QPR will hope referee curse doesn't strike again v Charlton Athletic | OneFootball

Durham-based referee Andrew Kitchen is the man in charge of Saturday’s televised game between Queens Park Rangers and Charlton Athletic.

Queens Park Rangers will be hoping that their curse with referee Andrew Kitchen does not continue as they host Charlton Athletic in Saturday's televised match.

The match is scheduled to kick-off at 12:30 on Saturday, which is the first London derby set to take place in the Championship this season.

R's manager, Julien Stephan, would have been hoping to get off to a better start to his time in West London, having lost two of their opening three Championship fixtures, 2-1 away to Watford and then 7-1 away to Coventry City, drawing the other match 1-1 at home to Preston North End.

QPR have been active in the market, completing deals for the likes of Richard Kone, Karamoko Dembélé and Kwame Poku to bolster attacking options.

They may well need all of their players to be on top of their game to get a win this weekend though, as the Hoops look to break a curse involving the man who will be in the middle of the action at Loftus Road.

QPR will be hoping that Andrew Kitchen's referee curse does not strike again v Charlton

Durham-based referee Andrew Kitchen and QPR don't share the best relationship with each other, to say the least.

As documented by QPR fan site Loft For Words, in the five games that Kitchen has officiated, the R's have won exactly none of them.

The first QPR match that he refereed in the Championship was their home fixture against Swansea City in September 2023, with the game ending 1-1.

He has since officiated QPR's 2-1 home loss at home to Cardiff City in January 2024, their 1-0 away loss to Stoke City in February 2024, their 0-0 draw away to Burnley in October 2024 and their 0-0 draw away to Watford in November 2024.

To make matters worse, Kitchen was the man that oversaw Saturday's opponent, Charlton Athletic's, play-off final victory over Leyton Orient last season.

Kitchen has established himself as a regular referee at Championship level over the past couple of seasons, and was entrusted to officiate the opening fixture of the Championship season this campaign between Birmingham City and Ipswich Town, in which he awarded the away side a controversial penalty late on.

The Englishman will be the main man in charge of QPR's game against Charlton, and R's fans will be hoping that this unwanted tradition isn't extended.

QPR will aim to bounce back from last weekend's humiliation and snap Kitchen curse

The R's suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Coventry at the CBS Arena over the weekend, losing 7-1 and being 5-0 down by half-time.

Since then, the club has announced the signings of Rhys Norrington-Davies on-loan from Sheffield United, Isaac Hayden on a free transfer and the return of Koki Saito on a permanent deal, amid interest from Derby County.

French manager Stephan will be hoping that the positivity surrounding these signings, Saito in particular, will help to boost the morale of the squad.

After a poor start, a win against Charlton already feels of significant importance despite the early stages, given the Addicks finished the lowest of the newly-promoted sides last season.