The English Premier League:

The Hoops and Trotters

SAMAHA ISMATH ALI

Queens Park Rangers

Established in 1882, the 129 year old club situated in West London faces tough competition that goes beyond boundaries and expectations. Queens Park Rangers, known as QPR, entered the main division of the Premier League in July this year.

They were victorious in the former League they played in, and were given high-class treatment through their promotion. The side has a number of rivals due to the location of their club, and those that can be mentioned today at the English Premier League are Chelsea and Fulham.

The Club are proud owners of their stadium Loftus Road in Shepherd's Bush, London. The stadium is also known as 'The Loft' or 'The Rangers Stadium' and accommodates 18,630 people at once. The team has played in various stadiums for short spells, but made a good choice in 1963, settling themselves at Loftus Road.

The Manager of the team is currently Neil Warnock, who joined the club before their promotion, in 2010.

Though the team were well geared in the start, they did not quite well impress the league as they were not in great form like everyone expected.

hey now stand 17th on the table, just one point clear of the drop zone. This calamity can take the Hoops back to the second division, unless they gear up and play real football which once was theirs.

The team is captained by Joey Barton; also one of the best players the Hoops has ever managed to bring up. The 29-year old who hails from Merseyside has a playing career with very good sides, and this has led to his gold-edged reputation in the Premier League.

QPR face Newcastle United next Sunday, and this game is indeed a tough one for the Hoops. If they succeed in passing the Toon Army, they will be safe on the table. However, if they do not, they will be in danger, for the season 2011-12 has created its decider at the end of the year.

Bolton Wanderers

The Trotters were lucky last season, escaping every form of disappointment that came their way. However, pundits predict that this season will turn the tables for the side, who survived the Premier League last season. This time, they have provided us with enough shock to ignite-they are 18th on the League table!

Manager Owen Coyle has been functioning in the club since 2010 now. However experienced the Manager may be, the team still has not reached their peak of excellent playing. They will have to polish up their playing skills and focus on the games they play.

The Side owns the Reebok Stadium, and t Stadium gets its name from their sponsor-Reebok. The Captain of the side is Kevin Davies, one of the best scorers in the side. His responsibility in managing all affairs of the club has made him the most sought-after choice as a Captain. Davies originally made his name as a vital part of the Chesterfield team which reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1997.

Davies is known for his physical playing style; he has committed more fouls than any other player in the history of the Premier League, although conversely is one of the most fouled.

At the age of 33, Davies made his international debut for England against Montenegro in a 0-0 draw on 12 October 2010, coming on as a second half substitute.

After Davies, the best player Bolton has managed to pull out of its wing is Ricardo Gardner.

Gardner immediately established himself a place in the first team for Bolton. He scored 60 seconds after coming on for his debut. He made 22 appearances, half of them starts, in his first year while scoring three goals. In his second season, 1999-2000, he established a place in the starting eleven, starting 23 of 26 games, which he has held on to since.

Although Gardner suffered a cruciate ligament injury that took him out of action at the end of the season, he made a full recovery, and was able to return to the starting lineup in 2000-01 (scoring in the 2001 Division One Play off Final), playing with the promoted Bolton in the Premier League. Due to a knee injury, Gardner did not make his first appearance in the 2006-07 season until December.

In November 2007, he scored his first goal at club level in nearly five years when he opened the scoring in Bolton's 2-2 draw against German giants Bayern Munich.