HDU Members Spotlight: Jeff Berndt (WA)

Hey folks! Been a little while in between drinks since the last Hoops Down Under Spotlight...got distracted with sorting some of the Membership stuff out...let's try knock off a few over the next couple of weeks! Let's head back over to the good ol' West.....Bunbury, WA in fact. Let's meet Jeff who's been supporting the Rs Down Under for 52 years!!

The best of buds, Jeff & Jude...has a nice ring to it! LOVE the shirt too Jeff!!

Q: Hello Jeff! How are you? So how long have you been a QPR fan?

A: I started watching "Match of the Day (MOTD)" in 1973 when QPR finished 8th, and a few of the matches shown on the TV in Brisbane where I grew up featured QPR. The TV was in Black and White. My Dad asked all of the family to pick their favourite team, and my choice was to go for the team with the hoops. I was only 11 at the time, but I can clearly remember watching the show once a week with all of the family - great times.

Ahhh yes...good ol' Match of the Day.

Q: What is your most favourite QPR memory to date? A: Watching QPR at home in January 2020 against Leeds and we won 1-0 against the team that would eventually win the league that season. We were clearly not favourites that day. But it was the only day that I have been to Loftus Road with my two sons. It is a long way from Bunbury to West London, but overall just a great day and an excellent result. The picture (above) shows me on that day with Jude the Cat. And being in the middle of the 3000 away day crowd at the King Power Stadium in early March 2024 to see QPR beat the eventual league leaders Leicester 2-1 comes a very close second!

Q: Who is your all time favourite QPR Player? And Why?

A: Eberachi Eze - Because i got to see his brilliance first hand. Of course I would have loved to have seen Adel Taarabt and Stan Bowles play live, but that was not to be, unfortunately :(

Following his release from Millwall, Eberechi Eze continued studying in college before trialling successfully with QPR, impressing the club's technical director Chris Ramsey. Eze completed his signing for QPR on 3 August 2016.

Q: Who is your all time favourite QPR Manager? And Why?

A: Martí Cifuentes - Because he managed to stave of what seemed to be inevitable relegation when he arrived in late 2023, and then again when we were rock bottom in Nov 2024 he somehow managed to go on an amazing run of results over Dec 24 and Jan25, and I got to shake his hand in March 2024 (see below), and i was loving what he was doing with the resources that he had, and then something happened at the club and he was sent to mow lawns before parting ways. What a pity. I really did like him as our manager.

Jeff with former QPR manager/gardener Martí Cifuentes last year.

Q: Who is your current favourite QPR Player? And Why?

A: Jimmy Dunne. I just love his grit and determination to make his new position at Right Back work for the team. And his wonder strike in the 92nd minute to win the game against Birmingham in March 2024 got me out of my chair and jumping for joy in the very early hours of the day over here in Bunbury!

Q: Where would you like to see QPR in say, 5 years time (2030-31)? How do QPR reach this achievement? A: After living with the fear of relegation almost every year for many of the last 12 seasons since we were in the Premier League, I would love to have a few seasons where we are playing well enough that we are entrenched in the top 8, and give ourselves a decent chance of making the playoffs. I would love to get to Wembley to watch a playoff final if we were to get there again. But to get there we need to make some wise choices, and get a team of committed players that play for the badge, the shirt, the fans, and mostly, they play for the manager. That would mean that we would have to NOT sack the manager every other year.

JEFF'S PREDICTION FOR 2025-26

Top Half of Table (finishing 7th-11th & a stress-free season).