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2007–08 Queens Park Rangers F.C. season

English football club season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During the 2007–08 season, Queens Park Rangers were playing in the Football League Championship.

Quick facts Chairman, Manager ...
Queens Park Rangers
2007–2008 season
ChairmanGianni Paladini
ManagerJohn Gregory
Mick Harford
Luigi De Canio
StadiumLoftus Road
Championship14th
FA CupThird round
League CupFirst round
Top goalscorerLeague:
All: Akos Buzsaky 10
Highest home attendance18,309 4 May 2008 West Bromwich Albion
Lowest home attendance5,260 14 October 2007 Leyton Orient
Average home league attendance13,958
Biggest win3–0 Vs Bristol City (2 February 2008)
Biggest defeat1–5 Vs West Bromwich Albion (30 September 2007)
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Review

Pre-season

Manager John Gregory began rebuilding the squad before the new season, bringing in Daniel Nardiello, Chris Barker and John Curtis on free transfers. Andrew Howell, Kieron St Aimie and Aaron Goode all signed one-year professional contracts after impressing in the youth team under Joe Gallen, who was later sacked, despite his under 18s winning the league. Gregory also signed more backroom staff, including Paul Hunter as the new physio, Mick Harford as assistant manager, Ed de Goey and Warren Neill as coaches and Steve Brown and Keith Ryan as youth team coaches. Creative left winger Lee Cook was sold to rivals Fulham for a deal reported as potentially worth between £2.5 million and £4.5 million. Michael Mancienne also extended his loan for a further season. On 26 July, QPR completed the loan signing of Ben Sahar for three months (subsequently extended until January 2008). The signings of Lee Camp and Simon Walton followed the day after on 27 July, totalling £500,000.

During pre-season, new signing Simon Walton fractured his leg in a non-competitive 2–1 victory against Fulham and was side-lined for several months.

Tragic start

The season began turbulently, with a draw against recently promoted Bristol City, a loss in the League Cup 2–1 at home to League One Leyton Orient followed by a further 2–0 defeat at home by Cardiff City. The match against Burnley on 25 August was postponed after promising teenage player Ray Jones was killed in a car crash in the early hours of the morning.[1] A week later QPR crashed to a 3–0 defeat at home to Southampton, followed by a draw with Leicester and a further home defeat by Plymouth (0–2) before picking up only their second point of the month (and the third of the season) at home to Watford on 22 September.

New manager

On 1 October it was announced that John Gregory had been sacked after 13 months in charge. This came after a comprehensive 5–1 defeat in front of the Sky Sports cameras against West Bromwich Albion on 30 September. First-team coach Mick Harford was placed in temporary charge.[2] Three consecutive fixtures against East Anglian opposition saw Rangers defeated at the hands of Colchester before earning their first win of the season at home to Norwich and salvaging a draw with Ipswich at Loftus Road. After a goalless draw at Preston and a rare victory away to Charlton, Harford left the club later in the month and was replaced by Luigi De Canio. His first game in charge was a 2–0 victory against Hull City.[3]

Signs of recovery

Following the arrival of De Canio, Rangers endured defeats at the hands of Coventry, Stoke, Blackpool and Crystal Palace before a brief run of four games without defeat in mid-December indicated signs of a recovery. On 11 December 2007 QPR were drawn away from home at Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup, a tie due to be played on 5 January 2008. The fixture would be the first competitive West London derby between the two sides since 1996.

The Christmas and New Year period was largely successful for the club with Rangers bouncing back from a defeat at Plymouth on Boxing Day and picking up wins away from home at second-placed Watford (4–2) and at Loftus Road against fellow strugglers Leicester (3–1).

Investment

Shortly prior to the traditional Christmas fixture period on 20 December 2007 it was announced that the family of Lakshmi Mittal had purchased a 20 per cent shareholding in the club. As part of the investment Lakshmi Mittal's son-in-law took a place on the board of directors.[4] Continuing the theme of previous seasons a number of loan signings featured for the club including Gavin Mahon, Ákos Buzsáky and Rowan Vine. The investment potential of the club's new backers resulted in a number of speculative storylines in the football press throughout the season, including rumoured signings of former World Player of the Year winners Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane, the latter as a possible manager.[5]

New recruits

Rangers signed several players during the January transfer window: Ákos Buzsáky who had previously been on loan from Plymouth Argyle, Hogan Ephraim from West Ham, Kieran Lee on loan from Manchester United, Gavin Mahon on loan from Watford, Matthew Connolly from Arsenal, Patrick Agyemang from Preston and Fitz Hall from Wigan. Early in January QPR also managed to secure striker Rowan Vine in a permanent move following his brief loan spell which had ended in December.

January onwards

Around 6,000 Rangers fans made the short trip to Stamford Bridge on the first weekend in January to see QPR put up a determined effort against their Premier League neighbours Chelsea in the FA Cup third round. Ultimately the R's lost 1–0 to an unfortunate deflected own goal from Lee Camp. The Cup defeat was followed by defeat away to Sheffield United. The month ended for Rangers with a 2–0 home win over Barnsley followed by a defeat at Cardiff. As the January transfer window closed, QPR secured American goalkeeper Matt Pickens and Northern Irish defender Damien Delaney and parted ways with a number of players including Marcus Bignot, Danny Cullip, Nick Ward, Dominic Shimmin, Sampsa Timoska, Shabazz Baidoo, Kieron St Aimie, Stefan Moore and Pat Kanyuka. Adam Bolder, Daniel Nardiello and Simon Walton were also put out on loan.

February

The club started February well defeating third-placed Bristol City 3–0 at Loftus Road followed by a 3–2 away win at Southampton. Showing some signs of a recovery from the start to the season, the Southampton victory left QPR 6 points off the playoffs and 8 points above the relegation zone. At the same time, Flavio Briatore took over from Alejandro Agag as the chairman of QPR's holding company.[6] Briatore's arrival also signalled the demise of the club mascot, 'Jude the stadium cat'. According to newspaper reports, the black cat was incompatible with Briatore's superstitions and the matchday programme on 2 February subsequently announced Jude the Cat had "gone on holiday".[7] On 12 February the club's erratic form then saw them fall to a 6th home defeat of the season, losing to Burnley 2–4 after at one stage leading 2–0.

Taking advantage of their next league fixture opponents Barnsley playing Liverpool in the FA Cup on 16 February, QPR organised a mid-season training camp to the Vale de Lobo resort in the Algarve region of Portugal.[8] Gareth Ainsworth was appointed club captain in place of Adam Bolder following his loan move to Sheffield Wednesday. Rangers closed out February with draws against Sheffield United (1–1) at home and away in the rearranged fixture with Barnsley (0–0).

March

A televised fixture at home to Stoke on 2 March saw QPR convincingly defeat the second-placed side 3–0, continuing the club's successful form against the top sides in the division.[9] In contrast, Rangers' following game against relegation-zone Coventry City ended in a hard-fought 0–0 draw with Coventry dominating much of the play, acknowledged by the praise directed at Lee Camp for his goalkeeping performance.[10][11] Similarly their next game against a struggling Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough saw them lose 2–1,[12] before returning to winning ways at home to Blackpool (3–2); a result which left them 12th in the league, 8 points outside the play-offs and 7 points above the relegation zone.[13] Reflecting the increasingly high profile of the club, the mid-week Blackpool match was watched from the Directors' Box by Asantehene King Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II as well as Real Madrid's president, Ramón Calderón accompanying the club's three owners Mittal, Ecclestone and Briatore.[14] Continuing their solid home form in which Rangers had lost just once in their previous ten games at Loftus Road and scored 22 goals, the club ran out 3–1 winners against a Scunthorpe side battling relegation. With only seven fixtures remaining, the victory meant QPR remained 12th in the Championship, 7 points from the play-off positions and 8 points clear of relegation.[15] Continuing speculation around the level of new investment in the club fuelled rumours of the possible signing of Luís Figo, although they were promptly dismissed by the player's representatives.[5]

Rangers travelled to play-off hopefuls Wolves on the Easter weekend (22 March) and squandered the lead three times, twice in injury time periods at the end of each half and ultimately conspiring in a 3–3 final score.[16] On 25 March the board announced a five-year kit sponsorship deal with Lotto Sport Italia, which could be worth up to £20 million should QPR win promotion to the Premier League. The contract comes into effect for the 2008–09 season and is the most financially rewarding in the club's history.[17] On 29 March Rangers frustrated Ipswich's play-off ambitions by holding them to a goal—less draw at Portman Road – principally as a result of Lee Camp's goalkeeping heroics.[18] Following the match approximately 15 QPR supporters caused an affray at Manningtree station prompting three arrests.[19]

April

On 1 April QPR fan website Vital QPR declared an exclusive that Microsoft founder Bill Gates was to invest in the club,[20] which, despite being an apparent April Fools' Day joke, was repeated on general news and QPR fan sites.[21] Striker Rowan Vine fractured his leg in a training incident on 3 April 2008 and was ruled out for the rest of the season.[22] Two days later on 5 April, Rangers narrowly avoided a 2–0 home defeat to an in-form Preston side by dramatically scoring twice in injury time at the end of the second half.[23]

After a Friday which saw Briatore promote his vision of QPR as a global super brand,[24] and with both relegation and promotion now an irrelevance[25] QPR travelled to Hull City on 12 April to face a team who had netted five and kept two clean-sheets in their previous two games. A contentious first-half goal by Rangers was cancelled-out late in the game by Hull's Michael Turner.[26] The 1–1 result left QPR 14th in the Championship and ten points adrift of the play-offs with just 3 games (9 points) remaining.

Rangers nevertheless continued to contribute to the fate of the Championship's promotion hopefuls, despite being unable to affect their own playoff chances, consigning fellow-Londoners Charlton Athletic to a further season in the second tier after beating them 1–0 at Loftus Road courtesy of Dexter Blackstock.[27] A heavy defeat to Norwich at Carrow Road (0–3), where Damion Stewart was sent off after just 4 minutes, drew April to a disappointing close.[28]

End of the season

QPR's final game of the season on 4 May was at home against Championship title hopefuls West Brom, the team whose comprehensive defeat of Rangers in September signalled the end of John Gregory's reign. Prior to the game QPR unveiled a new badge which was introduced to signify a new era for the club,[29] although newspapers had earlier erroneously speculated that the announcement would reveal Zinedine Zidane as the new manager.[30] Following a red card for Martin Rowlands, Rangers fell to a 2–0 defeat and suffered the indignity of seeing the Championship title trophy presented to West Brom at Loftus Road. The result meant QPR finished 14th in the Championship table with 58 points, 12 points below the play-off zone and 6 points from relegation.

Following the game Martin Rowlands was named both the club's Ray Jones Players' Player of the Year and the Supporters' Player of the Year. Chelsea loan player and England U21 international defender Michael Mancienne was awarded the Supporters' Young Player of the Year award. Akos Buzsaky won the Kiyan Prince Goal of the Season award for his goal against Blackpool at Loftus Road on 11 March. Zesh Rehman was also awarded for his Community Commitment.[31]

On 8 May, QPR announced that Luigi De Canio had left the club "by mutual consent" and that a further announcement regarding a new manager for the following season would be made in due course.[32]

Kit

Le Coq Sportif continued as QPR's kit manufacturers. Retailer Cargiant continued as kit sponsors.


Squad

More information Shirt Number, Position ...
Shirt Number Position Nationality Name League Appearances League Goals Cup Appearances League.Cup Goals F.A.Cup Goals Total Appearances Total Goals
1 GK ENG Lee Camp 46 2 48
12 GK ENG Jake Cole
15 GK ENG Chris Goodchild
18 GK ENG Matt Pickens
33 GK AUS Reece Crowther
16 DF ENG Matthew Connolly 18 1 21
14 DF ENG Martin Cranie 6 6
6 DF ENG Michael Mancienne 26 1 31
27 DF FIN Sampsa Timoska 3 7
3 DF ENG Chris Barker 25 1 26
2 DF ENG Marcus Bignot 1 3
2 DF IRE Damien Delaney 17 1 17 1
29 DF ENG Fitz Hall 14 1 15
25 DF SCO Bob Malcolm 10 11
5 DF JAM Damion Stewart 35 5 1 41 5
4 DF ENG Danny Cullip 5 1 7
28 DF PAK Zesh Rehman 17 1 22
19 MF ENG Simon Walton 1 4 5
4 MF ENG Gavin Mahon 11 1 1 17 1
7 MF ENG Adam Bolder 20 2 1 24 2
29 MF AUS Nick Ward 1 2
14 MF ENG Martin Rowlands 43 6 2 1 46 7
25 MF ENG Hogan Ephraim 20 2 1 30
21 MF ENG John Curtis 3 4
21 MF ENG Kieran Lee 2 7
37 MF ENG Romone Rose 1
11 MF ENG Gareth Ainsworth 16 2 1 25 2
16 MF ENG Jason Jarrett 1 1
32 MF ATG Mikele Leigertwood 33 5 40 5
23 MF ENG Stefan Bailey 1 1 2
34 FW ENG Scott Sinclair 8 1 1 9 1
10 FW HUN Akos Buzsaky 24 10 1 28 10
8 FW ENG Daniel Nardiello 4 8
26 FW ENG Rowan Vine 31 7 2 33 7
18 FW ENG Stefan Moore 5 1 1 12 1
17 FW ENG Patrick Agyemang 17 9 18 9
30 FW DEN Marc Nygaard 6 1 1 21 1
20 FW ENG Kieron St Aimie 1
9 FW ENG Dexter Blackstock 26 6 1 36 6
17 FW ISR Ben Sahar 6 9
36 FW COL Angelo Balanta 6 1 12 1
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Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

More information No., Pos. ...
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Transfers

In

More information Date, Pos. ...
Date Pos. Name From Fee Source
5 June 2007 DF England Chris Barker Wales Cardiff City Free [33]
27 June 2007 FW Wales Daniel Nardiello England Barnsley Free [34]
30 June 2007 DF England John Curtis England Nottingham Forest Free [35]
27 July 2007 GK England Lee Camp England Derby County £300,000 [36]
27 July 2007 MF England Simon Walton England Charlton Athletic £200,000 [37]
31 August 2007 MF England Mikele Leigertwood England Sheffield United £900,000 [38]
2 January 2008 DF England Matthew Connolly England Arsenal Undisclosed [39]
2 January 2008 MF England Hogan Ephraim England West Ham United Undisclosed [39]
2 January 2008 MF Hungary Ákos Buzsáky England Plymouth Argyle Undisclosed [39]
3 January 2008 FW Ghana Patrick Agyemang England Preston North End Undisclosed [40]
4 January 2008 DF England Fitz Hall England Wigan Athletic Undisclosed [41]
8 January 2008 FW England Rowan Vine England Birmingham City £1,000,000 [42]
17 January 2008 DF Republic of Ireland Damien Delaney England Hull City Undisclosed [43]
7 February 2008 GK United States Matt Pickens Unattached Free [44]
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Out

More information Date, Pos. ...
Date Pos. Name To Fee Source
1 July 2007 GK England Simon Royce Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 GK Wales Paul Jones Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 DF Italy Mauro Milanese Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 MF Cameroon Armel Tchakounte Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 MF Canada Marc Bircham[notes 2] Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 MF Northern Ireland Steve Lomas[notes 3] Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 FW England Kevin Gallen Unattached Released [45]
1 July 2007 FW England Paul Furlong Unattached Released [45]
19 July 2007 MF England Lee Cook England Fulham £2.500,000 [46]
November 2007 DF England Danny Cullip Unattached Contract terminated
4 December 2007 MF Australia Nick Ward Unattached Contract terminated [47]
3 January 2008 MF Northern Ireland Tommy Doherty[notes 4] England Wycombe Wanderers Free [48]
15 January 2008 DF England Marcus Bignot Unattached Contract terminated [49]
17 January 2008 DF Democratic Republic of the Congo Patrick Kanyuka Unattached Contract terminated [43]
17 January 2008 MF England Kieron St Aimie Unattached Contract terminated [43]
17 January 2008 FW England Shabazz Baidoo Unattached Contract terminated [43]
23 January 2008 FW England Stefan Moore Unattached Contract terminated [50]
28 January 2008 DF England Dominic Shimmin Unattached Contract terminated
January 2008 FW Denmark Marc Nygaard Denmark Randers Undisclosed
7 February 2008 DF Finland Sampsa Timoska Unattached Contract terminated [51]
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Competitions

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
12 Cardiff City 46 16 16 14 59 55 +4 64
13 Burnley 46 16 14 16 60 67 7 62
14 Queens Park Rangers 46 14 16 16 60 66 6 58
15 Preston North End 46 15 11 20 50 56 6 56
16 Sheffield Wednesday 46 14 13 19 54 55 1 55
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Updated to match(es) played on 4 May 2008. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Friendly matches

More information Date, Opponents ...
Friendly match details[52]
Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance Ref.
11-Jul-07 Crawley Town H W 3-3 Bonne 59' Bonne 50' Field 9' [53]
15-Jul-07 Glasgow Celtic H L 1-5 Capone 22' [54]
18-Jul-07 Barnet H L 1-2 Closed Doors [55]
28 July 2007 Wycombe WanderersA W1–0 Rowlands 41'[56]
31-Jul-07 Harrow Borough A W 3-0 Nygaard, Bolder, Baidoo [57]
3-Aug-07 Fulham H W 2-1 Sahar  58', 68' 5,479 [58]
7-Aug-07 Reading A
24-Sep-07 Barnet H
4-Feb-08 West Ham United A
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Football League Championship

More information Date, Opponents ...
Championship match details
Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance League
position
Ref.
11 August 2007 Bristol City A D2–2 Blackstock 34' Stewart 90' 18,228 12th [59]
18 August 2007 Cardiff City H L0–2 12,596 19th [60]
25 August 2007 Burnley A P PP
1 September 2007 Southampton H L0–3 15,560 22nd [61]
15 September 2007 Leicester City A D1–1 Leigertwood 82' 21,893 23rd [62]
18 September 2007 Plymouth Argyle H L0–2 10,850 23rd [63]
22 September 2007 Watford H D1–1 Moore 59' 14,240 23rd [64]
30 September 2007 West Bromwich Albion A L1–5 Ainsworth 24' 24,757 24th [65]
2 October 2007 Colchester United A L2–4 Ephraim 29', Vine 58' 5,361 24th [66]
8 October 2007 Norwich City H W1–0 Rowlands 67' pen. 10,514 24th [67]
20 October 2007 Ipswich Town H D1–1 Nygaard 73' 13,946 24th [68]
23 October 2007 Preston North End A D0–0 11,407 24th [69]
27 October 2007 Charlton Athletic A W1–0 Bolder 72' 23,671 23rd [70]
3 November 2007 Hull City H W2–0 Ephraim 26', Leigertwood 56' 12,375 21st [71]
6 November 2007 Coventry City H L1–2 Buzsaky 50' 11,922 21st [72]
10 November 2007 Crystal Palace A D1–1 Sinclair 45' 17,010 22nd [73]
24 November 2007 Sheffield Wednesday H D0–0 15,241 22nd [74]
27 November 2007 Stoke City A L1–3 Vine 63' 11,147 22nd [75]
1 December 2007 Blackpool A L0–1 8,527 22nd [76]
4 December 2007 Crystal Palace H L1–2 Stewart 10' 13,300 24th [77]
8 December 2007 Scunthorpe United A D2–2 Buzsaky 12', 42' 5,612 24th [78]
11 December 2007 Burnley A W2–0 Stewart 60', Vine 90' 10,522 23rd [79]
15 December 2007 Wolverhampton Wanderers H D0–0 13,482 24th [80]
22 December 2007 Colchester United H W2–1 Buzsaky 27', 52' 12,464 21st [81]
26 December 2007 Plymouth Argyle A L1–2 Ainsworth 20' 16,502 23rd [82]
29 December 2007 Watford A W4–2 Rowlands 13' pen., 40', Stewart 29', Buzsaky 80' 18,698 20th [83]
1 January 2008 Leicester City H W3–1 Stewart 15', Bolder 26', Blackstock 56' 13,326 18th [84]
12 January 2008 Sheffield United A L1–2 Agyemang 45' 28,894 20th [85]
19 January 2008 Barnsley H W2–0 Agyemang 5', Vine 45' 16,197 17th [86]
29 January 2008 Cardiff City A L1–3 Ephraim 76' 13,602 19th [87]
2 February 2008 Bristol City H W3–0 Agyemang 18', 33', Buzsaky 63' 16,502 18th [88]
9 February 2008 Southampton A W3–2 Rowlands 38', Agyemang 45', 60' 22,505 15th [89]
12 February 2008 Burnley H L2–4 Mahon 14', Agyemang 30' 13,410 17th [90]
16 February 2008 Barnsley A P PP
23 February 2008 Sheffield United H D1–1 Balanta 19' 15,383 16th [91]
26 February 2008 Barnsley A D0–0 9,019 15th [92]
2 March 2008 Stoke City H W3–0 Leigertwood 12', 21', Buzsaky 56' 13,398 15th [9]
5 March 2008 Coventry City A D0–0 15,225 15th [10]
8 March 2008 Sheffield Wednesday A L1–2 Delaney 15' 18,555 15th [12]
11 March 2008 Blackpool H W3–2 Buzsaky 11', Vine 40', Rowlands 47' 11,538 12th [13]
15 March 2008 Scunthorpe United H W3–1 Rowlands 43' pen., Agyemang 79', Vine 90' 14,499 12th [93]
22 March 2008 Wolverhampton Wanderers A D3–3 Buzsaky 28', Blackstock 49' pen., Leigertwood 79' 24,290 14th [16]
29 March 2008 Ipswich Town A D0–0 24,517 15th [18]
5 April 2008 Preston North End H D2–2 Ainsworth 90', Blackstock 90' 14,966 15th [23]
12 April 2008 Hull City A D1–1 Blackstock 14' 22,468 14th [26]
19 April 2008 Charlton Athletic H W1–0 Blackstock 15' 17,035 14th [27]
26 April 2008 Norwich City A L0–3 25,497 14th [28]
4 May 2008 West Bromwich Albion H L0–2 18,309 14th [29]
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FA Cup

More information Round, Date ...
FA Cup match details
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance Ref.
Third round 5 January 2008 ChelseaA L0–141,289[94]
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League Cup

More information Round, Date ...
League Cup match details
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance Ref.
First round 14 October 2007 Leyton OrientH L1–2Rowlands 68'5,260[95]
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Statistics

Goalscorers

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Position Championship League Cup FA Cup Total
1Hungary Ákos BuzsákyMF100010
2Ghana Patrick AgyemangFW9009
3England Martin RowlandsMF6107
4England Rowan VineFW6006
=England Dexter BlackstockFW6006
6Jamaica Damion StewartFW5005
=England Mikele LeigertwoodMF5005
8England Gareth AinsworthMF3003
9England Hogan EphraimMF2002
=England Adam BolderMF2002
11England Stefan MooreFW1001
=Denmark Marc NygaardFW1001
=England Scott SinclairMF1001
=England Gavin MahonMF1001
=Colombia Ángelo BalantaMF1001
=Republic of Ireland Damien DelaneyDF1001
TOTAL601061
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Clean sheets

More information Rank, Player ...
Rank Player Position Championship League Cup FA Cup Total
1 England Lee Camp GK 14 0 0 14
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References

Notes

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