Luton Town (1) – QPR (1) – ‘When the Interval Arrived, what a Rush there was to get Refreshments!’ 

Southern League Division One 

Team: Howes, White, Newlands, Yenson, McLean, Downing, Green, O’Donnell, Anderson, Ryder, Blake 

Attendance: Nearly 7,000 

Rangers kicked off the 1906/07 season with a visit to Luton on 1 September. The Bedford Record filed the following match report: 

Before close on 7,000 spectators, in sultry weather, this match at Luton on Saturday was left drawn after a game marked by strenuousness in the first-half and by lassitude in the second moiety. 

That the teams were well-matched was evident all-through, and a score of one-all was a good criterion of the play.  

The visitors were the first to open the account. Green centering and Anderson scoring a brilliant goal five minutes from the start, Platt being completely beaten by a high drive.  

It was expected that Luton would equalise when they were awarded a penalty, especially as the redoubtable Bob Hawkes took the kick. 

This was not to be, for Howes saved very smartly a terrific drive to the right-hand. McLean was the culprit for a foul on Pickering. 

When the equaliser eventually came, it was of the lucky order. Hawkes shot hard into the lower corner of the goal, and Howes just succeeded in pushing the ball out to Warner, who at once returned it across goal and into the net. 

The efforts of the first-half evidently told on the men, for in the second-half they could not raise a gallop. 

Slipping about on the yellow grass, scorched badly by the sun, the players in front of goal continually missed their footing, and Platt, with a waiting brief, had a high time in nipping in and clearing. 

That he was lucky at times could not be denied, but he kept his sheet clean by good judgement aided by luck. 

Howes was not so badly troubled, and had few shots to save. 

Hogg and Jones, the new Luton players, gave a good account of themselves, but Gittins was hardly a success. He is, however, a young player.  

The newly constructed forwards of the Rangers played well together, and Anderson and Green caught the eye for judicious work. 

McLean gave a fair display, and shadowed Sandy Brown wherever he went. Result: Luton, one goal; Queen’s Park Rangers, one.’ 

And this report on mainly the weather conditions later appeared in the Luton Reporter: 

“Phew, ain’t it hot?” – “Ain’t I jolly glad that I ain’t got to play on a hot day like this,” and a hundred similar remarks could be heard in the large crowd which assembled to witness the Queen’s Park Rangers and Luton Southern League match on Saturday. 

In fact, the weather seemed to be the main topic of conversation. It was too hot to discuss the merits or demerits of the respective players or teams, and many stood silent – silent martyrs to an almost overpowering sun. 

Good football could not be expected. At any rate it was generally anticipated that it would not be forthcoming for who could be expected to display anything like unbounded energy in such a terrible heat. Ninety-three in the shade indeed.  

And what of the spectators, especially those who could not afford to participate in the cool shade of the grandstand. Some wore caps and some straw hats, but many wished there were such things as ice-hats! 

One spectator, I noticed, had found his way to the match without coat or waistcoat; but I question very much whether he was the coolest member of the vast throng? 

When the interval arrived, what a rush there was to get refreshments. An ice cream vendor would have done tremendous business! 

There was a long half-time interval, and it was not be wondered at, for it was most thoroughly needed. The players looked absolutely baked as they left the arena for a short breather.’ 

Rangers went on to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 the following week at the Agricultural Showground. 

Steve Russell 

(Thanks to Colin Woodley for his assistance)