QPR: Marching towards the Premiership

All talk about English and India football links at the moment are about Blackburn Rovers being bought by poultry giants Venky's and Cardiff City FC's Michael Chopra deciding to finally wanting to play for India, but in west London a club has been making great strides to get back into the Premiership, Queens Park Rangers FC, who also have strong Indian links.

QPR, have since 2007 Indian stake holders in the Mittal family, but unlike other investors in football they have kept a rather low profile about their investment. The Mittal's co-own QPR with Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and former Renault F1 head Flavio Briatore, and after difficulties over the last few years things seem to finally falling in place for the club and their owners.

QPR has since the start of the season been league leaders in the English Championship, the second tier of English football just below the Premier League, and yesterday beat closest rivals Cardiff City FC 3-1 to now have 41 points from 19 matches, the only club throughout the Football League to remain unbeaten this season. PIO Michael Chopra did come on as a second half substitute for Cardiff, but that didn't change anything against QPR, who now have five points more then Cardiff and eight more then third placed Swansea.

But the Championship season is very long with 24 teams and 46 league matches to be played. So having played 19 out of 46 matches isn't that much though it is an indicator where things could go as two-fifth of the season has been played. And QPR could look to strengthen their squad in the winter transfer period to ensure direct promotion into the Premier League.

And there is another Indian link at QPR in their coach Neil Warnock, then Neil was the man who signed a certain young Indian talent in Baichung Bhutia for Bury FC in the summer of 1999, only to leave a few months later for Sheffield United.