When QPR (@OfficialQPR) beat Derby County (@dcfcofficial) to win the #PlayOffFinal at Wembley on Saturday, their prize was arguably the richest in UK football — a place in the @PremierLeague next season.
The moment was instantly cherished by players, fans and management across Twitter, with more than 30,000 mentions of fan rallying cry #WeRTogether.
Chief Executive Philip Beard (@philipb1) tweeted within seconds from his perch in the Royal Box:
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Philip Beard ( @philipb1) May 24, 2014
And player Danny Simpson (@dannysimpson) shared his perspective from the dressing room with a selfie:
We are going up say we are going up pic.twitter.com/uTDfmJsfSH
— Danny Simpson ( @dannysimpson) May 24, 2014
The passion of the dressing room celebration was captured in two Vine videos, the second featuring the whole team singing out the name of their goalscorer Bobby Zamora:
WE ‘R’ PREMIER LEAGUE #weRtogether https://t.co/TXuhLYXBsW
— QPR FC ( @OfficialQPR) May 24, 2014
Oh Bobby Zamora … #weRtogether #findaway https://t.co/441LAub7YC
— IanJTaylor ( @IJTaylor81) May 24, 2014
The players then paid their collective tribute to Twitter fans around the world, receiving the Championship Play-off trophy on the pitch, while wearing bespoke shirts with #WeRTogether in pride of place:
In his post-match interview with @SkySports, QPR midfielder @Joey7Barton was even asked what his first Tweet would be. He saved that exclusive for his 2.5 million followers on Twitter:
Ooopppsss… pic.twitter.com/Xs6zEDtREN
— Joseph Barton ( @Joey7Barton) May 24, 2014
It was almost so different — the day had started off with QPR revealing its team in a Vine video:
BREAKING TEAM NEWS: Take a look at our #PlayOffFinal starting XI… https://t.co/SM4Wrs8KwI
— QPR FC ( @OfficialQPR) May 24, 2014
But there were also signs pointing in favour of Derby in the teamsheets, as revealed in a Tweet by global band @Coldplay:
Keep an eye on Derby’s Number 9… A RT @wembleystadium: These are the teams for today’s #PlayOffFinal at #Wembley pic.twitter.com/6TJZhcNB9T
— Coldplay ( @coldplay) May 24, 2014
And, rallying behind their own cry of #BePartOfIt, @dcfcofficial fans saw the game turn in their favour at 0-0 in the second half, when Gary O’Neil (@Gazoneil) was sent off for a professional foul.
Before Zamora’s winning goal had even been scored, O’Neil was apologising to @OfficialQPR fans on Twitter:
Sorry everyone felt like I had no choice!!!
— Gary O’Neil ( @Gazoneil) May 24, 2014
After the club’s victory, QPR Chairman Tony Fernandes took time out to quietly reflect on the achievement of his team back at the club’s stadium:
Back at Loftus. Alone and reflecting. Thank you to all 40k qpr fans who made the journey. What a day pic.twitter.com/747LrI1AeP
— Tony Fernandes ( @tonyfernandes) May 24, 2014
Loftus Road was not quiet for long. After a team celebration on Saturday night, the fans returned on Sunday for a public event:
The #QPR team have now made their way out onto the Loftus Road pitch #weRtogether https://t.co/BfK70IuiLR
— QPR FC ( @OfficialQPR) May 25, 2014
@OfficialQPR were not the only team celebrating this weekend. @RealMadrid rejoiced in #LaDecima, their 10th European Cup / Champions League triumph.
And in recent weeks, it has been the turn of @PremierLeague winners Manchester City (@MCFC) via their rallying hashtag #Together and #FACup winners @Arsenal via #GunningForTheCup.
Twitter continues to be the place where football fans celebrate their successes. Now onto the biggest event of them all, #WorldCup…
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