Meet the opposition | Queens Park Rangers
As Swansea City prepare to face Queens Park Rangers, we take a closer look at the R's.
What's their story?
Founded in 1886, the R's played at 20 different grounds before settling down at Loftus Road in 1917.
They joined the Football League three years later in 1920, and their highest-ever league position coming in the 1975-76 season when Dave Sexton led the club to the runners-up position in Division One as they narrowly missed out on the title by one point.
They went on to reach the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup the following season, losing out to AEK Athens on penalties.
They won their only major honour courtesy of a League Cup triumph in 1967 when they beat top-flight West Bromwich Albion whilst playing in the Third Division.
Rangers were in the Premier League at its formation in 1992, and their most recent top-flight campaign came during the 2014-15 season.
How's their form?
Rangers suffered a first defeat in seven games when they were beaten by Millwall at the weekend.
The Rs had a difficult first few games, and conceded seven goals in a defeat to Coventry City, but they have responded strongly to put together a good run.
Who’s the gaffer?
Frenchman Julien Stephan joined the Rs in the summer following the departure of Marti Cifuentes and has enjoyed a solid start to life in west London.
The 45-year-old comes from a footballing family, with his father Guy being a former assistant coach of the French national side and brother Guillaume also being a former player.
Stephan was a midfielder during his own playing days, featuring for Paris Saint-Germain B, Toulouse, RC Paris, Stade Briochin and Drouais.
He moved into coaching with hometown club Rennes, firstly in their youth ranks and then leading their B team to back to back titles in the lower tiers of the French pyramid.
Stephan was handed the reins of the senior side following the dismissal of Sabri Lamouchi and led them to Coupe de France success in 2019 and a first major trophy in 48 years.
He left in 2021 and joined Strasbourg, leading them to a sixth-place finish in the top-flight in his first season in charge. He returned to Rennes in 2023 and made the move to English football in the summer of 2025.
Who’s the captain?
Defender Jimmy Dunne, a Manchester United academy product, was named QPR captain ahead of the start of the 2025-26 season, taking the armband from Steve Cook.
Dunne joined Burnley’s youth set-up in 2016, and progressed to the senior team a year later and enjoyed successful loans at a series of clubs – including Hearts and Sunderland - before moving to QPR permanently in 2021.
The centre-back earned plenty of plaudits during his first season at Loftus Road and has been a key figure ever since, making 160 league appearances.
He is effective aerially in both boxes, and has 11 league goals to his name for the west London side.
Who are the key men?
The Belgium-born Morocco international Ilias Chair has just returned from injury and has long been a key creative figure for QPR.
He has made over 250 league appearances for the Loftus Road club, having first signed in 2017.
Chair started his career in Belgium with Lierse, while he also spent time in the Club Brugge academy. He then went on trial with QPR and signed permanently for the club in 2017.
The winger had a loan spell at League Two Stevenage during the 2018-19 season, scoring six goals and making six more during his time there.
Chair has made 12 appearances for Morocco national team since making his debut against Ghana in 2021, scoring his first goal in a 5-0 win over Guinea-Bissau
Striker Richard Kone joined QPR from Wycombe over the summer and is their top scorer so far this term with four goals to his name.
The 22-year-old, who was born in the Ivory Coast, and joined Essex Leagues side Athletic Newham in 2019.
His prolific goalscoring form saw him attract EFL interest and he had trials with a handful of clubs before joining Wycombe in January 2024.
Kone carried his scoring exploits into the higher level and his form last season saw him named League One player of the year after scoring 23 goals in all competitions.
Defender Liam Morrison has performed strongly over the opening weeks of the season.
The 22-year-old played for Rangers and Celtic at youth level before the Scotland Under-21 international made the move to German giants Bayern Munich in 2019.
He featured for the Bayern second team, and worked under the likes of Martin Demichelis, where he won plaudits for his work ethic.
A loan move to Wigan followed in 2023 and his showings for the Latics saw QPR swoop to complete a transfer for an undisclosed fee.
Morrison made 28 league appearances last season, and has been a regular so far this term.