Queens Park Rangers (QPR) needs to leave its Loftus Road home for a new stadium in order to improve its financial position, according to chief executive of the English Championship football club, Lee Hoos.
The London club has played at the 18,439-seat Loftus Road venue since 1917, but it has long been assessing means by which it can address its stadium situation with redevelopment of its current home deemed unfeasible due to lack of available land around the site.
“One of my remits when I came here (in 2015) was to try to create a sustainable business case for the club and we really can’t do that at Loftus Road,” Hoos told BBC Sport. “In order for us to compete I have to be able to get the revenue streams in.”
He continued: “Do we need to move? Absolutely. We will have to move at some point in the future to make this a sustainable club. Where we move to is a separate question.”
QPR has seen plans stall for a project announced back in December 2013 for a new 40,000-seat stadium and is now assessing the merits of redeveloping the Linford Christie Stadium athletics venue.
The stadium is located around a mile north of Loftus Road and is currently operated by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. However, Hoos admitted that the site, which is located on the edge of Wormwood Scrubs Park, is “very complex” due to the number of stakeholders involved.
“Whether that comes to fruition or not, I don’t know,” he said. “It is not just up to us and there would be a lot of consultations that have to happen that we are trying to work on; it would have to be us, the council, local residents, the Ministry of Defence, Friends of Wormwood Scrubs and a charitable commission.
“Everybody needs to get their heads together and come up with something that benefits the community, takes the financial weight off the council and generates a sustainable football club.”
Image: Matt Churchill
Share this