QPR in talks over flash new home as they look to become next club to upgrade



Championship club Queen Park Rangers have overtaken west London neighbours and Premier League giants Chelsea in the search for a new stadium.

Chelsea’s tortuous hunt has stalled, but QPR are in talks over building a futuristic 40,000-seat ground as part of a massive £10billion Canary Wharf-style development at Old Oak Common, near Wormwood Scrubs and Loftus Road.

QPR are advanced enough in negotiations with Hammersmith and Fulham council and the Greater London Authority for a memorandum of understanding to have been drawn up.



Possibility: Loftus Road may be replaced by a new stadium if QPR's plan can be achieved

The plan is to transform 100 acres of industrial wasteland into a vast railway hub for Crossrail and the proposed HS2 link from Euston to Birmingham. A sports arena will also be built, as well as an office and residential complex with 19,000 homes — more than QPR’s current capacity.

The proposals are said to require a £200m contribution from QPR, who have the backing of airline tycoon Tony Fernandes and the Mittal steel family, one of the richest in the UK.

A QPR spokesman said: ‘We are taking a good look at various long-term options to see which makes the most sense.’

BT Sport are one match into their 38-game Premier League package, but there are already doubts being expressed about the wisdom of employing the seemingly uninterested David James as a mainstay pundit.



On the positive side, Michael Owen looks to be working hard on making a go of the difficult co-commentary role.

Good and bad: Michael Owen and David James have had different starts to their time on BT Sport

The FA say appointing Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis as chairman of their international committee gives it more gravitas, and the club believe England commitments do not interfere with his club duties.



But Gazidis taking on the work with Arsenal in such crisis has not gone down well with fans. Even an Arsenal-supporting taxi driver berated a senior FA dignitary about Gazidis getting unnecessarily distracted after spotting a Three Lions blazer in his cab.

Meanwhile, it is a sign of how deep the rot has set in at Arsenal that the club, whose academy system was once the envy of world football, only received top-level Category One status for the PL’s Elite Player Performance Plan after a real struggle during the independent audits.

A casualty of the faults found in the academy structure is youth development chief Liam Brady, who steps down at the end of the season.

First England T20 player Alex Hales was disciplined by Jaguar-sponsored ECB for tweeting on international duty about the late delivery of his leased car.



Then, when Hales parked his Jaguar in Gerrards Cross, Bucks last week, a tree fell on the roof.

Ouch: Alex Hales had a tree fall onto his car

Ashes first, cash later?

Professional Cricketers’ Association chief Angus Porter has avoided causing extra angst during the Ashes by not discussing developments in negotiations with the ECB over the players’ central contracts.

England’s cricketers are paid far less than their opponents, with the Aussies on better money from Cricket Australia — Michael Clarke earns more than £1million — and able to cash in from their Big Bash T20 and the Indian Premier League.

Porter, who says England regulars are ‘substantially underpaid’, will not brief Alastair Cook and Co on ‘constructive and positive conversations’ until after the ODIs. Porter calls the Aussies’ pay ‘relevant’ but added: ‘We want a good deal that reflects the finances in England.’



Mega bucks: Aussie skipper Michael Clarke is one more than £1million-a-year

In contrast to the FA and Premier League arguing with Government representative Richard Caborn about even the name of the Football Foundation charity, cricket’s charitable partners are showing a combined front.



The Friday of the Oval Test has been branded Cricket United Day and will showcase the game’s three charities: the PCA Benevolent Fund, Lord’s Taverners and Chance to Shine.

