Graham Taylor

This article is about the soccer player. For the writer, see Graham P. Taylor .

Graham Taylor
Personnel
birthday	September 15, 1944
place of birth	Worksop ,  England
date of death	January 12, 2017
Place of death	Kings Langley ,  England
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1962-1968	Grimsby Town	189 (2)
1968-1972	Lincoln City	150 (1)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1972-1977	Lincoln City
1977-1987	Watford FC
1987-1990	Aston Villa
1990-1993	England
1994-1995	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1996	Watford FC
1997-2001	Watford FC
2002-2003	Aston Villa
1 Only league games are given.

Graham Taylor (born September 15, 1944 in Worksop , Nottinghamshire , † January 12, 2017 in Kings Langley , Hertfordshire ) was an English football player and football coach .

The former England coach was known for his often unattractive style of playing with long balls and fast strikers, which, however, has often proven to be successful. Taylor worked after the end of his coaching career mainly as an expert for the BBC .

Player career

In 1962 Taylor played his first competitive game for Grimsby Town in the Second Division . In 1964 he rose with the club in the Third Division , but remained loyal to the club. In 1968, when relegation to the Fourth Division was established, Taylor moved to Lincoln City after 189 games and 2 goals , for which he ran 150 times and scored once. In 1972 he had to end his career because of a serious injury.

Coaching career

Lincoln City (1971-1977)

Taylor became the youngest coach in English league football in 1972 when he moved to the dugout at Lincoln City after his career ended due to injury. In 1976 he succeeded in winning the championship in the fourth division with the club, when a record in English football was set up with 32 wins in only four defeats with 74 points (system with 2 points per win).

Watford FC (1977-1987)

Shortly after the singer Elton John bought his favorite club Watford FC , he tried to get Taylor, which he managed for the beginning of the 1977/78 season. The club, which was bobbing in the fourth class, managed to climb to the top class within five years under Taylor. In the first season in the upper house, he also qualified for the UEFA Cup as runner -up . However, they were eliminated in the third round. In 1984 they made it to the final of the FA Cup , but they had to admit defeat to Everton 0-2.

Under Taylor's leadership, talents such as Luther Blissett , Ross Jenkins and John Barnes were built up who would become leading football personalities in England in the 1980s.

Aston Villa (1987-1990)

After ten years at Watford FC, Taylor was looking for a new challenge and succumbed to the temptations of relegated Aston Villa . As the runner-up in the Second Division, he immediately rose again, with the young David Platt standing out in particular . In the first season, when he was seventh in the table, he was relegated. The following year Taylor led the European Cup winners from 1982 to the runner-up, which earned him the successor of Bobby Robson as England coach , who had resigned after the semi-final against Germany at the 1990 World Cup .

England (1990-1993)

Although Taylor led the national team to EURO 1992 , the performance at the tournament was poor. Above all, the replacement of the legendary striker Gary Lineker in his last international match, the 1: 2 defeat against Sweden , led to a media campaign against him, as it made it impossible for the player to equalize Bobby Charlton's goal record (49 goals) and thus the possible equalization have been done. A documentary filmed during the tournament with Taylor's permission also left the coach in a bad light. After qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in the United States had been missed, Taylor resigned in November 1993 and was replaced by Terry Venables .

Wolverhampton Wanderers (1994-1995)

In the spring, Taylor was introduced as the club's new coach by Jack Hayward , who had bought Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1990 . Hayward had declared promotion to the Premier League as a big goal. Although he made it to the final of the promotion playoffs, hopes were dashed when the Bolton Wanderers were able to beat the 2-1 from the first leg with 0-2. Taylor resigned from his post in November as the pressure on himself had grown.

Watford FC (1996-2001)

Shortly after Elton John bought the club again, he signed Taylor again, this time as the sporting director. Kenny Jackett initially worked as a coach, but after a midfield position in Division 2, the third division, he was made assistant to Taylor, who sat back on the dugout. Immediately the ascent was successful when Bristol City was pushed into second place in a long duel. In the following season, the win against Bolton succeeded in the promotion playoffs to the Premier League, but the company failed relegation and you went back to the second division. 2001 Taylor quit his job and was surprisingly replaced by Gianluca Vialli , who had only recently been sacked at Chelsea .

Aston Villa (2002-2003)

The next stop was a return when Taylor inherited John Gregory in February 2002 . At the end of the season they finished eighth. After narrowly escaping relegation the following season, Taylor decided to quit his post.

After the coaching career

In 2003, Taylor was elected vice chairman of Scunthorpe United , currently playing in Football League One . Since 2004 he has worked as an expert on BBC Radio Five Live . He also served as a coach of a prominent team in the series The Match for Sky One to see. In November 2014, the west stand of Vicarage Road , Watford FC's stadium , was renamed The Graham Taylor Stand .

social commitment

Taylor became an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Former England manager Graham Taylor reported to have died . The Irish Times , January 12, 2017, accessed January 12, 2017.
2. ^ Gallery: Graham Taylor Stand First Look. Watford FC , November 29, 2014, archived from the original on December 1, 2014 ; accessed on January 12, 2017 (English). 
3. ^ Hall of Fame: Graham Taylor Biography . ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Show Racism the Red Card, accessed January 12, 2017.