QPR unveils plans for new stadium

Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) today unveiled plans for a new 40,000 seater stadium as part of a major “regeneration project” in the Old Oak area in West London.

The club’s chairman Tan Sri Tony Fernandes confirmed that QPR will leave their Loftus Road home.

“Loftus Road is – and always will be – a special place for the club and our supporters, but we need more than an 18,000 capacity,” said Fernandes in a statement today.

QPR is currently chasing promotion back to the Premier League after being relegated last season. The football club has played at Loftus Road since 1917 but the ground only has a capacity of just over 18,000.

The planned development of the football stadium is touted to be “the catalyst that will bring about the creation of a residential and commercial area covering several hundreds of acres."

This area - larger than Canary Wharf – will be ultimately generating 50,000 jobs and 24,000 new homes, said Fernandes.

“It will create a vibrant new destination in London, boosting local businesses, attracting new visitors and tourism and creating a thriving community,” he said.

The club also said that it has:

 Concluded a letter of collaboration with the GLA and the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to ‘bring forward an early and very significant private sector investment into the Old Oak Common regeneration area’. The news follows Boris Johnson's recent announcement that turning Old Oak into a new world-class city quarter is to be one of his main regeneration priorities, and that a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) is to be set up to promote it.

 With their partners, Stadium Capital Developments, entered into exclusivity land arrangements with Network Rail and other landowners who control major parts of Old Oak.

The scheme has the provisional title of ‘New Queens Park’. The club said that it was confident of securing a planning permission by early 2015 and starting development shortly afterwards.

“With no option of expanding here, we have to look elsewhere and we welcome the Mayor’s and Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s commitment to regenerate the area, which includes an option to develop a new stadium at Old Oak as a key catalyst to bring forward redevelopment, cementing our future in this part of West London,” said Fernandes.

“Not only will this give us a top quality stadium to cater for QPR's needs as the club progresses and grows over the years ahead, but we are very excited about being the driving force behind creating one of the best new urban places in the world,” he added.

QPR CEO, Philip Beard, added: “We look forward to working with the Mayor and local authorities and we will, of course, be consulting our loyal and passionate supporters, as well as the local community, on our exciting plans early next year. We will look to build a stadium QPR fans and local residents can be proud of.

“Loftus Road is renowned for its atmosphere and with the help of our supporters, replicating that at our new stadium will be one of our top priorities.”

The announcement comes after many months of discussions with the Greater London Authority and the Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing.