technology was premature and this unpopular measure was reversed in April 1988. The first game on plastic was against Luton Town who won the game 2–1 and later became the second side to install an artificial pitch. That same season QPR reached the FA Cup Final for the only time in the club's history, facing holders and London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The first game ended 1–1 after extra time and so for the second year running the Final was to be decided by a replay. Tottenham won the replay 1–0 with the only goal coming from a Glenn Hoddle penalty in the 6th minute. There was disappointment in the league as they finished fifth in the Second Division after spending virtually all of the season in the top three until the final stages. The following season however, 1982–83 QPR went on to win the Second Division championship quite comfortably thus returning to English football's top division. The side included accomplished players such as Steve Wicks, Terry Fenwick, Simon Stainrod, Clive Allen and future manager John Gregory. After a respectable fifth-place finish, and UEFA Cup qualification, the following year, Venables departed to become manager of Spanish club Barcelona. Mixed fortunes Venables was replaced by Alan Mullery, who early in his brief reign presided over one of the worst defeats in QPR's history, a 0–4 loss against Partizan and elimination from the UEFA Cup despite a 6–2 1st leg advantage. Despite this loss the club's league form was generally decent, but Mullery was inexplicably sacked and replaced by former manager Frank Sibley in December 1984. The season rapidly deteriorated after this, and a bizarre run of form (in which the club alternated between winning and losing every match for nearly three months) combined with a dismal end to the season saw them only escape relegation due to Norwich City losing their last game. Jim Smith replaced Sibley that summer and oversaw a period of relative stability for the club, comfortably avoiding relegation in his first two seasons and also being runners up in the 1986 League Cup, losing to Oxford United. They finished in fifth place in the 1987–88 season, but missed out on a UEFA Cup campaign due to the ban on English clubs in European competition which arose from the Heysel Stadium disaster. Despite the club being well-placed in the table the following campaign, Smith surprisingly resigned to take over