The number ten shirt at QPR has been associated with quality since the 1960's. For QPR fans in the 60's and 70's their heroes were Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles who made the shirt famous.

For those of us who grew up in the 80's we had Simon Stainrod and John Byrne to entertain but after Byrne left we had to wait another year for the next number ten to arrive.

To wear the shirt you needed to have that little bit of extra skill which made you stand out from the rest and in December 1989 Roy Wegerle became the latest in a long line of skilful number 10's arrived for a club record fee of £1million from Luton Town.

Wegerle was as multi national as they come. Born in South Africa he qualified to play for America due to his wife being a citizen and he was also eligible to play for any of the home nations.

It was in America where he began to make his name. He played under QPR legend Rodney Marsh for Tampa Bay and Marsh used his contacts to get Wegerle trials in England claiming he was going to be a superstar. QPR declined to look at Wegerle and he ended up moving to Chelsea where he started his career in England.

Wegerle never really broke into a Chelsea side, which didn't know a quality player when he was starring them in the face. He moved on to Luton where he made a name for himself.

Wegerle took time to win over the Luton fans but his wonderful skill and goal scoring ability began to make him popular at the club. He did find goals hard to come by though but Luton never lost when Wegerle scored and he went on to play at Wembley for the Hatters in the league cup final as a substitute.

The 1989/90 season saw Roy really blossom as he produced some quality performances up front showing off great skill, technique and natural ability which had plenty of first division mangers drooling over as the bids began to come in. Ray Harford was manager of Luton at the time and wanted to keep his star striker but the board at Luton needed the money and QPR made a move for him.

Rangers were having a disappointing season at the time and after Trevor Francis was sacked Don Howe took over and made Wegerle his number one target. Despite seeing a young Les Ferdinand score twice against Chelsea, Howe spent a club record £1million to bring Wegerle to QPR.

Wegerle spent his first 45 minutes in a QPR shirt on the bench at Sheffield Wednesday where he witnessed a poor performance before coming off the bench in a 2-0 defeat. His full debut came a week later on Boxing Day as Rangers faced Coventry at Loftus Road.

Roy played with elegance so rarely seen as his sublime skill made him a joy to watch. I remember his debut well as he seemed so hard to get off the ball. He would beat three or four players with ease before picking out a pass and he was creating chance after chance for his team mates. Rangers eventually drew the game 1-1 after we failed to take our chances but Wegerle was on the winning side days later as we beat Everton at home to spark off a superb second half of the season.

I missed Roy's first goal in QPR colours as I was at a concert in Hammersmith when his deflected shot killed off Cardiff City in the FA Cup third round replay. It was a big moment for the striker though and he began to settle as the side played some wonderful football.

With Ray Wilkins pulling the strings in midfield Wegerle had the freedom to express himself and although the goals didn't flow at first he was continuing to show his quality in creating chances and providing moments, which got the fans off their seats with excitement.

Since his arrival Rangers had gone eight games unbeaten including draws at Manchester United and in the fourth round of the cup at Arsenal who were the league champions at the time. The cup replay was a memorable night at Loftus Road as Wegerle and co ran riot.

The silky skills of Wegerle mesmerised Tony Adams on the night and with the team a goal up he broke away in injury time to run at the Arsenal defence, he cut inside and with a nice dummy sent Sinton in to finish the game off and send us into the fifth round. Sinton took the plaudits but again it was Wegerle with the crucial assist.

The cup run was capturing the fans imagination and after two replays we got past Blackpool to make the quarter finals.

Wegerle was playing a huge part in that run and was also starting to find his scoring boots in the league getting goals in the wins over Millwall and scoring a cracking goal in another win over Arsenal as he put Nigel Winterburn on his arse before placing the ball in the top corner.

The cup quarter final saw Liverpool come to Loftus Road in a season that would see then beat QPR to win the first division a month later.

The cup was a different story though and live on BBC1 Loftus Road was buzzing as Wegerle teased the Liverpool defence with his outrageous skill. It took a late Simon Barker goal to earn us a deserved replay, which we unfortunately lost 1-0.

It had been an exciting ride though and Wegerle's form was about to get even better.

In a home game against a Spurs side including Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne (just months before they became heroes in Italia 90), Wegerle destroyed Spurs with a brilliant performance at Loftus Road.

He wasn't alone that day as the whole team produced a wonderful performance. Wegerle was so impressive though taking on players and drifting out wide to give the likes of Barker more space which he exploited week after week with his best spell for the club.

Rangers finished the season in 11th place and Wegerle had played a big part in a hugely enjoyable second half of the season.

He still had his knockers at that stage which was mainly due with his lack of goals but is all round play was such a joy to watch and he was creating so much space for the midfielders to score goals that season which they did.

The following season was not a great one for Rangers but was one of Roy's best individually. He got off to a good start scoring on the opening day in a draw with Nottingham Forest.

The following week he quickly got into the fans good books in the local derby with Chelsea. After just two minutes Andy Sinton won a penalty and Wegerle coolly stroked it past the keeper to give us a 1-0 win over the team we regularly finished ahead of in the league without having to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on players.

A defeat at Manchester United saw Wegerle score again so by Mid September Rangers sat in the lower half of the table with Wegerle being the only QPR player to find the net. It was against one of his former clubs Luton where his team mates joined him in scoring and Wegerle himself showed what a fantastic player he could be.

He started it off a memorable afternoon but getting the ball by the corner flag, cutting inside to stroll past four defenders and then smash the ball into the bottom corner. It was the ease with which he did it that made him so special and he walked off as if he did that sort of thing every day, which in all likelihood he did.

Wegerle had a hand in a few of the second half goals and even got himself a second goal as we won 6-1 in a game where even Paul Parker scored.

Wegerle was gaining all the plaudits though and continued his scoring streak with a goal at Aston Villa the following week. The highlight of his season and probably his career came a month later in mid October.

Rangers were struggling again and in the middle of an awful injury crisis. We travelled to Leeds with new keeper Jan Stejskal making his debut and were soon 2-0 down and set for another defeat.

Most of the QPR fans in the stadium were resigned to defeat and a few of the players looked like they had given up as well. Ray Wilkins got us back in the game before half time and then the moment came.

Wegerle got the ball out on the right wing and with very little support the danger was zero. Wegerle got the ball under control with a nice shimmy left the first two players looking stupid and then slipped the ball between David Batty's legs, strolled past two more challenges then slipped the ball onto his right foot and majestically placed it into the bottom corner.

Even the Leeds fans stood to applaud one of the greatest goals ever scored. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen that goal on video since it simply gets better every time you see it.

Wegerle went on to score a late winner in the game to complete the comeback but the result was overshadowed by that goal which won the goal of the season award on ITV.

The goal can been seen by clicking on this link http://uk.youtube.com/

Wegerle was given a heroes reception the following week and now every time he got the ball we expected magic too happen. It usually did but for all his skill the team was not the best and we began to struggle as injuries mounted and Wegerle was the only player we had scoring goals. He grabbed another goal against unbeaten Arsenal as we went close to beating them mainly due to Wegerle mounting a one-man crusade on their goal but again it wasn't enough.

As the New Year arrived we were deep in relegation trouble and faced bottom side Sunderland at Loftus Road desperate for our first win in months. Wegerle was again on the score sheet in that one from the penalty spot as we secured a vital win.

The second half of the season proved to be more successful for the team as Bobby Gould and Don Howe brought in several defenders and the emergence of Les Ferdinand alongside Wegerle saw us move to a mid table finish. Wegerle finished the season as our top goal scorer and was linked to several bigger clubs but he stayed and was soon playing for a new manager as Gerry Francis replaced Don Howe.

Things started to turn a little sour for Wegerle now as Francis seemed to prefer a more physical approach and Wegerle found his style of play frowned upon by the new manager. Wegerle wasn't helped by a long injury to Ray Wilkins, which saw the midfield become more workmanlike, and Wegerle struggled to fit in with the new look team. He still contributed goals getting a vital winner against Sheffield United at home, which started, off a long unbeaten run.

Wegerle was re-discovering his form as we made the trip to Old Trafford on New Years Day. He parented Dennis Bailey up front that day and along with the rest of the side he was excellent in an unforgettable game. Rangers won 4-1 and Wegerle was kicking himself for missing two late sitters to make the score line even more embarrassing for Alex Fergusson's team.

That proved to be one of his last great days in a QPR shirt though. He missed a penalty a few days later in a cup defeat at Southampton and with the side pushing clear of relegation he was surprisingly sold by Francis to Blackburn Rovers for just over a million pounds.

The move was mainly due to Wegerle just not fitting in with the new style the manager wanted which was fair enough as Francis did go on to lead the side to some excellent seasons in the Premiership and his transfer fee did pay for those lovely stairs in the South Africa Road stand.

It was sad to see a player of Roy's skill leave and to drop down a division but he was soon back helping his new club to promotion in 1992.

He never really settled at Blackburn though as Kenny Dalglish signed plenty of strikers of the arrival of Alan Shearer was really the beginning of the end for Wegerle. He went on to have a spell at Coventry where he was back among the goals but injuries began to plague his career and he was never able to recapture the form, which saw him become such a big favourite among the QPR fans.

Wegerle did represent his country in the 1994 World Cup, which was a great honour for the striker, and he ended his playing days back in America playing for the fun of football rather than going for major honours.

Since his retirement from football Wegerle has gone on to become a hit in another sport becoming a professional golf player.

Wegerle will be remembered by QPR fans as wonderfully skilful player and perhaps the most skilful player to wear the number ten shirt in the last twenty years. No QPR fan will ever forget that amazing goal he scored at Leeds that day and his performances in a QPR shirt are still fondly remembered today.