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The eight men whose footsteps QPR’s Washington is set to follow

Conor Washington could become the ninth QPR player to represent Northern Ireland after being called up to the squad for friendlies against Wales and Slovenia.

Here are the other eight to have pulled on the green jersey while plying their trade at Loftus Road.

Colin Clarke
QPR career: Mar 1989-Jun 1990 (56 appearances, 14 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 38 caps, 13 goals (while at QPR: 5 caps, 1 goal)
International debut: 22 February 1986 v France
Final cap: 18 November 1992 v Denmark

Striker Clarke joined Rangers in March 1989 from Southampton for £850,000. He had played in the 1986 World Cup, scoring in a defeat by Spain and also featured against Algeria and Brazil.

Clarke spent just over a year at Loftus Road before leaving for Portsmouth in 1990 for a cut-price £450,000, and the following year became the first NI player since George Best to score a hat-trick in international football. This helped him hold the country’s goalscoring record until the emergence of David Healy.

After retiring in 1993, Clarke coached in the United States and managed Puerto Rico for almost four years. Since December 2011, he has been head coach of American second-tier club Carolina RailHawks.

Iain Dowie
QPR career: Jan 1998-May 2001 (34 appearances, 2 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 59 caps, 12 goals (while at QPR: 13 caps, 1 goal)
International debut: 27 March 1990 v Norway
Final cap: 9 September 1999 v Germany

Arrived at QPR at the tail end of a career which saw him turn out for Luton, West Ham, Southampton and Crystal Palace, as well as Hendon and Fulham in his early 20s.

His Northern Ireland caps spanned the entire 1990s, and he was captain for 10 matches. His goals largely came against the back markers of international football but he was a cult hero in a green shirt.

After three years with the club as a player, he became assistant manager to Gerry Francis and then returned to Loftus Road to manage the club in 2008. Now a Sky Sports News matchday reporter.

Aaron Hughes
QPR career: Jan 2014-Jul 2014 (11 appearances, 0 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 96 caps, 1 goal (while at QPR: 2 caps, 0 goals)
International debut: 25 March 1998 v Slovakia
Most recent cap: 31 May 2015 v Qatar

Northern Ireland’s most capped outfield player spent the latter half of the 2013-14 season at QPR after joining from Fulham.

He made 11 appearances for Rangers, but was an unused substitute in the play-off final win over Derby. He played in friendlies with Uruguay and Chile at the end of that campaign before his contract with QPR expired.

The former Newcastle and Aston Villa man went on to join Brighton and is now playing for Melbourne City.

Aaron Hughes had a short spell at Rangers
David McCreery
QPR career: Aug 1979-Mar 1981 (67 appearances, 5 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 67 caps, 0 goals (while at QPR: 10 caps, 0 goals)
International debut: 8 May 1976 v Scotland
Final cap: 18 May 1990 v Uruguay

Prior to his seven years at Newcastle and appearances at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, McCreery spent a productive 18 months at QPR after joining from Manchester United.

He had won the FA Cup in 1977 with United and played 67 times for Rangers, while maintaining his place in Northern Ireland’s midfield.

In 1981 he joined Tulsa Roughnecks of the North American Soccer League but returned to England after impressive displays at the World Cup in Spain. Most recently, he has managed clubs in Myanmar and Malaysia.

Alan McDonald
QPR career: Sep 1983-May 1997 (485 appearances, 17 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 52 caps, 3 goals (all while at QPR)
International debut: 16 October 1985 v Romania
Final cap: 27 March 1996 v Norway

Of course the most famous former QPR and Northern Ireland player of them all. Not only an R’s legend but a hero for his country as well. McDonald joined Rangers shortly before his 16th birthday and made his debut in 1983, going on to make 485 appearances over the next 14 years.

His 52 caps included three games at the 1986 World Cup, less than a year after making his international bow, and he was captain of his country for the first half of the 1990s. He also gave a legendary display – and post-match interview – against England at Wembley, where his team secured their place in Mexico.

After leaving Loftus Road, he had a year at Swindon before retiring and joining the club’s coaching staff. He spent a number of years coaching Northern Ireland’s Under-21s and was briefly assistant back at QPR, before a successful spell in charge of Glentoran.

After his premature death in 2012, at the age of 48, the Alan McDonald Trust was set up by his family to benefit disadvantaged and disabled children in Belfast.

Steve Morrow
QPR career: Mar 1997-Jun 2001 (101 appearances, 2 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 39 caps, 1 goal (while at QPR: 15 caps, 0 goals)
International debut: 18 May 1990 v Uruguay
Final cap: 10 October 1999 v Finland

A five-year career at Arsenal was effectively ended by the arrival of Arsene Wenger as manager and he was loaned out to Rangers in March 1997.

The deal was made permanent that summer and he was initially a regular until injury saw him miss most of the 1999-2000 season.

That marked the end of his international career and the beginning of the end for Morrow as a player. He is now back at Arsenal, managing the club’s international partnerships.

Keith Rowland
QPR career: Jan 1998-Aug 2001 (59 appearances, 3 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 19 caps, 1 goal (while at QPR: 6 caps, 1 goal)
International debut: 8 September 1993 v Latvia
Final cap: 29 May 1999 v Republic of Ireland

Joined Rangers alongside Iain Dowie in 1998 as part of the deal which saw Trevor Sinclair move to West Ham.

By that stage he had established himself as part of the Northern Ireland squad, under manager Bryan Hamilton, though he won only six more caps while at QPR.

After spells at Chesterfield and Barnet, Rowland began coaching in non-League and in January 2016 was appointed manager of Wingate & Finchley.

Ian Stewart
QPR career: Oct 1980-Aug 1985 (82 appearances, 4 goals)
Northern Ireland career: 31 caps, 2 goals (while at QPR: 22 caps, 2 goals)
International debut: 24 March 1982 v France
Final cap: 18 February 1987 v Israel

Turned down by Everton as a 17-year-old, Stewart was soon signed by QPR on the recommendation of scout Bill Smyth.

The winger-cum-forward had made just three first-team appearances when he was called up by Northern Ireland for a World Cup warm-up with France.

He failed to make the squad for the finals in Spain but by the mid-1980s had established himself with both club and country. Stewart joined Newcastle in 1985 and later had a loan spell at Brentford, and is now a grassroots development officer for the Irish FA.

⋅ Billy Hamilton made his Northern Ireland debut before joining QPR and won his second cap after leaving the club. 

This post was last modified on 17/03/2016

Andrew Raeburn
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Andrew Raeburn