QPR match programmes kept me sane, says Vietnam veteran

Discussion in 'Vietnam' started by CL1, Aug 27, 2018.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    In 1969, an unlikely friendship formed between a US soldier fighting in the Vietnam War and an 11-year-old boy in Slough, through a love of football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR).

    Nils Guy was 22 and had been in the US for less than a year when he was called up for military service with orders overseas in Vietnam.

    When on active duty, he wrote a letter which was published in the QPR matchday programme, asking if anyone would be interested in sending him clippings on how his club was doing.

    John Wild, aged 11, responded to the request and started to send Nils match programmes and other Rs' memorabilia.



    QPR kept me sane, says Vietnam veteran
     
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  2. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Great story there. As a QPR fan, I well remember those chequered match day programs. 1969 was the beginning of the clubs halcyon days, culminating in the First Division runners-up spot to Liverpool in 1975-76. Come on you Super Hoops.

    Nowadays QPR drive me insane. bamboo43.
     
  3. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    The idea of 'penpals' when overseas may sound a bit 'naff' to the youth of today (to use a dated term), but it seems to have been pretty common. Certainly a number of the gunners and squaddies in the early years in Malaya were advertising for penpals and nice gals to write to them in a variety of magazines and newspapers all over the empire. It may be pure coincidence, but surprisingly I found a number of personal ads in in Australian and New Zealand publications, asking for penpals for British soldiers.

    It's another reminder of how young a lot of the regulars and national servicemen were--Virgin Soldiers may be a caricature, but it wasn't that far off the mark.
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I think QPR ought to get those guys together at a match ASAP.
     
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  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    They certainly couldn't do much worse than the shambolic bunch currently wearing the shirts.
     
  6. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    They won on Saturday...

    A number of QPR fans at my school in Slough back in the day.. I think due to the rehousing when they built the Westway
     
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  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    We had some lovely players back in the 1970's: Gerry Francis, Phil Parkes, Stan Bowles, Dave Thomas and so on. Football has been ruined by the the Premiership and sadly, Rangers are one of the teams to suffer in trying to attain promotion and then staying in the big league. Hence the £42 million fine by the EFL.
     
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  8. bexley84

    bexley84 Well-Known Member

    Good team - nearly won the league one year. Had a mud heap of a pitch (like a lot of teams) and then they went with a plastic pitch which meant that the ball didn't ever stop rolling.
     

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