The club was founded as Christchurch Rangers in 1882 and took up their current name after merging with St Judes Institute four years later, near the Queen's Park and Kensal areas.

The club was relegated in 1952, but slowly rebuilt under the stewardship of Alec Stock which culminated in winning the Third Division title and also their only major trophy to date, the League Cup in the 1966–67 season.

After a nomadic early existence, QPR have played home matches at Loftus Road since 1917, apart from two brief spells at the White City Stadium.

St Jude's Institute on Ilbert Street W10 is still in use as a community hall and in July 2011 club icon Stan Bowles unveiled a plaque celebrating its place in QPR history.

After completing their 42-game season, QPR sat at the top of the league, one point ahead of Liverpool who went on to defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers to clinch the title.

In 1982 QPR, still playing in the Second Division, reached the FA Cup final for the only time in the club's history, facing holders Tottenham Hotspur.

[9] Former Rangers midfielder Ian Holloway was appointed manager but failed to prevent the club from being relegated to the third division at the end of the season, the first time since the 1960s.

After relegation Holloway assembled a team featuring several QPR fans in the squad including Kevin Gallen, Marc Bircham and Richard Langley alongside other key players such as Danny Shittu, Gareth Ainsworth and Clarke Carlisle.

The following season QPR put their playoff heartache behind them and returned to Division 1 after as runners-up, with a famous 3-1 win away at Hillsborough in front of 7000 travelling Rangers fans.

Rangers struggled for consistent form over the next two campaigns before Holloway was suspended amidst rumours of his impending departure for Leicester City.

[10] A poor series of results and lack of progress at the club saw Holloway's successors Gary Waddock and later John Gregory – both former players – fail to hold on to the manager job.

Scandals involving the directors, shareholders and others emerged in 2005–06 season and included allegations of blackmail and threats of violence against the club's chairman Gianni Paladini.

[13] Rangers continued to face mounting financial pressure, in the September 2007 it was announced that the club had been bought by wealthy Formula One businessmen Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone (see Ownership and finances below).[14].

Further investment followed in early 2008 as the club looked to push for promotion to the Premier League within four years, on the back of greater financial stability.

Despite leading QPR to a good start to the 2009–10 season, a loss of form combined with an alleged head-butting incident with Hungarian midfielder Ákos Buzsáky saw the club further embroiled in controversy.

[24] A subsequent FA investigation involving QPR's acquisition of Alejandro Faurlín threatened to deduct points from the side and put their promotion into jeopardy.

[25] After the club was promoted Eccleston and Briatore sold their shared to Malaysian billionaire and Air Asia owner Tony Fernandes who's arrival sparked a deadline day spending spree to strengthen the QPR squad.

Following a tough start to his Loftus Road career and after a run of five straight home wins, Hughes and QPR escaped relegation despite a dramatic 3–2 defeat at Manchester City on the last day of the season.

In the final against favourites Derby County on 24 May 2014, QPR won 1–0 with a goal scored by Bobby Zamora in the 90th minute to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

[35] Despite a promising first half of the season in which the team sat as high as eighth by Christmas, results quickly tailed off following the turn of the year and McClaren was sacked in April 2019 after a 2–1 loss to Bolton.

[42] Despite spending much of the season in the relegation zone Cifuentes turned the teams fortunes around guiding them to Championship survival with a 4-0 home win over promotion contenders Leeds United.

The club have argued this would bring a huge financial boost to the local area,[50] but their plans were met with some initial scepticism[51] by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

In November 2018, Supreme Court judges rejected the final appeal from local objectors[53] against the proposals,[54] paving the way for the redevelopment of the site to begin.

[65] QPR have a number of celebrity supporters, including comedian Bill Bailey, musicians Pete Doherty (who used to write a QPR fanzine entitled All Quiet on the Western Avenue), Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, Robert Smith of The Cure, Mick Jones of The Clash and Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols; politicians Michael Gove and Alan Johnson; actor Martin Clunes and documentary-maker Louis Theroux, and former England cricketer Alex Tudor.

[87][88] Following lengthy negotiations in December 2004, Wright agreed to sell his remaining 15% stake; 50% of the money paid to him was given back to QPR, which was significant amount of cash to the club.

In spending £690,000 to acquire a 69% majority stake in the club from a Monaco-based consortium led by Italian football agent, Antonio Caliendo, Ecclestone spent £150,000 on his 15%, while Briatore bought 54% for £540,000 through a British Virgin Islands registered company, Sarita Capital.

It was expected that the ABC loan would be discharged in June 2008 on its maturity and that the debt owed to Caliendo would be paid off "in early 2008" in line with a funding strategy which Ecclestone publicly stated would not result in the wealthy owners simply bankrolling the club.

[95] The investment potential of the club's new backers resulted in a number of wildly speculative storylines in the football press throughout the 2007–08 season, including rumoured signings of former World Player of the Year winners Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane, the latter as a possible manager.

[citation needed] Following the termination of the club's sponsorship deals with Car Giant, Le Coq Sportif and Sellotape at the end of the 2007–08 season, in early July 2008 it was expected to be announced that Gulf Air would be the new shirt sponsors for three years.

[99] Flavio Briatore's future as QPR chairman came into question in September 2009 after he left the Renault F1 team in the midst of race fixing allegations.