at the First Division's bottom club, Newcastle United. Following Smith's departure, Trevor Francis took over as player-manager and steered the club to another respectable finish, this time in ninth place. As the season drew to an end however, rumours of discontent between Francis and the senior players came to a head, and the effects rapidly became evident on the pitch as the club made a horrid start to the 1989–90 season, winning just 2 of their first 12 games and leading to the dismissal of Francis. He was replaced by Don Howe, and the club recovered well under the new manager, finishing in eleventh place, with only a poor end to the season preventing them from doing even better. However, they failed to improve significantly the following season, dropping one place to twelfth, which resulted in Howe's contract not being renewed at the end of the season. The return of Gerry Francis Gerry Francis, a key player in the 1970s QPR side who had proved himself as a successful manager with Bristol Rovers, was appointed manager in the summer of 1991. In the 1991–92 First Division campaign, they finished mid-table in the league and were founder members of the new Premier League which began in 1992. Francis oversaw one of QPR's most famous victories, the 4–1 win over leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford broadcast live on terrestrial television on New Year's Day 1992. The hat-trick scored by Dennis Bailey in that game remains the last time the feat was achieved in league football at Old Trafford. Many people also saw it as the beginning of the downturn in United's league form that season, as they suffered a severe shortage of goals in the second half of the campaign and were beaten by the league title by Leeds United. They finished that season in fifth place, and in the following season Francis guided them to a ninth-place finish. Midway through the 1994–95 season Francis resigned and very quickly became manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Ray Wilkins was installed as player-manager. Wilkins led QPR to an eighth-place finish in the Premiership and they also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, sparking hopes that Wilkins could maintain the success that Francis had achieved. However, July 1995 saw the sale club's top goalscorer, Les Ferdinand, for £6 million to Newcastle United. Life after the Premiership Wilkins failed to find a successful replacement