QUEENS Park Rangers are saddened to learn of the passing of former player and manager Ray Wilkins.

Wilkins, 61, last week suffered a cardiac arrest and unfortunately passed away today - Tuesday, 4th April 2018 at St George's Hospital in Tooting, London.

The thoughts of the QPR family are with Ray’s wife Jackie, his children Ross and Jade, as well as the rest of his family and friends.

Ray Wilkins was born on September 14th 1956 in Hillingdon, Middlesex.

A brilliant passing midfield player, he progressed through the youth ranks at Chelsea and captained their first team at the age of 18.

Wilkins subsequently starred for Manchester United, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Glasgow Rangers, winning 84 England caps.

‘Butch’ as he was known in the game, moved from Ibrox – the home of Scottish giants Rangers – to QPR on a free transfer in December 1989.

Many pundits thought Wilkins was over the hill at the age of 33, but he went on to make a total of 207 appearances for the R’s and scored 10 goals.

He was outstanding for the R’s, playing a key role in their success in the early 1990’s and the emergence of players such as Les Ferdinand and Andy Sinton.

His form was so good, in fact, that there was even talk of an England recall.

After moving away for a short spell at Crystal Palace, Wilkins returned to Loftus Road as our player-manager in November 1994.

Rangers finished eighth in the Premier League that season, but star striker Les Ferdinand was sold to Newcastle United for £6 million in the summer and that led to relegation in 1995/96.

Wilkins remained in charge for the first month of the following season before being relieved of his duties.

He set a record as QPR’s oldest ever outfield player when he appeared versus Bolton Wanderers on September 1st 1996 at the age of 39 years, 352 days.

Short playing spells followed at Wycombe Wanderers, Hibernian, Millwall and Leyton Orient, before Wilkins retired from playing and became manager of Fulham.

He later had a spell on the coaching staff at Chelsea and worked as a football pundit on TV and radio.

He was inducted into The Forever R’s Club – our popular ex-players’ association – in October 2016.

RIP Ray