Robert Anthony Taylor (born 30 April 1971) is an English former 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 ...

, licensed football agent and manager who is in charge of Watton United. As a player he was a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and was active as a professional between 1990 and 2003. Although featuring for

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 ...

and

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

, he notably had lengthy and prolific spells with

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and Gillingham. He notably scored for the Gills at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the 1999 Division Two Play-off final against Manchester City, only months before he would join The Blues. Taylor also played professionally for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

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 retired in 2003 following a brief spell with Non-League side

Gorleston Gorleston-on-Sea (), known colloquially as Gorleston, is a town in the Borough of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, to the south of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Book ...

, although whilst manager of

Diss Town Diss Town Football Club is a football club based in Diss, Norfolk, England. Affiliated to the Norfolk County FA they are currently members of the and play at Brewers Green Lane. History The club was established in 1888 following a suggestion ...

he did make three more senior appearances between 2008 and 2012. Since retiring Taylor has managed at Non-League level for Watton United, King's Lynn Town, Dereham Town,

, Mundford, Swaffham Town and Acle United.

Playing career

Born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Taylor played for Watton United's youth team. He was first spotted after playing for Watton United's first team at the age of 15 against

's reserves in a pre-season friendly. A forward, Taylor failed to make a first-team appearance for Norwich, making his professional debut in 1991 whilst on loan at

. He spent August and September 1990 with Norwegian side Mjølner to gain further experience. He played five games and scored one goal for Mjølner in the second tier of the Norwegian league during a loan spell that lasted until the end of the season in Norway. In 1991 Taylor signed for

where he also failed to make the first team. He then signed permanently former loan club Leyton Orient where he scored 20 goals in 81 appearances, before moving to

where he scored 74 goals in 208 appearances. In 1998, he signed for Gillingham for a then club-record fee of £500,000. Playing under manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

Taylor enjoyed the best goal scoring run of his career, totalling 39 goals in 70 games. This included 5 goals away in a single game, away to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in February 1999. Taylor played and scored in the 1999 Second Division play-off Final against

. Taylor remained with the club until November 1999 when he signed for

for £1.5 million. Playing for the club as it gained promotion from the First Division, he scored 5 goals in 12 appearances. In 2000, he signed for

for £1.55 million on a four-year deal, commenting that City's signings of Paolo Wanchope and

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

meant his playing time would be limited at the club. He only made 12 first team appearances for Wolves, scoring three goals and suffered with then-undiagnosed circulatory problems in his legs. Whilst at the club he was sent on loan to

and his former club Gillingham. Leaving Wolves in 2002 he then signed permanently for

, before ending his professional career with

. He also went on to play for non-League club

. In 2008, while

manager, he made a brief playing comeback early in the 2008–09 season.

Managerial career

Taylor moved into management with Watton United,

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

(as caretaker manager), Dereham Town, Diss Town, Mundford and more recently Swaffham Town. In 2019 he returned to Watton United as manager.

Personal life

As a child Taylor supported Liverpool, citing

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

and

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward. At club level Rush played for Liverpool from 1980–1987 and 1988–1996. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer, having scored a to ...

as his inspiration. In 2016 Taylor launched a football agency, TG-Inspire.

Career statistics

Honours

As a player

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runner-up: 1999-00 Individual * Brentford Player of the Season: 1995–96 * Gillingham Player of the Season: 1998–99

As a manager

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

First Division third-place promotion: 2010–11

References

External links

Profile at ex-canaries.co.uk
* *
Chester City Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Robert 1971 births Living people Footballers from Norwich English footballers Norwich City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Gorleston F.C. players Men's association football forwards English Football League players English football managers Watton United F.C. managers King's Lynn F.C. managers Dereham Town F.C. managers Diss Town F.C. managers Swaffham Town F.C. managers Expatriate footballers in Norway