Jake William Trevor Taylor (born 1 December 1991) is a 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

. He attained one international cap for Wales.

Club career

Reading

Taylor joined

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

at the age of eight. Having scored 20 goals for the club's academy and under-18 sides during the 2009–10 season, he was handed his debut for the Royals in a League Cup game against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

at the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (), currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is the home of Reading Football Club, who play in EFL League One. It also provides the ...

on 24 August 2010, which ended in a 3–3 draw, with Northampton winning on penalties. He came on as a second-half substitute for

Julian Kelly Julian Kelly (born 6 September 1989) is an English footballer who plays for Grantham Town. Club career Born in London, Kelly was with Arsenal until the age of 16 when he joined Reading as a scholar in June 2006. He finished the 2007–08 sea ...

. He made his

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, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 9 May 2011 as a second-half substitute for

Michail Antonio Michail Gregory Antonio (born 28 March 1990) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United and the Jamaica national football team, Jamai ...

in the home game against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Aldershot Town

On 28 July 2011, it was agreed that Taylor would go on a one-month loan to

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

, to take effect from 1 August.

Exeter City

On 21 September 2011, Taylor was loaned to

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

on a one-month loan which was subsequently renewed on a monthly basis until the end of the season.

Cheltenham Town

On 22 November 2012, Taylor joined Reading teammate Lawson D'Ath on loan at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

until 2 January 2013. He made his Cheltenham debut in a 1–0 win over

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

on 24 November and scored his first goal for the club on 27 December in the win over

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. Taylor appeared regularly on the left wing during his initial stay at the club and on 4 January 2013 his loan was extended for another month. He was recalled by Reading on 28 January, having started just one of Cheltenham's four matches since his loan was extended.

Crawley Town

The following month Taylor joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

on an initial one-month loan. He made his debut in the 2–0 win over Bury on 2 March playing in a central midfield role and made a further three appearances before returning to Reading at the end of March.

Return to Reading

On 5 October 2013, Taylor made his first Reading appearance for nearly two-and-a-half years as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. After his return to the side, Taylor was selected in several match day squads, including the defeats to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, though he remained an unused substitute in both games. In May 2014 Taylor signed a new two-year contract with the option of a third. That season he scored his first goal for Reading in a 1–0 win over Ipswich. Taylor then went on to score the winner in the League Cup in a 1–0 victory over Scunthorpe.

Leyton Orient

On 26 March 2015, Taylor joined

side

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.

Motherwell

On 11 August 2015, Taylor joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. Taylor made 8 appearances for Motherwell before being recalled by Reading in January 2016.

Exeter City

On 25 January 2016, Taylor joined League Two side

on a free transfer. He served as club captain between 2018 and 2021. On 12 May 2021, Taylor announced his intention to leave Exeter.

Stevenage

Taylor signed for fellow League Two club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

on 21 May 2021. Following their promotion to League One, he was released at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Eastleigh

On 20 May 2023, he was announced to be joining

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

upon the expiration of his contract.

International career

Born in England, Taylor is eligible to play for Wales through his grandfather who was born in

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

. Taylor has represented Wales at under-17 and under-19 level. On 18 May 2010, Taylor made his debut for the Wales under-21 side in a 1–0 defeat to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In his last game for the under-21s, he captained the side against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in a 5–0 defeat. In September 2014 Taylor was called up to the senior Wales squad for a match against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. Taylor made his senior debut as an 84th-minute substitute for match winner

Hal Robson-Kanu Thomas Henry Alex "Hal" Robson-Kanu (born 21 May 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in England, he played for the Wales national team. Although he initially played primarily on the wing, he was used as a f ...

in a 2–1 European qualification victory against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

on 13 October 2014.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Exeter City F.C. website (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Jake 1991 births Living people Footballers from Ascot, Berkshire English men's footballers Welsh men's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wales men's international footballers English people of Welsh descent Men's association football midfielders Reading F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen