough.

And today the council said that while it is “very proud” to have QPR in Hammersmith & Fulham, it would not help the club secure the land they want.

QPR chiefs are desperate to move the club to the proposed new location
Alamy Stock Photo

It said council leaders have “long made it clear” to QPR’s owners and top executives “that we will go out of our way to help QPR improve their current stadium or will work with them to look at other alternatives.

“However, we cannot just give away land for free or hand land to QPR’s owners well below its potential value — and just because QPR’s owners have decided to campaign for the council to do that. We believe QPR deserve to be invested in [their own club] and call on their owners to do just that.

“We’d be interested in discussing with QPR’s owners the idea that they give up some ownership of the club to ensure the community and QPR’s fans have a greater voice in the club’s future.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in