Alan David Taylor (born 14 November 1953) 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 lea ...

best known for his goalscoring exploits with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

success of 1975, culminating in two goals in that season's final.

Early career

Taylor was born in

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

in Leicestershire but when he was a child, his family moved to Lancashire. His career in football started as a youth player at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

but he was released in 1970 following the club's relegation. He then took up a job in car repairs while playing

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

in Lancashire. Eventually his reputation with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

as a goalscorer prompted

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

into making a move for him, taking Taylor into the full-time game for the first time.

West Ham United

First season

At the end of 1974, West Ham manager

John Lyall John Angus Lyall (24 February 1940 – 18 April 2006) was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United. He played for the club as a youth, then as a first-team player before injury cut short his career. ...

signed Taylor for £40,000. He was able to play in West Ham's FA Cup campaign when they joined the competition at the third round stage in January 1975, even though Rochdale's lower league status meant that they had started two rounds earlier. Taylor had been injured during Rochdale's FA Cup matches and was therefore not cup-tied. West Ham progressed to the quarter finals and on 8 March 1975 Taylor scored both goals, in what was only his fifth West Ham game, as they beat

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

2–0 at

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

. The semi-final against Ipswich Town ended goalless and went to a replay at Stamford Bridge on 9 April 1975, with Taylor again scoring both goals in a 2–1 win, the second of which clinched a place in the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

final with just eight minutes to go. In the final on 3 May 1975, West Ham played

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, who were a division below them, and the game was tightly-contested until Taylor scored two goals which won West Ham the FA Cup. In the 61st minute, Billy Jennings hit a low, outswinging shot from 25 yards which Fulham

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

Peter Mellor Peter Mellor (born 20 November 1947) is an American former professional footballer whose playing career as a goalkeeper spanned three decades. He played 17 years in the top three tiers of English professional football with Burnley, Fulham, Here ...

could only parry across his goal. Taylor, following up, had to check his run to reach the rebound, but managed to get his foot around the ball and place a low drive through Mellor's legs and into the net. Three minutes later, Graham Paddon again hit a shot from a wide left position at the Fulham goal, but this time it was more directly at Mellor, who stopped it but failed to hold on. Once more, Taylor was following up and he guided the rebound into the top of the net. Taylor made headlines as West Ham won 2–0, especially as he had scored three consecutive FA Cup braces and had been a player in the Fourth Division just six months previously. He was the subject of "rags to riches"-style features in the press after the final. 320px, Alan Taylor with fellow ex-Hammer Phil Parkes at Upton Park 2 May 2015

1975–76 European Cup Winner's Cup

The following season Taylor played in West Ham's 1975-76 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup campaign. He scored their goal in an away 1–1 draw with Ararat Erevan in the second round on 22 October 1975, in a 3–1 home win against the same team on 5 November 1975 and in the 3–1 home win against

Den Haag The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in the third round on 17 March 1976. West Ham made the 1976 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final but lost 4–2 to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

in the Heysel Stadium. Taylor made a substitute appearance coming on for

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

Later West Ham career

The 1975–76 season had seen Taylor finish as West Ham's top scorer with 17 goals from 50 games. In the following three seasons he played many fewer games and scored few goals. In the 1978–79 season, his final season, he managed only 15 games and three goals. He played his final West Ham game on 5 May 1979 in a 1–0 away defeat to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, coming on as a substitute for

John McDowell John Henry McDowell (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, anci ...

. He had played 124 games in all competitions scoring 36 goals.

Around the clubs

Injuries took their toll on Taylor afterwards and he lost his place at West Ham, who were relegated in 1978. Taylor left for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in 1979, and had subsequent periods at

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, Hull City,

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

and Bury, plus some time in Canada at

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. He ended his career back at Norwich.

Legacy

It took eleven years before another player —

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best Welsh playe ...

in 1986 – scored two goals in the

FA Cup Final The FA 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 events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, although two ( Ricardo Villa in 1981 and

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

in 1983) had done so in replays in the interim.

Honours

West Ham United *

: 1974–75 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: runners-up 1975–76

References

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Alan English men's footballers 1953 births Living people Rochdale A.F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Norwich City F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Morecambe F.C. players Sportspeople from Hinckley Footballers from Leicestershire Lancaster City F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in Canada