Stan Bowles: Time running out to organise salute to QPR legend struck by Alzheimer’s
Former England striker caught in the grip of Alzheimer’s and will soon need constant care and supervision
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THE heart is willing him. Good god it is willing him to do it one last time.
That flamboyant, stylish squiggle of his name, the sweeping brush across the page, the glint in his eye, that mischievous smile.
Sign this please, Stan. Best wishes, Stan. Thank you so much, Stan.
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But Stan Bowles cannot sign his famous name any more.
The brilliant, crowd-pleasing QPR star of the 1970s is in the grip of Alzheimer’s. It is one game he will never win.
Nothing really registers. Not really.
The family - daughters Andrea and Tracy, son Carl - are battling to come to terms with that.
Tracy has not seen Stan at her home in more than three weeks. One of the last times Carl saw his dad, Stan could not remember his name. Carl was in bits.
There are plans for Rangers to stage a testimonial in honour of their greatest-ever player.
A farewell to QPR and, let’s be honest, a chance to raise a few quid to help pay for the constant care and supervision Stan will soon need.
That day is coming because Andrea, the eldest, already has custody of her five-year-old grand-daughter Macie.
She cannot look after dad for much longer.
Nobody at QPR, or any of the supporters' groups who have fallen out with each other over this ambitious proposal, can get their act together quick enough.
Tracy has not heard a dickie bird from Rangers in weeks.
When you start talking to a family, when you start to make a fuss of them, you build their hopes up.
Their imagination runs wild, with images of Stan walking on to the pitch at Loftus Road, blue and white scarf wrapped around his neck, turning to the stands to salute the fans.
For one last time. One last time to salute Stan the Man.
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The adoring crowds, the hooped shirts running out of the tunnel in Stan’s honour, a day to celebrate the good life - and it was a good life - of Stan Bowles.
Trouble is, in the time that follows these bright ideas, nobody ever stops to think about all the other stuff.
Tax implications, testimonial committees, running costs, organisation, promotion, policing, stewarding, the opposition.
Nobody really stops to think what Stan’s life is like now.
The family’s worries, the fretting. The despair, the frustration.
They prefer to remember the days when it was all about the adulation.
Stan, who turned 68 in December, cannot look after himself any more. The carers get him up and dressed and out the house now.
He can take himself off to the local pub but the conversations are running dry and the chatter can be mixed at times.
Stan Bowles is slowly, slowly, slipping away.
Nobody really sees that. Nobody has time to stop and think what life must be like for this Rangers legend.
They just see Stan. Good old Stan, running down the wing and making a fool out of clunking First Division defenders when QPR nearly won the title in 1976.
He was some player. An exceptional player. The complete player.
Stan would be a superstar now, pulling in £100,000, £200,000 or £300,000 a week for one of the Premier League top clubs.
A showman, an entertainer, the way they used to make them when the pros played football for fun.
He is a different man now. The illness has got him. He cannot fight it. Time is short.
QPR have looked into the attendances for testimonials for their former players.
Got to make it work, got to put bums on seats, got to dignify the guy and pack the place out to the rafters.
When you say it quick it sounds easy. Filling Loftus Road, with the club struggling in the Championship, is not simple. Even for Stan.
There were only 5,801 for “Super” Kevin Gallen’s send-off against Birmingham in 2005.
Before that, 4,473 for Gary Waddock, 5,580 for Gavin Peacock.
Danny Maddix, another popular name from QPR’s past, pulled in 12,042 for his game against Spurs. Covering the costs, around £30,000 for the stadium alone, is hefty.
The dressing room, with players earning tens of thousands of pounds a week, could take the hit to look after a legend.
QPR boss Ian Holloway, stitched into fabric of the club, could pull the boys together to tell them what a gesture it would be. They could have it done and dusted in five minutes flat.
Players being players, they would never think to do it themselves.
One day, it could be them.
QPR have met fans groups, to explain about problems with the tax man if they organise the game.
Right now, it feels like a game that will never happen.
To be fair to the club, they have done the right thing by Stan in the past. They put on a Stan Bowles Day last season and the family know they will always be welcome at Loftus Road.
Stan was at QPR’s game with Reading earlier in the season when he was still smiling for the cameras, still just about aware of his history around the old place. Away games are trickier.
A few weeks ago, when the R’s played up at Blackburn, the family decided against the short trip from Stan’s home in Manchester to Ewood Park.
He would have been out of his comfort zone there, struggling with the surroundings.
To put this game on for Stan at Loftus Road someone is going to have to dig deep.
It will take a benevolent fan to step forward, to cover the costs and then get to work on filling Loftus Road for their famous son.
Somebody, somewhere, has to make this happen.
God dammit, the heart is willing.