Ernest Taylor (2 September 1925 – 9 April 1985) was an English

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 played for four clubs in a 19-year professional career. After Blackpool's defeat by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in the 1951 FA Cup Final, it is said that

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

told his manager, Joe Smith, that he would like the Magpies' inside-right in the Blackpool team.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992'', p.119 On 10 October that year, Taylor signed for Blackpool for £25,000. Born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, in 1925, Taylor was a

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

submariner when he joined Newcastle in 1942. At only 5 ft 4 in, he was one of the shortest players in the game, but his defence-splitting passes caused problems amongst the opposition. It was his back-heel that set up one of

Jackie Milburn John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was a football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield. He was also known as Wor Jackie (particularly ...

's goals in the 1951 Final. Taylor signed for Blackpool on 10 October 1951 and made his debut three days later in a 2–1 home loss to Charlton. When Matthews had recovered from an injury, the pair created a well-respected right-wing partnership. On 25 November 1953,

Walter Winterbottom Sir Walter Winterbottom (31 March 1913 – 16 February 2002) was an English football player and coach. He was the first manager of the England national team (1946–1962) and Director of Coaching for The Football Association (the FA). He ...

employed the same partnership in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's match against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. England lost 6–3 in what was Taylor's only appearance for his country. Earlier in 1953, he had been a member of Blackpool's famous

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

-winning side that beat

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. In the same competition in 1958, he helped the devastated

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

to an albeit unsuccessful appearance in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

soon after the Munich air disaster. On 12 December 1958 Taylor signed for

for £6,000, and later played for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

before emigrating to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where he coached New Brighton and also played for Auckland club East Coast Bays.

Notes

References

External links

*
England profile at TheFA.com

Profile at EnglandFC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Ernie 1925 births 1985 deaths Footballers from Sunderland English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Hylton Colliery Welfare F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Derry City F.C. players English Football League players Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy submariners FA Cup Final players