George William Taft (born 29 July 1993) is 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 ...

who plays as a

centre back 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 ...

for club

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

. A graduate of

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

, Taft failed to break into the first team and was loaned out to

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

Karlstad BK Karlstad BK was a Swedish football club located in Karlstad in Värmland County. They merged with Carlstad United after the 2019 season to form IF Karlstad Fotboll. Background Since their foundation on 19 October 1923 Karlstad BK has partic ...

and

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. In 2014, he joined League Two club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

on a two-year contract. Taft was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by England at under-18 and under-19 level, and was a member of the squad for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Club career

Leicester City

Born in Leicester, Leicestershire, Taft started his career at

in their

. He signed a professional contract with Leicester on 17 March 2011, tying him to the club until June 2013. To gain first-team experience, Taft was loaned out to

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

club

in August 2011 and after playing seven times had his loan spell extended by a month. He returned to Leicester in October 2011 having completed the loan with 14 appearances for Kettering. His first involvement with the Leicester first team was as an unused substitute against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in an

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 ...

third round tie which ended 0–0 on 7 January 2012. In the replay he was also an unused substitute, when Leicester won 4–0. Taft went on loan to Swedish club

Division 1 Södra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan ( en, the one), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden ...

in March 2012. He made 12 appearances, returning to Leicester in July 2012. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Taft signed a one-year contract extension with Leicester. On 29 August 2013, Taft joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

on a one-month loan, and made his debut two days later in the a 2–1 away defeat to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Having made three appearances for York, he was sent back to Leicester on 23 September 2013 after falling behind

David McGurk David Michael McGurk (born 30 September 1982) is an English Manager (association football), football manager and former professional Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He played in the Football League for Darlington F.C., Darl ...

Daniel Parslow Daniel James Parslow (born 11 September 1985) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a centre-back in the English Football League for York City and Cheltenham Town. Parslow started his career with Cardiff City in their you ...

and Chris Smith in the pecking order for a central defensive berth. Taft was released by Leicester on 9 May 2014, following the club's

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for 2014–15.

Burton Albion

Taft signed for League Two club

on 30 May 2014 on a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away win over

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

. From that on in the first half of the season, Taft played regularly until he tore his hamstring during a 4–3 defeat to Carlisle United, which kept him out for six to eight weeks. Taft made his return on 17 November 2014, where he came on as a substitute for Stuart Beavon in the last minutes, in a 3–1 win over

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

. Coincidentally, it was also

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

's first match in charge. On 3 January 2015, Taft scored the first goal of his professional career with a half volley from 12 yards in Burton's 1–0 home victory against promotion rivals

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. Burton manager Hasselbaink praised Taft saying "George took his goal very well." He dedicated his goal to Richard Mayne, a victim who lost his life in

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...

. Taft helped the club earn promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

for the first time in its history. In the 2014–15 season, Taft made 34 appearances for Burton and scored once. At the club's award ceremony, Taft was named the club's player in the community. On 31 July 2015, Taft joined League Two club

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

on a six-month loan. He returned to Burton on 29 October 2015 after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a league match against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Mansfield Town and Cambridge United

Taft signed for League Two club

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 26 May 2016 on a free transfer. On 31 August 2017, he returned to Cambridge United on loan until January 2018. Taft rejoined Cambridge on 29 January 2018 on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season, following an injury to

Leon Legge Leon Clinton Elliott Legge (born 1 July 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Harrogate Town. A defender, his strong strength, positioning and tackling skills have helped him compensate for a lack ...

. He was released by Mansfield at the end of 2017–18. Taft signed for League Two club Cambridge United permanently on 30 May 2018 on a two-year contract.

Bolton Wanderers

On 20 July 2020, Taft joined Bolton Wanderers on a two-year deal. His debut came on 5 September in Bolton's first match of the season, a 1–2 home defeat against Bradford in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Scunthorpe United (loan)

On 6 January 2021, Taft joined

side Scunthorpe United on loan for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.

Scunthorpe United

On 31 January, Taft joined Scunthorpe on a permanent basis. He was released following Scunthorpe's relegation to the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Worksop Town

On 28 August 2023, Taft signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club

International career

At international level, Taft represented England at under-18 level one time and scored in his only appearance against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 16 November 2010. He made his debut for the under-19 team against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 9 February 2011, and earned a total of five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

at this level. He was named in the under-20 squad for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup but did not make any appearances.

Style of play

Though primarily a

, Taft can also play as a left back. After signing for Burton Albion,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Gary Rowett Gary Rowett (born 6 March 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is currently manager of Championship club Millwall. As a player, he was a defender, and played in the Premier League for Everton, Derby County, ...

praised him for his height. After being promoted from the junior to the senior team of Leicester City, manager Sven-Göran Eriksson said "This is great news. They are very talented young footballers and we have the belief that they will progress." During his loan spell with Kettering Town, he was both played as a centre back and a left back.

Career statistics

Honours

Burton Albion *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

: 2014–15

References

External links

Profile
at the Cambridge United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taft, George 1993 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Leicester City F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Karlstad BK players York City F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Ettan Fotboll players English Football League players Northern Premier League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden