Ray Wilkins joined QPR from Glasgow Rangers in December 1989.

His arrival came amidst much turmoil at Loftus Road. Nigel Spackman had slammed manager Trevor Francis in a Sunday newspaper and morale at the club was very low. Francis job was on the line and Spackman was sold to Glasgow Rangers for £560,000 with Wilkins coming to Loftus Road as his replacement.

Before the deal was finalised though Trevor Francis was sacked as QPR manager. The deal went through though with Francis assistant Don Howe taking over as manager and keen on Ray Wilkins.

When the deal was announced I remember being very disappointed. Once again we'd signed another ageing midfield player with his best years behind him. I fully expected him to join Sammy Lee and Peter Reid in trying hard but not being the long term answer in midfield.

Added to that Wilkins was not the most popular player after his sending off in the 1986 World Cup ended his International career. Many saw his signing as a great move but personally I wanted us to go for a younger man rather than Wilkins. Still not for the first time I was about to proved very wrong.

Wilkins made his debut the following Saturday in Don Howe's first game in charge at Crystal Palace. I wasn't at the game but QPR won 3-0 with Andy Sinton stealing the headlines with two goals. The following week we faced Chelsea at home and several supporters in the pub before the game were full of praise for Wilkins for the Palace game. Apparently he was a revelation which I found hard to believe but I was looking forward to the Chelsea game, as I loved to see us beat our local rivals.

I remember the game clearly as I was so impressed by Wilkins and took back everything I'd said about him within minutes. His range of passing was superb and he just did the simple things that helped build the basis of a fantastic team. He was releasing Andy Sinton time and time again down the left with precision passes and Sinton was tearing Chelsea apart.

His famous sideways passes looked sensible as we kept possession and built attacks, it was like a whole new era was beginning. A Wilkins free kick set up Les Ferdinand for his second goal in a 4-2 win and the legend of Ray Wilkins was born.

He left the field a hero with fans shocked that he was able to pass forwards as well as sideways and he was full of running for an old bloke who was supposed to be seeing out his career in West London.

It was the attitude of Wilkins from day one that stood out. He wasn't here for a final payday or for the chance to move into coaching. He wanted to win things and help make QPR a better side and he certainly made us a better team.

Wilkins was a major influence on and off the pitch. He helped Les Ferdinand after Don Howe slammed him in the dressing for a poor performance at Sheffield Wednesday. Wilkins told him to forget about it and believe in himself and Ferdinand ended up developing into one of the finest ever QPR players and still rates Wilkins as one of his biggest influences.

Wilkins got his first goal for QPR against Cardiff in an FA Cup replay and thoughts of relegation were soon gone as the team began to climb up the league and go on a good cup run. Some of the football we were playing was outstanding as Wilkins being in the team allowed Barker and Sinton to get forward even more and score and create more goals.

By March we were in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup and attracting attention around the country as one of the best footballing sides in the league. A stunning goal by Wilkins against Arsenal helped us to a 2-0 win and had us confident of victory against Liverpool in the FA Cup. The match was live on Match of the Day and I remember at school the build up to the game was amazing. It was massive and so many kids at school expected us to win.

Wilkins gave us the lead with a brilliant goal and was superb in a 2-2 draw and he was at his best in the replay as well but we ended up losing 1-0 and Liverpool went on to the semi final where they lost to Crystal Palace.

Wilkins was attracting a lot of attention now and his move had gone far better than anyone had hoped. After completely out playing Spurs at home many journalists began to suggest Wilkins should be in the England World Cup squad but that never happened.

We finished the season in the top half playing some great football and Wilkins was by now one of my favourite players along with Roy Wegerle, Paul Parker and Andy Sinton.

The following season was not as good though. Wilkins continued to produce some excellent performances and score some goals but the team had an amazing injury crisis in defence, which left us without ten defenders at one stage of the season.

Despite the performances of Wilkins in midfield we badly struggled but after Christmas when the squad got fit again we picked up and once again finished mid table. It was Wilkins again who was the driving force of the midfield and he used to link superbly with Andy Sinton and Roy Wegerle as they had an almost telepathic understanding.

When Gerry Francis arrived as manager in the summer of 1991 optimism was high for the following campaign. Wilkins though picked up an Achilles injury in the first day of the season at Arsenal and missed a large chunk of the season.

It was a big blow and the team struggled without him.

When he returned in November the team were facing a relegation battle. He came back in the team though and the fortunes of the team soon changed. We were such a different team when he played, we passed the ball more and the results quickly improved.

He scored a superb goal against Sheffield Wednesday which I always enjoy watching. The keeper game running out to clear a ball over the top and the ball fell to Wilkins 30 yards out. Whilst most players would hoof it into the Loft he strolled up and chipped it beautifully into the back of the net for a goal of skill and style that summed up his brilliance in a QPR shirt. He proves this was no fluke by scoring an exact replica of the goal a year later at Wimbledon.

The highlight of the season came as Wilkins led QPR back to his old club Manchester United on New Years Day.

Wilkins was superb, as was the rest of the team as we thrashed Man Utd 4-1 and in truth it should have been more. The team were now hard to beat and Wilkins was helping make us a very good passing team. We ended the season in mid table ready for the start of the Premier League. It was the 1992/93 season where the importance of Ray Wilkins to QPR was really shown.

He was coming towards the end of his career now but once again he was the main man for us helping to encourage the younger players and produce some superb performances on the pitch. He was a real leader on the pitch and whilst Gerry Francis was doing a good job as manager, Wilkins was the man in charge on the pitch and his influence over many of the players was plain to see. He was like a father figure to Les Ferdinand and created so many goals for him. Wilkins knew exactly the sort of service Ferdinand needed and he provided it helping the forward to one of his best seasons so far for QPR.

At the time we looked an outside bet to win the Premier League or the FA Cup. QPR faced Swindon in the FA Cup and the media hyped the game as Wilkins Vs Hoddle as the two ex England players were going to be on the same pitch. Wilkins did his usual job of playing simple passes and keeping the team ticking over as we won comfortably 3-0.

Hoddle made the more eye catching passes but Wilkins was more effective and as we travelled to Middlesborough for a league game, the hope of our best season since 1975/76 seemed a reality. We had games in hand and were coming into form at the right time.

Sadly things went badly wrong as Wilkins broke his leg in training and his importance to the team was soon shown. We quickly faded from the Championship race and went out of the FA Cup. Clive Wilson tried to replace him but Wilkins was irreplaceable and we became a far more direct team with Wilkins out of the team and calming things down in the middle of the park The goals of Les Ferdinand also began to dry up without Wilkins in the team as we looked set to end the season in mid table rather than the top six where we should have been.

Wilkins returned in April in a home game with Nottingham Forest and his return brought an instant improvement. It was no surprise that Wilkins back in the side saw Les Ferdinand bag two hat tricks in two games and the team began winning again. We went on a good run to finish the season in fifth place but you got the feeling if Wilkins had stayed fit we could have done better. That’s not to say we were a one man team but Wilkins made the team click and when he played the likes of Ferdinand, Impey, Sinton, Barker, Bardsley and Wilson were able to get the ball to feet more often and we looked a much better side.

The 1993/94 season was the last of Wilkins contract but it seemed that he would never leave QPR. Most fans were hoping he would go on to be the manager if Gerry Francis ever left or move into coaching. He was often linked to several player manager jobs but it's unclear how true any of those rumours were.

Wilkins started the 1993/94 season well and scored one of his best ever goals for QPR on the first home game of the season. It was around 35 yards out and was a Bobby Charlton style blockbuster into the top corner. The entire stadium let out a gasp of shock as it hit the back of the net and he was mobbed by his team mates. It turned out to be his last ever goal for the club.

Wilkins produced more excellent displays during the season, his best coming at Everton where the team produced one of the best total football displays of the season. We destroyed Everton 3-0 and Wilkins was outstanding in the QPR midfield.

During the second half of the season problems off the pitch over shadowed the football. We still finished in the top ten but it was a disappointing season and Wilkins was given a free transfer at the end of the season. His departure went almost without comment. Most QPR fans were disappointed he had gone but understood the reasons why. At the start of the next season we badly missed Wilkins as the midfield was lacking his leadership and creativity and we slumped to a relegation battle.

After the Gerry Francis/Rodney marsh farce which saw Francis resign there was only really one choice for manager. Wilkins came back as player/manager in a move which delighted most QPR fans. He quickly stamped his authority on the club again as we played some excellent football.

He got the best out of Andy Impey and Kevin Gallen whilst Les Ferdinand had one of his best ever seasons in front of goal. After taking over a team in the bottom 3 he ended up just missing out on Europe and was hailed as a top manager by all QPR fans. How quickly things would change though.

When Les Ferdinand was sold, Wilkins splashed the cash to replace him with disastrous results. Ned Zelic arrived and looked a quality player. Unfortunately he didn't like London and was gone within four months. Some see his signing as Wilkins worst but in truth he was a good player who badly let Wilkins down. Other signings included Simon Osborn who never lived up to the hype and was gone by Christmas, Jurgen Sommer who it's fair to say was not the best keeper I've ever seen and Greg Goodridge who always looked quite talented but never really did much.

The worst of the bunch was Mark Hately who was signed to add some experience to the front line and spent most of his time at the club injured. As you all know Rangers were relegated from the Premiership. Most blame Wilkins, which is fair enough, but I think the blame should be shared with the players and board who never really helped Wilkins enough during the season.

In truth we needed Wilkins playing in midfield to keep us up but instead we had Ian Holloway, Nigel Quashie and Simon Barker who never provided the creativity or calming influence we needed.

Wilkins was sacked/resigned, depending on who you believe, the following season when we were sitting just outside the playoffs. We always played good passing football under Wilkins but ultimately he'll be remembered for being the man who took us out of the Premiership.

For me though Wilkins should be remembered as a QPR legend and the best midfield player I have ever seen at QPR.