QPR were involved in shock transfer drama - the story has just resurfaced | OneFootball

Peter Odemwingie's famous deadline day transfer saga has resurfaced, as QPR have auctioned a shirt with his name on the back

One of the craziest Deadline Day stories has its 13th anniversary this January, and QPR are celebrating by auctioning off a shirt which ultimately was never worn.

The Hoops have set up an auction site to end 2025, and among the items that fans can bid for is a QPR shirt with 'Odemwingie - 9' on the back.

Before the prominent rise of social media, deadline day was one of the most exciting days in the football calendar, even more so than it is now. Fans wouldn't refresh X or Instagram. Instead, they'd watch news unfold on the telly and gather around grounds hoping to get an insight into any incomings.

In January 2013, fans of QPR were surprised to see then-West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie pull up in his car outside Loftus Road, do an interview with Sky Sports in his car, only to then turn back up the M40 to the Hawthorns hours later after the deal failed.

But why did it fail? And what really happened on January 31, 2013?

Peter Odemwingie's failed transfer to QPR in January 2013

Odemwingie had established himself as a top-level Premier League striker throughout his two and a half years at the Hawthorns. In his first campaign in the Premier League, he registered 15 goals and seven assists, and followed that up with 10 goals and two assists the following year.

However, midway through the 2012/13 campaign, the Nigerian international wanted to leave. He handed in a transfer request that January, which was rejected, and then went to Twitter to try and force the hand of the higher-ups at the Hawthorns.

In the end, that seemed to work, and a deal looked to be made with QPR, only for conversations to break down after the Baggies wanted winger Junior Hoilett on loan in part-exchange, which Hoilett himself refused.

Nobody seemingly told Odemwingie, though, and the frontman appeared in his car at Loftus Road late on Deadline Day, much to the surprise of the reporters and the QPR fans who were gathered at the club, expecting a relatively uneventful end to the window after their transfer record was smashed twice that January for the arrivals of Chris Samba and Anzhi Makhachkala.

Nevertheless, the 31-year-old appeared hopeful that his travel to London on a cold Thursday night would be all worth it, saying, "West Brom is my home, but this is a new challenge in my life.

I'm very optimistic about it. A few good players have arrived already, and I'm happy with the trust that Harry Redknapp [the manager] is giving me, and I believe as much as the owners that we can stay up.

"It's not 100% [the deal], but I hope West Brom will be happy with the deal that they will get. They're hoping to get players themselves, so I hope that things go well in the last few hours."

In the end, a deal didn't get done. Harry Redknapp called it "a mix-up" and said that "the wires had been crossed."

QPR look back on Peter Odemwingie mix-up with slight humour, despite messy deadline day situation

Odemwingie returned to West Brom but didn't start another game before finally getting his move away from the Hawthorns andsigning with Cardiff City the following summer.

Contrary to his predictions in his car interview, QPR did not stay up that season, finishing bottom with just four wins all campaign. There was a bounce back the year after, but the Hoops would once again succumb to relegation in 2015 and have been in the Championship since.

Whether the Nigerian would have been able to keep the Hoops up that year or not remains to be seen, although there was a 14-point gap between QPR and Sunderland in 17th, so it would have been highly unlikely.

Therefore, the R's can look back at this confusing moment with a bit of light-hearted humour, hence their auction of a shirt from the 2012/13 campaign with Odemwingie's name and number on the back, which was printed in the hope that he would sign.

There's no doubt that the winner will have a visual reminder of what went down in January 2013, but for the majority of football fans, the image of the striker in his car outside Loftus Road is glued to the memory.