Don Shanks has pleaded with QPR fans to turn out in numbers to support fellow Rs legend Stan Bowles on Saturday.
The Rs will playing host to AFC Bournemouth in a game that will raise money for the 68-year-old star of QPR's legendary team of the 1970s, who is battling Alzheimer's Disease.
Shanks played alongside Bowles in that much-loved side, which came so close to landing the league title in 1976, and admits it breaks his heart to see his former team-mate's suffering.
“To see him walk out there on Saturday in front of a full house would be absolutely tremendous – and he deserves it, he really does,” Shanks told Sky Sports News.
“Three or four years ago you could have a conversation with Stan, and then a year later it's 'can he hear me there', and a year after that it got to the stage where it was only maybe a couple of sentences.
“And now unfortunately it's got to the point where he's got this whole condition everywhere, and he's really in a spot where there is no conversation anymore.”
Another who is remains close to Bowles is former Chelsea winger Alan Hudson, who was not a team-mate of his but was another maverick talent so wastefully overlooked by the England team in the 1970s.
He said: “Coming up on the train I said to Don I think I'm going to cry because it upsets me so much, but he said just to be natural with him, and we did last night.
“He kept laughing at us and I kept laughing at him, but I just kept wanting to break down. It was as if I'd been to his funeral but he's still here.”
Meanwhile, supporters who cannot make it can still support Stan by buying 'virtual tickets' for £12, for which they will receive a PDF of the match day programme, clips taken during the day and a letter of thanks from the Bowles family.
Visit www.justforstan.com/vticket.html for more details.
