A Time For Diplomacy At The Mic

Andy Sinton is approaching the tenth anniversary of being made Queens Park Rangers’ first club ambassador.

But he does so with the threat of relegation hanging over Loftus Road and with the West London club propping up the foot of the Championship going into the international break.

Much as he enjoyed his three-year cameo at Molineux after being signed by Colin Lee in the summer of 1999, the former England international’s main allegiances and affections lie in Shepherd’s Bush.

He was honoured with ambassador status there in 2015 and his duties include co-commentating on matches for in-house radio, supporting and spearheading community and PR projects and supporting Rangers’ many charitable efforts.

The 58-year-old has squeezed in a pleasing stint as Telford manager since calling time on his long playing career but always hoped to return to the club he joined in the Trevor Francis era in 1989. 

And his delight was obvious when he was handed his current post. “Ever since I left the club, I have always said that I wanted to come back in some capacity,” he said.

“This feels like a perfect fit, promoting the good name of Queens Park Rangers Football Club across a variety of mediums.

“Football is everything I know and love and to stay involved in the game is fantastic. To do that at QPR, where I enjoyed the best years of my career, is even better.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with the fans, on and off the field, better than anywhere else I played, so to work closely again with them in the community and on match-days is going to be an amazing experience for me; an absolute pleasure and a privilege.”

Sinton was seen as a sound enough voice to be used as a studio pundit on national TV just before he was called up to Graham Taylor’s England squad for the European Championships finals in Sweden in 1992.

But his analytical and diplomatic skills are on the line now with Martí Cifuentes’ side beaten again at Leeds yesterday and in obvious danger of a return to League One.

The north-easterner made more than 160 top-flight appearances for Rangers and later served Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham before pitching up at Molineux.

Earlier this season, he went to the home of 91-year-old Micky Tomkys to induct him into Forever Rs, the club’s former players association, the forward having signed from Fulham in 1951 and spent most of the decade at Loftus Road.