"It'd be awful" - QPR told to learn from Bournemouth and Brentford over potential Loftus Road changes | OneFootball

Queens Park Rangers have called Loftus Road since 1917

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Queens Park Rangers have failed to challenge for a return to the Premier League since suffering relegation to the Championship in 2015.

The early 2010s were a successful period for the Rs, as they achieved two promotions from the second-tier in their first two Championship campaigns of the decade.

A title-winning season under Neil Warnock and Bobby Zamora’s play-off heroics have created memories to last a lifetime at Loftus Road, but times haven’t been as good to QPR recently.

The West London outfit have finished in the Championship’s top 10 on just a single occasion during their decade back in the division, which highlights just how uncompetitive they have been.

There is hope within Rangers that this trend could come to an end this season, with Julien Stephan’s side starting the 2025/26 campaign in strong form.

Exciting operators such as Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembélé, Kwame Poku and Ilias Chair make up an attack that is hard for any backline in the Championship to defend against, and that has been proven in the standings, with QPR sat sixth in the table at the October international break stage.

Given how much football has progressed in recent times, it’s only natural to question whether QPR need to upgrade their current stadium to achieve a higher status as a club.

Football League World’s Queens Park Rangers fan pundit, Louis Moir, believes that the Rs should avoid seeking a Loftus Road exit and instead prioritise updating the ground’s current infrastructure.

“Stadium talk regarding QPR has been going on for a few years now,” stated Louis. “In terms of the club progressing, I don't necessarily see that we would need a new stadium.

“You look at the likes of Bournemouth and Brentford who have established themselves in the Premier League and they’ve both got smaller grounds than us. If those clubs can do it, why can't we?

“The ideal scenario would be some sort of extension to Loftus Road. Other traditional clubs like West Ham have lost their grounds, gone elsewhere and it's not necessarily been perfect.

“If we can possibly just stick to Loftus Road, make it slightly more modern than what it is, if possible and do what clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth have done.

“It'd be awful to leave Loftus Road but I think we can stay as we are and still progress as a club on and off the pitch.”

A promotion bid would help justify stadium changes for QPR

Since arriving back in the Championship a decade ago, Queens Park Rangers have severely underperformed, never really threatening to reclaim their place in the top-flight.

If the Rs can start putting together consistent finishes higher up the table in the next few years, it could start to breed a fresh positivity around Loftus Road.

Achieving such success would prove to the higher-ups at QPR that the club is moving in a positive direction and updates to the stadium would help continue such momentum. In comparison, a club in a downward spiral has bigger problems to deal with than the modernity of their ground.

Therefore, performing well on the pitch should give QPR the justification to match that tone at Loftus Road, bringing the ground built in 1904 into the modern age.