Six Foot Two Eyes are Blue, Stevie Wicks is after you!

Any fan old enough to remember QPR in the 1980's will recall that song and that player with much affection Steve Wicks was a popular defender who played for QPR during the 1980's.

He started his career as an apprentice at Chelsea in 1974 and was converted from a striker to a defender during his time at Stamford Bridge. During schools football Wicks had scored 20 goals in 25 games but got switched to defence in an FA Youth cup game against West Brom where he impressed enough to get a trial for England schoolboys.

Steve stayed at Chelsea for four and a half years before moving to Derby County but it was an unhappy time for him and within eight months he was back in west London with QPR.

Steve told the QPR match day magazine in 1991 about the move saying:"When I left Chelsea I had the choice of going to West Ham, or Derby and I chose Derby as they were in the first division. I also had a lot of time for Tommy Docherty but after he left Derby it just wasn't the same. I didn't get on with Colin Addison and when the chance came to make a quick return to London with QPR I jumped at it!

"I'd always wanted to play for QPR. When I was at Chelsea I used to pay to go and watch Rangers who had some great players at the time, they were the team in West London".

Steve enjoyed his time at QPR and gained many plaudits from fans for his performances although he still ended up leaving the club. Wicks was known to fall out with Jim Gregory on several occasions. It was Jim Gregory's decsion to sell Wicks and a move, which manager Terry Venables wasn't pleased with.

Wicks himself felt he had made the wrong move leaving QPR to join Crystal Palace. He said "I had some sleepless night after 'd left, thinking I should never had made this move but within a few months terry Venables re-signed men and from then until he went to Barcelona it was the most enjoyable time of my life".

Terry Venables got the best out of Wicks and so many other players. Steve Wicks is not the only player from that era who can't speak highly enough of Venables as he took us from a mid table second division club to an FA Cup final and European football in just a few years.

Venables organised the team well and whenever Wicks was called upon he knew exactly what to do and never let the side down. Wicks was cup tied the year we got to the FA Cup final and was gutted to miss out but he played his part the following season as QPR stormed to promotion.

Steve Wicks was becoming very popular with the fans and the Six Foot two song still brings a smile to fans faces today when we think back to that team. When Venables left Wicks had a difficult time playing under Alan Mullery as did most players. He organisation went out of the window and Wicks was left struggling at the back as we crashed out of Europe.

He was happy when Jim Smith came in and produced one of his best seasons under Smith in 1985/85. Wicks was outstanding at times working well with Fenwick and helping to bring on promising youngster Alan Mcdonald in the team. Wicks helped get Rangers to Wembley that year and he scored in a cracking quarte rfinal win at Chelsea.

Rangers drew the 1-1 at Loftus Road and Chelsea chairmen Ken Bates claimed that his team would trash QPR on grass. Well Steve Wicks and the lads shoved those words down his throat. Wicks headed the first goal in a 2-0 win, which sent us into a semi final against Liverpool. That game was a tough battle but we won through to the final to play un fancied Oxford United in a game no one thought we would lose.

Steve Wicks had a disappointing game by his standards but was distraught at the end for more reasons than one.

Wicks was desperate to win something for the QPR fans who he described as "the greatest". He has been quoted as saying "One of the best things I had in football was the relationship with the QPR fans, They are the reason that QPR will always be my club and not Chelsea which some people seem to think".

Despite being named player of the year, Wicks was one of the players blamed by Jim Gregory for the defeat and that proved to be the last game he played for the club The fans were angry that he was sold especially to local rivals Chelsea but Wicks didn't have a say in the matter as the chairmen again decided he didn't want the defender at the club.

His second spell at Chelsea was the beginning of the end for him. He slipped a disk on his first day of training and never really recovered. He played 23 games before finally having the operation after playing with pain killing injections. He needed a second operation and after leaving hospital he was told he was on the move again with terry Venables wanting him at Spurs. Wicks would have loved the chance to play for Venables again but he felt he owed it to his former boss to turn down the move and retire from football which made Ken bates furious as he had accepted a £450,000 bid.

Wicks was very low at the time as his mother had died of cancer and although in years to come he regretted retiring young at the time he felt it was the right thing to do.

Steve moved into Sports promotions Becoming assistant manager at Portsmouth until August 1989, he then linked up with Paul Mariner handling player's affairs. He returned to football at Scarborough where he was manager for less than a season, leaving in August 1994. He has since had spells with Lincoln and Newcastle as Chief Scout.

Some fans look at Steve Wicks as a traitor who left QPR to join our rivals for more money but the truth is that the big defender loved his two spells at Loftus Road and was part of a successful era that fans will never forget.