Matthew James Taylor (born 30 January 1982) is an English professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played 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 ...

. He is the current manager of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

side

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Career

Early career as a goalkeeper

1999–2003

Taylor began his career as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

playing for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Boys before being a member of the Everton U17 Academy. He joined

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Marti ...

and, alongside brother Joe, played in the club's finest hour – their 2003

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The com ...

final win 2–1 over Tamworth. The game was played at

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, ...

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 station ...

in front of more than 14,000 spectators and was televised live on Sky; the club had started their FA Trophy campaign that year rated at 400–1 to win the silverware. However, it would be his final game for the club as he and a number of other senior players left the club following the departure of the manager

Shaun Teale Shaun Teale (born 10 March 1964 in Southport) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a defender from 1983 until 2004 and was notably part of the League Cup winning team of Aston Villa in 1994.He also ...

2003–2005

After an unsuccessful trial with Lincoln City in July 2003, he joined Rossendale United before moving to

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was established in 1878 as Matlock Football Club.< ...

, a club his uncle Neil Fairclough had previously played for, at the end of September. He debuted for the club in the 4–0 victory at

Ossett Town Ossett Town Association Football Club was an English football club based in Ossett in West Yorkshire. History Ossett Town AFC were formed in 1936 when, during a public meeting, the Mayor of the Borough of Ossett charged John Carter, a former ...

on 27 September 2003. and his signing coincided with the club going on a run that took them to the top of the

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

table before eventually finishing as runners-up to

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for t ...

; Taylor was named the club's player of the season. In June 2004,

's manager

Ernie Moss Ernest Moss (19 October 1949 – 11 July 2021) was an English footballer, most associated with his home town club, Chesterfield, where in three separate spells he made 539 appearances, scoring a club record 192 goals. He was later voted PFA ...

moved to

and he swiftly returned to his former club to sign Taylor and also his brother Joe who had been with

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 ...

. On 31 March 2005, he joined

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

until the end of the season but did not make an appearance for the club. In August 2005 he joined

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

on trial, eventually joining the club permanently for the season.

Conversion to a centre back

Taylor combined his playing career with life as a student at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate ...

where he played as a

, representing the university in the

British Universities Sports Association British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

(BUSA) championship games, catching the eye of the

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of t ...

manager Ged Roddy, who picked him to play as a defender in the England Universities team at the 2006 British Universities Games. He joined

in the summer of 2006 to play as a centre back whilst studying for a Diploma in Fitness Excellence at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. Taylor enjoyed a successful season at the heart of the team's defence being named Players' Player of the Year as the team finished runners-up in the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

, missing out on promotion to the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

after losing 1–0 to

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously use ...

in the play-off final.

Exeter City

In June 2007 he completed a move 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 ...

. He signed a new contract with the club in December, which would expire in 2010. He featured in the Conference play-off final for Exeter, which was won 1–0 and finished the season with 46 appearances and scored nine goals. He played in the club's first game on their return to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, which finished as a 1–1 draw with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

Charlton Athletic

Taylor signed a two-year contract for Charlton Athletic on 1 July 2011, moving on a free transfer from Exeter City. In August 2011 he was appointed vice-captain by manager Chris Powell. He quickly established himself in the centre of defence alongside Michael Morrison, and scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup 4–0 away win at FC Halifax, in November 2011. He was released by Charlton at the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season.

Bradford City

On 1 August 2013, Taylor signed for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

on a two-year deal. He was substituted at half-time on his debut, and later suffered a foot injury. After three appearances for the Bantams and just one league game under his belt, Taylor joined fellow League One club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on a one-month loan deal on 20 September, scoring once against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Cheltenham Town

On 25 July 2014, Taylor joined League Two side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

on a two-year deal, and was made club captain. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The ...

Newport County

On 6 July 2015, Taylor joined League Two Newport County. He made his debut for Newport on 26 September 2015 as a second-half substitute in the 1–0 win over Carlisle United. He was released by Newport on 1 February 2016.

Bath City

On 8 February 2016, Taylor signed for

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

Managerial career

Exeter City

Taylor was appointed manager of League Two club Exeter City, who he had previously captained, on 1 June 2018 replacing

Paul Tisdale Paul Robert Tisdale (born 14 January 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Stevenage. As a player, Tisdale represented Southampton, Bristol City, FinnPa, Panionios and Y ...

. A bright start led to Taylor being nominated for the August 2018

EFL League Two Manager of the Month The EFL League Two Manager of the Month is a monthly association football award to recognise the outstanding team manager in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the League's sponsor, ...

award. Taylor voiced his disappointment at missing out on the

EFL 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 Le ...

promotion play-offs 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 ...

, the side missing out on a third successive top 7 finish by a single point. Taylor won the August 2019 EFL League Two Manager of the Month award following a strong start to Exeter's 2019–20 season, with the side winning four and drawing two of their opening six matches. A strong set of results over the festive period meant Exeter finished 2019 in second place, with Taylor himself being named EFL League Two Manager of the Month for December 2019. With his side ending the month in fourth position after achieving thirteen points from an unbeaten five matches, Taylor was again awarded the League Two Manager of the Month award for February 2022. Under Taylor, Exeter City won promotion to League One for the 2022–23 season after finishing second in the 2021–22 League Two table. On 1 October 2022, following a 2–2 draw with Bristol Rovers, Exeter confirmed that they had given Taylor permission to speak to

regarding the vacant managerial position.

Rotherham United

On 3 October 2022, Taylor was confirmed as the new

manager, pending talks. The appointment was made official the following day, Taylor signing a contract with the

club until 2026 and was joined by his assistant, Wayne Carlisle, on the same contract terms.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Exeter City *

runners-up: 2021–22 Individual *

: August 2019, December 2019, February 2022, April 2022

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Matt 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Chorley English footballers Association football goalkeepers Association football defenders Everton F.C. players Burscough F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Team Bath F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Bath City F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players English football managers Exeter City F.C. managers Rotherham United F.C. managers English Football League managers