QUEENS PARK RANGERS legend Brian Bedford has passed away aged 88, the club confirmed. The striker netted 180 goals in a six-year spell with the west Londoners, the second most in Rangers’ history. Part of a QPR statement read: “The club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Brian Bedford at the age […]
QUEENS PARK RANGERS legend Brian Bedford has passed away aged 88, the club confirmed.
The striker netted 180 goals in a six-year spell with the west Londoners, the second most in Rangers’ history.
Part of a QPR statement read: “The club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Brian Bedford at the age of 88.”
It added: “The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with his family and friends at this sad time.
“May he rest in peace.”
First joining QPR from Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1959, Bedford didn’t score less than 25 goals in any one of his six-seasons at the club.
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The Welshman also spent time with Reading, Southampton, Scunthorpe and Atlanta Chiefs in America, plus a short spell down the road from QPR at Brentford.
But it was at Loftus Road, now the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, where Bedford made the most impact.
The 1961/62 season in particular was Bedford’s best for the R’s – the striker netting an incredible 39 goals in a single campaign.
All in all his 180 goals came in just 284 appearances for the club.
Only George Goddard’s 189 goals in 259 appearances for the R’s is higher than Bedford’s scoring record.
But Bedford is the club’s leading scorer in the post-war era.
He netted a remarkable 14 hat-tricks in the colours of QPR, and even bagged four goals in one game on two separate occasions.
Bedford was inducted into QPR’s “The Forever R’s Club,” similar to a Hall of Fame, in 2017.
