QPR: You may be very surprised where these 3 ex-R's stars are playing now | OneFootball

You may be very surprised where these 3 ex-QPR stars are playing now

The beginning of the current Championship campaign marked Queens Park Rangers' 10th consecutive season at Championship level following relegation from the Premier League in 2015.

The 2010s witnessed the R's lift the 2011 Championship title, pipping Norwich City to the prize after winning 88 points, before the west London outfit would go on to spend three of the next four seasons in the top-flight.

Over the years, some exciting talent has come through the doors at Loftus Road, such as former England international Andros Townsend who joined the R's on loan from former club Tottenham Hotspur during the latter half of the 2012/13 season.

Meanwhile, Eberechi Eze, who represented the Three Lions during the summer's Euro 2024 tournament, was a QPR academy product who starred in the Championship before moving to Premier League Crystal Palace in 2020.

Football League World takes a look at three former R's stars whose current clubs may surprise supporters:

Adel Taarabt - Al-Nasr SC

Adel Taarabt is the epitome of a modern day R's legend, who produced a heroic return of 19 goals and 17 assists as the west London side won the 2011 Championship title.

He then went on to display his creativity and trickery at Premier League level, and was subject to a lot of love on social media during the recent 'Barclaysmen' trend.

Taarabt's finest individual campaign in the top-flight came during the 2012/13 season as he scored five goals and created four assists, despite the fact that the R's finished bottom of the league that season.

The Morocco international subsequently spent time on loan with both Fulham and AC Milan, before leaving Loftus Road permanently to join Benfica in 2015.

With the exception of 2016/17 and 2017/18 loan spells with Serie A outfit Genoa, Taarabt would remain at Benfica until 2022, when he joined his current club Al-Nasr SC of the UAE Pro League.

Charlie Austin - AFC Totton

Charlie Austin is a Football League icon, who was simply prolific during his first stint with the R's, which lasted from August 2013-January 2016.

The striker scored 19 goals in 34 Championship appearances during the 2013/14 season as QPR won promotion to the Premier League via a play-off final victory over Derby County.

He then went on to score 18 goals in 35 Premier League outings during the subsequent 2014/15 campaign, but it wasn't enough to help his side beat the drop as they were relegated back to the Championship.

Austin would show prolific tendencies in the second tier yet again, with 10 goals in 16 2015/16 Championship appearances, before earning his move back to the top-flight as he joined Southampton in January 2016.

Following a three-and-a-half year stint with the Saints, Austin would go on to play for West Brom, before making his Loftus Road return, initially on a loan basis, in January 2021.

The striker signed permanent terms with the R's once again during the summer of 2021, but was not so clinical this time around, with just five goals in 34 Championship appearances.

The former Saints man endured a brief stint with Australian A-League side Brisbane Roar during the 2022/23 season, before returning to his first club, Swindon Town.

Austin impressed at Swindon, scoring 12 goals in League Two last season, but he now plays for AFC Totton of the Southern Premier Division, one of the leagues which makes up the seventh tier of English football.

Joel Lynch - Precision FC

It would be fair to say that Joel Lynch's time at Loftus Road may not be as memorable as that of either Taarabt or Austin, as he never played at Premier League level for the R's.

After signing from Huddersfield Town during the summer of 2016, Lynch spent three seasons with QPR before moving to Sunderland, then of League One, in 2019.

Following just one season with the Black Cats, the defender subsequently joined Crawley Town, where he would remain until 2023, when he made his move to Precision FC, who ply their trade in the UAE Second Division League.