Chris Ramsey has paid tribute to Stan Bowles and recalled a night out with the QPR legend in the early 1980s.
Rangers head coach Ramsey was a youngster at Brighton when he was loaned to Brentford, where Bowles played towards the end of his career.
Ironically, Ramsey was competing for a place at Brighton with another ex-QPR man, Don Shanks, who became best friends with Bowles when they were at Loftus Road.
Ramsey explained: “Don Shanks came to Brighton and we were competing for a place and the club let me go on loan.
“The first day I was there, Stan asked me if I’d like to join him for a drink and we ended up going after training.
“I don’t really want to expand on that, but it turned out to be quite a long night!”
Former England forward Bowles, who made more than 300 appearances for the R’s, has Alzheimer’s disease.
He was given hero’s reception by QPR fans on ‘Stan Bowles Day’ on Saturday, organised by the club as a tribute to the man widely regarded as its best-ever player.
“Despite the status he had, he’s always been a very humble man – very friendly. He’s just a man to be marvelled at,” Ramsey added.
“He was world class and if he was playing now he’d be world class.
“How much would he be worth now? I think £20m or £30m easily.
“We all just hope that he’s in the best possible place and we want him to be treated well. Our thoughts are with him.”
This post was last modified on 24/08/2015