Editing Queens Park Rangers F.C. (section)

===Early History (1882 - 1920s)===

The club was formed in 1886, when a team known as St Jude's (formed in 1884) merged with Christchurch Rangers (formed in 1882).<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History&nbsp;– Key dates |url=http://www.qpr.co.uk/club/history/key-dates/ |website=QPR.co.uk |publisher=Queens Park Rangers FC |access-date=27 August 2016 |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122153/https://www.qpr.co.uk/club/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The resulting team were called Queen's Park Rangers and their official formation date is considered to be 1882, which is the original founding date of Christchurch Rangers. The club's name came from the fact that most of the players came from the [[Queen's Park, London|Queen's Park]] area of West London. St Jude's Institute on Ilbert Street W10 is still in use as a community hall and in July 2011 club icon [[Stan Bowles]] unveiled a plaque celebrating its place in QPR history.
1882: QPR was founded as Queens Park Rangers by a group of schoolboys from the area of Queen's Park in North-West London. The club initially played in local leagues and was part of the amateur football movement.

QPR became a professional team in 1889. The club was elected into the Southern Football League in [[1899–1900 Southern Football League|1899]]. In 1899–1900 they put themselves on the map after qualifying for the first round proper of the FA Cup by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers on their own ground 1–0. The Guardian said "the hitherto unknown Queens Park Rangers, a team hailing from the north-west suburbs of London...upset all calculations."<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 February 1900 |title=The Football Field |pages=4 |work=The Manchester Guardian}}</ref>

At this time the club's core support, as indicated by its marketing area, was an area of West London, to the west of the [[Watling Street|A5 Road (Roman Watling Street)]], in and around the former Boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington|Paddington]] and [[Municipal Borough of Willesden|Willesden]]. As London extended further west, the club's following grew along with it.<ref>History of QPR website: {{URL|http://qprland.larsnorlin.se/blogg/qprland/qprland.html}}</ref>

They first won the Southern Football League in [[Southern Football League#Past Southern League winners|1907–08]]. As Southern League champions that year, they played in the first ever [[FA Community Shield#History|Charity Shield]] match, against the Football League champions [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]. The club [[FA Community Shield#History|lost]] 4–0 in a replay after the first game had finished 1–1. Both games were played at [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)|Stamford Bridge]]. QPR were Southern League champions for a second time in [[1911–12 Southern Football League|1911-12]].