 Taylor pictured in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graham Taylor | ||
| Date of birth | (1944-09-15)15 September 1944 | ||
| Place of birth | Worksop, England | ||
| Date of death | 12 January 2017(2017-01-12) (aged 72) | ||
| Place of death | Kings Langley, England[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Full back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1962–1968 | Grimsby Town | 189 | (2) |
| 1968–1972 | Lincoln City | 150 | (1) |
| Total | 339 | (3) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1972–1977 | Lincoln City | ||
| 1977–1987 | Watford | ||
| 1987–1990 | Aston Villa | ||
| 1990–1993 | England | ||
| 1994–1995 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| 1996 | Watford | ||
| 1997–2001 | Watford | ||
| 2002–2003 | Aston Villa | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an Englishfootball player,manager, pundit and chairman ofWatford Football Club. He was the manager of theEngland national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managedLincoln City,Watford,Aston Villa andWolverhampton Wanderers.
Born inWorksop,Nottinghamshire,[2] Taylor grew up inScunthorpe,Lincolnshire, which he regarded as his hometown.[3] The son of a sports journalist[4] who worked on theScunthorpe Evening Telegraph, Taylor found his love of football in the stands of the Old Show Ground watchingScunthorpe United. He became a professional player, playing at full back forGrimsby Town and Lincoln City. After retiring as a result of injury in 1972, Taylor became a manager and coach. He won theFourth Division title with Lincoln in 1976, before moving to Watford in 1977. He took Watford from the Fourth Division to theFirst in five years. Under Taylor, Watford were First Division runners-up in1982–83, and FA Cup finalists in 1984. Taylor took over at Aston Villa in 1987, leading the club to promotion in 1988 and 2nd place in the First Division in1989–90.
In July 1990, he became the manager of the England team. They qualified for the1992 European Championship but were knocked out in the group stages. Taylor resigned in November 1993, after the team failed to qualify for the1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. Taylor faced heavy criticism from fans and media during his tenure as England manager and earned additional public interest and scrutiny when a television documentary,An Impossible Job, which he had permitted to film the failed campaign from behind the scenes, aired in 1994.
Taylor returned to club management in March 1994 with Wolverhampton Wanderers. After one season at Molineux, he returned to Watford and led the club to thePremier League in 1999 after back-to-back promotions. His last managerial role was manager of Aston Villa, to which he returned in 2002. He left at the end of the2002–03 season. Taylor served as Watford's chairman from 2009 until 2012, after which he held the position of honorary life-president. He also worked as a pundit forBBC Radio 5 Live.
Born inWorksop,Nottinghamshire,[2] Taylor moved in 1947 to acouncil house in Scunthorpe, where his father, Tom, was the sports reporter for theScunthorpe Evening Telegraph. He went to the Henderson Avenue Junior School, thenScunthorpe Grammar School (now The St Lawrence Academy), where he met his future wife, Rita, fromWinteringham. He played for the England Grammar Schools football team, and joined the sixth form after passing sixO-levels in 1961, but he left after one year to pursue a full-time career in football. His head teacher disapproved of his actions and told him: "Grammar school boys don't become footballers".[5]
His playing career began with as an apprentice forScunthorpe United.[6] He then went on to joinGrimsby Town in 1962 and played his first competitive game for them in September 1963 against Newcastle United when they won 2–1. He played 189 games at fullback for Grimsby Town, scoring twice. He was transferred toLincoln City in the summer of 1968 for a fee of £4,000, scoring once in 150 appearances before being forced to retire from playing following a serious hip injury in 1972.
Taylor was the only manager to have twice led teams that amassed over 70 points in oneFootball League season under the League's original scoring system of two points for a win and one point for a draw. This system was introduced for the inaugural 1888–89 season and was retained for over 90 years until the reward for a win was increased to three points in 1981. He achieved this with Lincoln City (74 points – 1976) and Watford (71 points – 1978).[7] Only two other clubs, Doncaster Rovers (72 points – 1947) and Rotherham United (71 points – 1951), managed to gain over 70 points in one season under the original scoring system.
Taylor was the youngest person to become anFA coach, at the age of 27.[8] Following his retirement from playing, and a spell as player coach, Taylor became manager ofLincoln City, being the youngest manager in the league at the age of 28, on 7 December 1972 afterDavid Herd resigned.[9] In his first season Lincoln finished 10th, then 12th in 1974, but the following season narrowly missed out on promotion after a 3–2 defeat atSouthport on 28 April 1975.[10]
Taylor led Lincoln to theFourth Division title in 1976;[8] his team's 32 wins, 4 defeats and 74 points were all league records (when 2 points were awarded for a win).[11][12] Lincoln finished 9th in the Third Division in 1976-1977 under Taylor.[10]
In June 1977, Taylor was hired to manageWatford by new ownerElton John. He turned down an approach from First DivisionWest Bromwich Albion in favour of theHertfordshire-based club, then competing in the Fourth Division, surprising pundits and supporters alike. John acted on the advice ofDon Revie when hiring Taylor.[13]
Taylor led Watford from theFourth Division to the First Division in only five years.[14] In his first season Watford won the1977–78 Fourth Division title, losing only five of 46 games and winning the division by 11 points.[15] In theThird Division Taylor led Watford to another promotion, finishing second, and losing out on the title by one point in the1978–79 season.[16]
Taylor's third season, in theSecond Division, was less successful. Indicating the tougher competition, Watford managed only an 18th finish, out of 22 teams, avoiding relegation by eight points and winning only 12 of their 42 games in the1979–80 season.[17] In the next season, the1980–81 season, Taylor improved Watford's performance, ending it with 16 wins and a 9th-place finish.[18] In the1981–82 season Watford achieved promotion, ending the season in 2nd place, and gaining 23 wins and 11 draws in 42 games.[19]
In the First Division with Taylor as manager, Watford gained its highest-ever victory (8–0 againstSunderland)[7] as well as the "double" overArsenal, an away win atTottenham Hotspur, and home victories overEverton andLiverpool; this resulted in Watford finishing runners-up in the entire Football League.[20] He then took the side to the third round of theUEFA Cup, having finished second in1982–83 (the club's first season as a top division club). Taylor also led Watford to the1984 FA Cup final, which Watford lost toEverton 2–0.[21] In his final season,1986–87, Watford finished ninth in the league and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, missing out on anotherWembley appearance when they lost toTottenham Hotspur, their chances hardly helped by the fact that both of their first team goalkeepers were injured.[22]
In May 1987, Taylor left Watford for a new challenge atAston Villa, who had just been relegated from the First Division.[23] Second-tier football was a terrible setback for the Midlanders, who had won theEuropean Cup just five years earlier and had been league champions six years earlier.[24]
Taylor managed to take Aston Villa back to the top flight with his first attempt, securing their top flight safety in1988–89 with a draw on the final day of the league season.[25] During his third season at the club Villa finished runners-up in the First Division, having led the league table at several stages of the season before being overhauled in the final weeks byLiverpool.[26] Following this success, Taylor accepted an offer to take over theEngland national football team fromBobby Robson, who left the job after England's semi-final defeat toWest Germany at the1990 World Cup.[27]
When Taylor was appointed, critics in the media complained that he had never won a major trophy – although he had taken teams to second place in the league twice and anFA Cup final once in1984. It was also pointed out that Taylor had never played in "top-flight" football, let alone international level and that winning the respect of the players might be difficult. His critics also noted although he had ditched the long-ball game at Aston Villa, there were still tactical worries about his intentions, given that English clubs were looking to dispense with "route one" football in favour of a more "picturesque route to goal".[28]
Despite the unease at his appointment, England lost just once in Taylor's first 23 matches (a 1–0 defeat toGermany atWembley Stadium in September 1991).[29] However, England struggled to qualify forEuro '92. In a group containingTurkey,Ireland, andPoland, England were held to two 1–1 draws by Ireland and managed just 1–0 wins home and away against Turkey. It was only a late goal fromGary Lineker against Poland that saw England qualify at Ireland's expense. England's qualification for the Euro 92 finals proved to be the high point of Taylor's tenure.[30]
The number of players that Taylor was using in the run up to the championship was also questioned, the press and public viewed this as evidence Taylor did not know his best team. He used 59 players in total, as he struggled to find a "new spine" after the retirement ofPeter Shilton,Terry Butcher andBryan Robson.[31] He also faced accusations he could not cope with "stars", after he droppedPaul Gascoigne forGordon Cowans for a qualifying game against Ireland.[32] fearing he might "lose his head" in what would be a "bruising" encounter.[33] Matters were not helped by Taylor's reluctance to use creative players who were not perceived to have high work rates, such asChris Waddle andPeter Beardsley. He also suffered several injuries, notably toGary Stevens, Lee Dixon, John Barnes and Paul Gascoigne, leaving the squad in a makeshift position going into the finals.[34]
England were drawn to faceFrance,Denmark and hostsSweden ingroup 1. In the opening game against Denmark, England started brightly and missed several chances to take a lead.David Platt was guilty of a particularly glaring miss. Thereafter, Denmark began to dominate the match, and nearly won with minutes left asJohn Jensen struck a post. The game ended 0–0.[35] In the match against France, Platt nearly scored with a diving header which went inches wide of the post, andStuart Pearce hit the bar with a free-kick. The game also ended 0–0.[36][37]
England needed to beat hostsSweden to advance to the semi-finals. Lineker crossed for Platt to open the scoring on four minutes with a mishit volley. However, England wasted several chances to extend their lead. Platt made a pass toTony Daley who wasted a chance to pass to Lineker in the open. England held a slender 1–0 lead at half-time.[38][39] After half-time, Sweden changed their personnel and formation, and dominated the second half, scoring twice to win 2–1 and eliminating England.[36]
During the game, after 60 minutes and with the score at 1–1, Taylor substituted Gary Lineker in his final game for England, preventing Lineker from having the chance to equal, or possibly break,Bobby Charlton's record of 49 goals for England. Many were dismayed to see Taylor substitute England's top striker when his side needed a goal. This led to the media's vilification of Taylor, including the "turnip" campaign byThe Sun, which began the morning after the game under the headline: "Swedes 2 Turnips 1". During that campaign, the newspaper's back page featured an image of Taylor's face superimposed onto aturnip.[40]
Taylor's relationship with the press was partially restored when he admitted his mistakes a few weeks after the finals.[41] However, this did not last long. England's first game after Euro 92 ended in a 1–0 defeat to Spain in a friendly,The Sun depicted Taylor as a "Spanish onion".[42]
England were drawn in QualificationGroup 2 for the1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The group containedNorway, theNetherlands,Poland,Turkey andSan Marino. England were expected to qualify along with the Dutch.
England began with a disappointing 1–1 draw with Norway. Norway were the early pace setters, with victories over San Marino, the Netherlands and Turkey. Gascoigne returned, but the Norwegians were confident.[43] Despite dominating the game, England could muster only half-chances. Platt gave England the lead in the 55th minute after a cross from Stuart Pearce.
Norway rarely threatened, but equalised in the 77th minute, whenKjetil Rekdal scored from 20 yards. The draw flattered the Norwegians but put them clear in the group.
The campaign seemed to get back on track with two wins against Turkey (4–0 at home and 2–0 away) and a 6–0 home victory over San Marino. During the latter game, Taylor confronted a spectator who was racially abusing Jamaica-bornJohn Barnes, telling him "You're talking about another human being so just watch your language".[44]
In April 1993, England faced theNetherlands atWembley Stadium. England went 2–0 up in 24 minutes throughJohn Barnes andDavid Platt. However, Taylor's luck had started to take a turn for the worse, as Paul Gascoigne was injured byJan Wouters' elbow, but Wouters was not sent off.
Dennis Bergkamp scored a goal for the Netherlands towards the end of the first half, against the run of play, but England continued to control the game, and looked to be heading for a win which would have ended Dutch hopes of qualification, following the side's defeat in Norway, and a draw at home to Poland.
But four minutes from full-timeMarc Overmars outpacedDes Walker, prompting Walker to foul him inside the penalty area. The penalty was converted byPeter Van Vossen and the game ended 2–2. Suddenly England's "World Cup life" looked in danger.[42]
England's next chance of reviving their flagging fortunes came in May, requiring at least a win and draw away against Poland and Norway which were to be played just three days apart. England were poor against Poland and were largely outplayed.[45]Dariusz Adamczuk of Poland scored in the 36th minute, although the team missed several chances to extend their lead.Ian Wright salvaged a vital point through forcing an equaliser in the 85th minute, for a final score of 1–1.[45] Taylor was again vilified for his team's poor performance. England's next opponents were Norway.
The Norwegians had arrived from obscurity and had taken the group by storm; their series of early victories had left England, Poland, and the Netherlands scrapping for second place.[45] Taylor made wholesale changes of personnel and tactics, which again drew criticism, his actions considered risky in what was now a crucial game.Lee Sharpe andLee Dixon came on as wing-backs, whileCarlton Palmer and Platt occupied midfield berths. Gascoigne supportedTeddy Sheringham andLes Ferdinand up-front. Des Walker,Tony Adams andGary Pallister formed a back three.[45]
England lost 2–0, with few attempts on goal.Lars Bohinen andØyvind Leonhardsen scored the goals in the 42nd and 47th minutes. The first was caused by a Des Walker error, while Walker was beaten for pace by a Norwegian counter-attack for Bohinen to score[46] Subsequently, Taylor said: "We made a complete mess of it. I'm here to be shot at and take the rap. I have no defence for our performance",[47] although his honesty did not spare him a roasting from the press, who were now calling for his head.[47] The press came up with headlines such as "NORSE MANURE" and "OSLO RANS".[48]
In July 1993, Peter Newman, an independent candidate in aparliamentary by-election forChristchurch, stood under the banner "Sack Graham Taylor".[49]
With their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread, Taylor's England were to play a four-team Tournament in the U.S (1993 U.S. Cup), which was expected to be a precursor to the following summer's tournament. Taylor stated before the game against theUnited States:
In football, you're only as good as your last game, and at the moment we're poor. You can always lose any game, to anyone. It's how you lose that matters.That was the thing that shocked us all in Norway. We would have been looking for a win here anyhow, but if we'd won last week, it wouldn't have been considered essential. Now it is. Whether we like it or not, people expect us to beat America, and there is definitely more intensity about this game because of our performance in the last one.[50]
For Taylor, the US Cup began with a humiliating 2–0 defeat inBoston, to the United States withThomas Dooley andAlexi Lalas scoring goals, which was reported byThe Sun as "YANKS 2 PLANKS 0!".[51][52]
Some pride was restored with a credible 1–1 draw with Brazil, and a narrow 2–1 defeat to Germany. Taylor was now living on borrowed time.[53]
The1993–94 season began with a much-improved performance, with a 3–0 win over Poland raising the nation's hopes going into what was now the crucial match against the Netherlands inRotterdam.[53]
In October, England were to play the Netherlands in Rotterdam. With Norway having won the group, the encounter would effectively decide the second and last qualifier of the group. The game was played at a furious pace, with the Netherlands putting England under pressure early on. However, England hit back with a string of counterattacks, with Platt heading just wide andTony Adams having a shot cleared off the line byErwin Koeman, whileTony Dorigo hit a post with a deflected 35-yard free-kick after 25 minutes.[53][54]
Two minutes before half-time England were fortunate to have aFrank Rijkaard goal ruled out for offside, even though replays showed the goal was legitimate.[53] Later in the second half, with the game scoreless, David Platt was fouled byRonald Koeman as he approached the Dutch goal. The German referee failed to apply the rule of sending him off for a professional foul. The Dutch charged down Dorigo's free kick, although they were clearly encroaching.[55] Just minutes later, Koeman took a free kick outside England's penalty area. His first shot was blocked, but it was ordered to be retaken because of encroachment.[53] Koeman scored at the second attempt.
Paul Merson hit a post with a free-kick moments later, beforeDennis Bergkamp scored, despite using his arm to control the ball, for a 2–0 win.[53] In the meantime, Taylor was in an apoplectic mood on the touchline, berating the officials and referee as the significance of the result sank in.[53]
England still had a chance to qualify, providing the Netherlands lost in Poland on the same night, with England winning by a seven-goal margin or more. As such, England were hoping they could run up a big score against part-time minnows San Marino. But after just 8.3 seconds of playDavid Gualtieri, a computer salesman, scored the fastest ever World Cup goal after a defensive error fromStuart Pearce. England took another twenty minutes to find an equaliser and eventually won 7–1. Even if the Netherlands had not beaten Poland, England's inferior goal difference would have still meant they had failed to qualify.[56]
Taylor resigned on 23 November 1993, six days after England's failure to qualify. He went "with great sadness", saying: "No one can gauge the depth of my personal disappointment at not qualifying for the World Cup. This is the appropriate course of action in the circumstances," he said. "If we didn't qualify, it was always my intention to offer my resignation."[57] Taylor had also agreed to be filmed during thequalifying campaign forCutting Edge, aChannel 4fly-on-the-wall documentary series, in which his portrayal further undermined his authority. This was during the filmAn Impossible Job; Taylor was heard to use foul language, and what became his personalcatchphrase: "Do I not like that", uttered just before England conceded a goal to Poland.[58]
Sir Jack Hayward appointed Taylor as manager ofWolverhampton Wanderers in March 1994, replacingGraham Turner. Taylor had been a generally unpopular figure in English football since his unsuccessful reign as national coach, and few people seemed willing to forgive him for his first managerial failure – one that mattered most to so many people up and down the country. But the following season Taylor took the Midlands club to fourth in Division One to qualify for the playoffs – their highest league finish since their last top division season eleven years earlier – where they lost out toBolton Wanderers. They also reached the quarter-finals of theFA Cup after a memorable replay penalty shootout victory overSheffield Wednesday, in which they were 3–0 down on penalties, only to win the shootout 4–3, in whichChris Bart-Williams had two penalties saved over the two matches.
Taylor spent heavily on players while at Wolves, paying large sums for the likes ofSteve Froggatt,Tony Daley,Mark Atkins,John de Wolf,Dean Richards andDon Goodman.[59]
However, the1994–95 season proved to be his only full season atMolineux, as, after a poor start to the following campaign, winning just four of the first sixteen league games, he resigned on 13 November 1995 due to overwhelming supporter pressure. During his tenure, he attempted to perform acitizen's arrest on a fan who had spat at him, prompting calls for closer crowd controls in the English game.[60]
Taylor called his Wolves' departure his "lowest ebb" in football - greater than even his Lancaster Gate exit - because he felt he had "lost his standing" in the game of football.[61]
In February 1996Elton John, who had recently bought Watford for a second time, appointed Taylor as General Manager at Vicarage Road. Just over a year later Taylor had appointed himself as the club's manager succeedingKenny Jackett, who was relegated to a coaching capacity at the club. Taylor later stated that the role of General Manager had "bored me stiff".[62] He won the Division Two championship at his first attempt in 1998.[63]
The following season Watford won theDivision One Play-off Final, beating Bolton Wanderers 2–0 at Wembley, and with it promotion to thePremier League. Taylor missed two months of the season as in November 1998 he was taken to hospital with a life-threatening abscess that blocked his windpipe and almost killed him.[64]
Watford were relegated from the Premiership after one season.[65] Despite starting the following season well – unbeaten through the first fifteen league games and heading the table – Watford slumped to finish 9th in Division One.[66] At this point he decided to retire.[67] During this final season Taylor had become only the third manager to manage 1,000 league games in England, afterBrian Clough andJim Smith.[68]
Taylor came out of retirement in February 2002 to return to his old job at Aston Villa, but retired for a second time after Villa finished the 2002–03 season in 16th place in the Premiership.[69] He subsequently cited tensions in his relationship with the club's chairmanDoug Ellis and argued for an overhaul of the club's upper management to allow the club to be more competitive.[70]
In 2003, Taylor became vice-president at Division Three clubScunthorpe United, his hometown club.[71] From 2004, he worked as a pundit onBBC Radio Five Live,[21] and managed a team of celebrities forSky One's annual series,The Match.
His time at Scunthorpe saw a turnaround in the club's fortunes. In hisfirst season on the board, they narrowly avoided relegation to theConference.The following season, they were promoted toLeague One.Two years after that, they were promoted to theChampionship as League One champions.[72]
Taylor returned to Watford on 23 January 2009, being appointed to the newboard as anon-executive director and was appointed interim chairman on 16 December 2009.[73] Taylor announced his resignation from his position as chairman on 30 May 2012. He retained the position of honorary life president of the club until his death in 2017.[74]
In 2014, Watford renamed theRous Stand the Graham Taylor Stand to honour his achievements in two spells at the club.[21]
Taylor was a supporter of Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association and a Patron of DebRa. He was a Celebrity Ambassador for the Sense Enterprise Board in Birmingham, and worked to raise both funds and awareness, including running theLondon Marathon in 2004.[75] He regularly hosted moderated "online coaching seminars" on theDALnet channel. He also supported theRoyal British Legion and cycled from London to Paris in 2010 to raise funds for the RBL'sPoppy appeal.[76]
Taylor married Rita Cowling at Scunthorpe Congregationalist Church on 22 March 1965.[77] They had two daughters.[78]
Taylor died suddenly and unexpectedly of a "suspected heart attack"[79] at his home inKings Langley early on the morning of 12 January 2017. He was 72.[80][81][82] His funeral was held nearby, on 1 February atSt Mary's Church, Watford, with many football figures in attendance.[83]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Lincoln City | Dec 1972 | Jun 1977 | 236 | 104 | 69 | 63 | 044.07 |
| Watford | Jun 1977 | May 1987 | 527 | 244 | 124 | 159 | 046.30 |
| Aston Villa | May 1987 | Jul 1990 | 142 | 65 | 35 | 42 | 045.77 |
| England | Jul 1990 | Nov 1993 | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 047.37 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Mar 1994 | Nov 1995 | 88 | 37 | 27 | 24 | 042.05 |
| Watford | Feb 1996 | Jun 1996 | 18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 027.78 |
| Watford | Jun 1997 | May 2001 | 202 | 79 | 52 | 71 | 039.11 |
| Aston Villa | Feb 2002 | May 2003 | 60 | 19 | 14 | 27 | 031.67 |
| Total | 1,311 | 571 | 342 | 398 | 043.55 | ||
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |