Joey Barton, Rio Ferdinand among those released by Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers have announced the release of six players, including Joey Barton and Rio Ferdinand, while new contracts have been offered to Alejandro Faurlin and Clint Hill.

The newly-relegated Championship side confirmed this afternoon that Barton, Ferdinand, Brian Murphy, Richard Dunne, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bobby Zamora would not be offered new terms by the club.

Midfielder Karl Henry, meanwhile, has until June 30 to exercise an option on his contract for another year in West London.

Barton fell one short of 100 appearances for QPR, while Dunne and Wright-Phillips made a combined total of 143 outings for the R's.

Zamora scored 14 goals in 93 appearances for the West London side, one of which was the late winner against Derby County in last year's Championship playoff final that clinched promotion to the Premier League.

Former Manchester United and England centre-back Ferdinand, who recently lost his wife Rebecca to cancer, turned out 12 times in his only season at Rangers.