What AI thinks will change at QPR's stadium Loftus Road in the next 10 years | OneFootball

At the time that a lengthy period of redevelopment ended in 1981 Loftus Road was the height of stadium modernity, but now it's looking a little dated.

At the time that its lengthy period of redevelopment ended in 1981, Loftus Road was the height of stadium modernity, but now it's looking a little dated, so FLW have asked AI what it thinks QPR's home will look like by 2035.

No professional club in England has had more homes than Queens Park Rangers. Since their formation in 1882, they have called no fewer than 14 grounds "home."

Most of these came in the early years of the club, but even though Rangers first moved into Loftus Road in 1917, they've had spells away from there since, with the last of these coming in the first months of the 1962-63 season, when they moved to the nearby White City greyhound stadium.

With that move - the second time they'd decamped there - having failed, the club embarked on a 13-year programme to modernise Loftus Road, and by the time it was completed in 1981 it was the most modern stadium in the country. But little work has been carried out on it since, and it looks a little tired by the standards of the modern day, so Football League World have asked AI to imagine what it will look like in ten years' time.

AI believes it's "probable" that QPR will have a new home by 2035

When pressed on the matter, ChatGPT doesn't believe that Queens Park Rangers will necessarily even be playing at Loftus Road in ten years' time. It says that "A move away from Loftus Road is probable, but not certain, within 10 years" and that "The capacity limitations and infrastructural constraints (and financial ones) make staying there long‑term challenging."

It suggests that a new stadium would likely have a capacity of "somewhere between 35,000‑45,000", and suggests that the site of the Linford Christie Stadium in Wormwood Scrubs or to nearby Old Oak could be the most likely venues. As such, AI's forecast for Loftus Road is that "the existing Loftus Road site is expected to be redeveloped, likely for housing and commercial uses."

Redevelopment of Loftus Road may be limited by its location

In his 1983 book The Football Grounds of England & Wales, author Simon Inglis described Loftus Road as, "quite unique among British grounds", adding that, "one can pay no higher tribute to the ground's planners than to say that it should serve as a model to any club the size and status of QPR."

This book was written two years after a redevelopment of the ground had been completed, thirteen years after it started. The first of four new stands was opened there along one side in 1968, with another following opposite in 1972, with a further two at each end added in 1980 and 1981.

Famously, at the time of its completed, the first artificial surface to be used in English football was - controversially - also installed. At the time, with hooliganism a major issue and crowds across all divisions falling precipitously, the major redevelopment of football grounds in this country was almost non-existent. That pitch was removed in 1988 and artificial surfaces have been banned in the EFL since 1995, but the rest of Loftus Road remains very much as it was in 1981.

But the issue that the club would face in terms of trying to redevelop the ground would be its location. Upon completion of the redevelopment, the capacity there was 27,500, with the club having an average home attendance of a little below 11,000. But this capacity has shrunk by more than a third over the four and half decades since then, with the removal of terracing and other modern safety requirements. Now, with a capacity of 18,439, it's a little on the small side if the club is to realise its ambition of getting back into the Premier League and staying there.

But the problem with this is that Loftus Road is its location. It's tightly hemmed in all four sides, and doubling its capacity would be at the very least extremely expensive, and more likely completely impossible. As such, if Loftus Road is to look radically different in a decade's time, it's as likely as not that it'll be housing because Queens Park Rangers have moved on to pastures new for the 15th time.