Richard Eric Taylor (9 April 1918 – 1995) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who made 167 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. He went on to coach at clubs including Scunthorpe,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, where he was manager from 1964 to 1967.

Playing career

Taylor was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, and began his career as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

with hometown club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He made his debut in the First Division with

in the 1938–39 season, but his career was disrupted by the Second World War. He moved on to

, then playing in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

, in 1948 when he was already 30 years old, and played regular first-team football for five seasons, which included the club's first three years in the Football League. According to a Scunthorpe United match programme feature, he was "the old fashion centre half, brilliant in the air, accurate in his passing and cool in the tackle. Nothing frustrated him".

Coaching career

After retiring as a player Dick Taylor joined Scunthorpe's coaching staff, moving on to

in 1956 to work under

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

, and two years later joined

as Mercer's assistant. He took over as manager late in the 1963–64 season after Mercer resigned due to ill-health, and succeeded in avoiding relegation, which resulted in him being handed the job on a full-time basis. The following two seasons saw little improvement in form, leading Taylor to invest heavily in new players for the 1966–67 season. Unfortunately his investment failed disastrously, resulting in them being relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

of English football and plunging the club deep into financial trouble. It was only the third time Aston Villa had been relegated in the club's history. Taylor was sacked not long afterwards, and subsequently ran a sports shop near the club's

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

stadium.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Dick 1918 births 1995 deaths Sportspeople from Wolverhampton English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Aston Villa F.C. managers