Ian Taylor (footballer, born 1968)

Ian Kenneth Taylor (born 4 June 1968) is an English former footballer, best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen-year career in the Football League and Premier League, scoring 103 goals in 577 league and cup competitions.

Ian Taylor
Taylor pictured in February 2019.
Personal information
Full name Ian Kenneth Taylor[1]
Date of birth (1968-06-04) 4 June 1968[1]
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1991–1992 Moor Green
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Port Vale 83 (28)
1994 Sheffield Wednesday 14 (1)
1994–2003 Aston Villa 233 (28)
2003–2005 Derby County 81 (14)
2005–2007 Northampton Town 66 (8)
Total 477 (79)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He made the move from non-league Moor Green to Port Vale in 1992. With Vale he lifted the Football League Trophy in 1993. His impressive performances earned him a place on the Second Division PFA Team of the Year in 1992–93 & 1993–94, as well as the club's Player of the Year award in 1993. He made a million pound move to Sheffield Wednesday in June 1994, and he was sold on for another million to Aston Villa later in the year. He lifted the League Cup and reached the FA Cup final with the club he had supported as a boy. In 2003, he signed with Derby County, helping the club to the Championship play-offs before signing with Northampton Town in June 2005. He helped the club to win promotion out of League Two in 2005–06, before he announced his retirement in April 2007.

Playing career

Taylor was a forklift trucker driver when started his career with Southern League Premier Division side Moor Green.[3] He got a move into the Football League in May 1992 after scoring in Green's Midland Floodlit Cup final victory, when Port Vale paid the club £15,000 (this figure later rose to £25,000 due to instalments based on appearances).[4][5] He was spotted playing for Moor Green against Burton Albion by Ray Williams, who had actually intended to scout Burton player Darren Roberts.[6] Rudge saw him as a potential replacement for Robbie Earle.[4] His debut came on 7 August 1992, in a 5–0 win over De Graafschap in the TNT Tournament. He became a regular in the side and in 1992–93 scored 15 goals to become the club's top scorer and earn himself the Player of the Year award, as well as a place on the PFA Second Division team. He was once again selected in the PFA's divisional team of the season for the 1993–94 season.[5] He also lifted the Football League Trophy, scoring a "stunning overhead goal" against Fulham in the opening round, and going on to play in the final as Vale beat Stockport County 2–1 at Wembley Stadium.[7] He had become another master signing from John Rudge.

In June 1994, Taylor signed with Premier League Sheffield Wednesday. The next month a tribunal decided upon a £1 million fee, plus £100,000 for an England appearance and £25,000 for every ten goals up to a maximum of fifty goals as well as 15% of the profit of any future sale.[5] As it happened he was shifted on to Brian Little's Aston Villa in December that year for £1 million plus Guy Whittingham. The "profit" for Wednesday was therefore Whittingham himself, meaning all the would-be bonuses were an irrelevance. Taylor played just eighteen games for Wednesday, but did score a goal in the pre-season Steel City Cup.

A lifelong supporter of the "Villans", as a child he used to stand on the Holte End at Villa Park. This fact, combined with his utterly committed displays and knack of scoring crucial goals, quickly established him as a fans' favourite.[2] Villa narrowly stayed in the Premier League in 1994–95 after finishing three points and one place above relegated Crystal Palace. Villa finished fourth in 1995–96, and Taylor scored in wins over Manchester United, Wimbledon, Leeds United, and Southampton. He also played, and scored, in the Aston Villa side that won the 1996 League Cup final 3–0 against Leeds.

He played 36 domestic games in 1996–97, scoring in wins over Leeds, Wimbledon, and Liverpool. He scored 9 goals in 44 games in 1997–98, and maintained his first team place under new manager John Gregory. Taylor also netted important goals in Villa's 1997–1998 UEFA Cup run, when they would eventually be knocked out by Atlético Madrid on away goals at the quarter-final stage.

He scored four times in 38 games in 1998–99, and again Villa won all games in which he found the net, including a 2–1 victory at Coventry City in which Taylor scored both Villa's goals. He was prolific in 1999–2000, scoring ten goals in 42 games, helping Villa to reach the 2000 FA Cup Final, where they lost out 1–0 to Chelsea. Taylor hit five goals in 35 games in 2000–01, including both goals in a 2–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. However, he was restricted to just eighteen appearances in 2001–02, as manager John Gregory was replaced by Graham Taylor in January. After only nineteen appearances in 2002–03, he was released by Taylor at the end of the campaign.[8]

Taylor joined First Division side Derby County,[9] where he was made captain. He was the club's top-scorer in 2003–04 with twelve goals, as Derby avoided relegation by a single point. He played 44 games in 2004–05, as Derby reached the Championship play-offs, where they were defeated by Preston North End in the semi-finals. Taylor was released in May 2005.[10]

In June 2005 he signed with League Two outfit Northampton Town.[11] The "Cobblers" won promotion in 2005–06 as League Two runners-up, with Taylor making 38 appearances. For his performances he was named on the PFA Team of the Year. Northampton retained their League One status in 2006–07, as Taylor played another 36 games. Taylor announced that the game at home to Huddersfield Town on 27 April would be the last of his career before retiring as a professional player.[12] A small number of Aston Villa fans attended this match. At Villa's away match against Manchester City the day after Taylor's final game, the travelling Villa fans sang "There's only one Ian Taylor".

International career

Taylor was born in Birmingham, England and is of Barbadian descent through his mother.[13] In May 2004, he was considered by Barbados manager Kenville Layne for a call-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying double-header against Saint Kitts and Nevis in June 2004. Taylor revealed that he turned down a similar approach from the nation five years previous, as he wanted to play for England.

Post-retirement

Taylor is now an occasional football pundit for the Aston Villa online TV channel, AVTV, and can regularly be seen at Aston Villa games. During the 2007–08 season, he has been given a regular column as the final feature in Aston Villa's match programme, titled 'Tayl End'. Still held in very high esteem by Villa fans, he maintained his cult status in October 2005, when instead of sitting with the directors and VIPs for the Second city derby against Birmingham City at St Andrew's, he was amongst the travelling Aston Villa contingent; Taylor did the same thing again in Villa's game against Blues on 11 November 2007.[2] He played for Villa in the 2007 Premier League All Stars charity tournament. In August 2008 he became a match day summariser covering matches involving Derby County for BBC Radio Derby during the 2008–09 season.

In February 2011, Taylor rejoined Aston Villa after being appointed club ambassador.[14] In 2012, Taylor created his own brand of headphones and speakers called iT7 Audio, which has been worn by a host of celebrities and sportspeople supporting the brand.[15]

Career statistics

Source:[16]

Club Season League League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale1992–93Division 2411541219[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]2[lower-alpha 1]5618
1993–94Division 2421320214[lower-alpha 1]2[lower-alpha 1]5016
Total 8328614213410635
Sheffield Wednesday1994–95Premier League1410041—182
Aston Villa1994–95Premier League2212000—241
1995–96Premier League2533161—345
1996–97Premier League3420031—373
1997–98[17]Premier League32630108[lower-alpha 3]3[lower-alpha 3]449
1998–99[18]Premier League33410103[lower-alpha 3]0384
1999–2000[19]Premier League2955085—4210
2000–01[20]Premier League29410104[lower-alpha 4]1[lower-alpha 4]355
2001–02[21]Premier League1631110—184
2002–03[22]Premier League13010213[lower-alpha 4]1[lower-alpha 4]192
Total 2332817223818529143
Derby County2003–04[23]First Division42111011—4412
2004–05[24]Championship39320102[lower-alpha 2]0443
Total 81143021208815
Northampton Town2005–06[25]League Two33730101[lower-alpha 1]0387
2006–07[26]League One3313000—361
Total 668601010748
Career total 477793233412349577103
  1. Appearance/s and goal/s in the Football League Trophy.
  2. Appearance/s in the play-offs.
  3. Appearance/s and goal/s in the UEFA Cup.
  4. Appearance/s and goal/s in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Honours
Individual
Moor Green
  • Midland Floodlit Cup winner: 1992[4]
Port Vale
Aston Villa
Northampton Town

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 412. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.
  2. "Player Profile: Ian Taylor". threematchban.com. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  3. "The Guardian: Port Vale". onevalefan.co.uk. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. "Ian Taylor: the OVF interview". onevalefan.co.uk. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 287. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  6. "Port Vale: England hit-man Ricky Lambert was so close to joining the Valiants after being spotted by Ray Williams". The Staffordshire Sentinel. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  7. Fielding, Rob (4 March 2017). "Five great Port Vale goals". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  8. "Villa release veteran pair". BBC Sport. 12 May 2003. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  9. "Taylor joins Derby". BBC Sport. 26 June 2003. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  10. "Quartet are released by Rams boss". BBC Sport. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  11. "Cobblers complete quartet capture". BBC Sport. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  12. "Taylor set for final appearance". BBC Sport. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  13. "Taylor considering Barbados call". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  14. Brown, Paul (23 February 2011). "Fan favourite Taylor appointed club ambassador". avfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  15. Beeston, Dave. "Ian Taylor: Villa Legend to Entrepreneur". avillafan.com. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  16. Ian Taylor at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  17. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  18. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  19. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  20. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  21. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  22. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  23. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  24. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  25. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  26. "Games played by Ian Taylor in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  27. Kent, Jeff (1996), Port Vale Personalities, Witan Books, p. 288, ISBN 0-9529152-0-0
  28. Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879–1993. Witan Books. p. 236. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.
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