Barton headlines QPR exits

Joey Barton, Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora are among six players to have been released by QPR following their relegation from the Premier League.

The trio - together with Shaun Wright-Phillips, Richard Dunne and Brian Murphy - will all leave Loftus Road when their contracts expire at the end of June.

QPR are also saying goodbye to loanees Mauricio Isla (Juventus), Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev), Eduardo Vargas (Napoli) and Mauro Zarate (West Ham), but new deals have been offered to veteran defender Clint Hill and midfielder Alejandro Faurlin.

Karl Henry, meanwhile, has until June 30 to exercise his contractual option to remain with the club for a further year.

Ferdinand had previously stated that the 2014-15 season was likely to be his last as a player. 

The former England captain was unavailable in the closing weeks of the season as his wife Rebecca battled cancer. She died earlier this month.

Barton featured in 28 of QPR's 38 Premier League matches and also skippered the side, while Zamora was involved in 31 league games and provided one of the highlights of his team's season with a stunning goal in a 4-1 away victory at West Brom in April.

Dunne was also a regular in QPR's team this season, but Wright-Phillips and goalkeeper Murphy found themselves out of favour.