.jpg) Taylor in 1957 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Taylor | ||
| Date of birth | (1932-01-29)29 January 1932 | ||
| Place of birth | Smithies,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||
| Date of death | 6 February 1958(1958-02-06) (aged 26) | ||
| Place of death | Munich,Bavaria, West Germany | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Smithies United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1953 | Barnsley | 44 | (26) |
| 1953–1958 | Manchester United | 166 | (112) |
| Total | 210 | (138) | |
| International career | |||
| 1953–1957 | England | 19 | (16) |
| 1956 | England B | 2 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an Englishfootballer, who played as acentre-forward and was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eightManchester United players who died in theMunich air disaster.
Taylor was born inSmithies, nearBarnsley, Yorkshire, on 29 January 1932, one of six children born to Charles and Violet Taylor. He did not pass theeleven-plus and ended up as a pupil at RaleySecondary Modern School, leaving in 1947. He began his football career playing for a team at the colliery where he worked. Two years later, he signed forBarnsley. He made his first-team debut at the age of 18 on 7 October 1950, in a 3–1 home win againstGrimsby Town.[2] In his next match, on 4 November 1950, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 victory againstQueens Park Rangers.[2] In all he scored seven goals in twelve appearances in 1950–51. While playing for Barnsley, he carried outnational service in theBritish Army.[2] It would not be long before Taylor was attracting the interest ofFirst Division clubs.
After scoring 26 goals in 44 games for Barnsley, who had been unable to progress beyond theSecond Division, Taylor was transferred to defending First Division championsManchester United in March 1953 for the unusual fee of£29,999.Matt Busby did not want to burden the 21-year-old Taylor as being a "£30,000 player", so he took a £1 note from his wallet and handed it to the lady who had been serving tea during the negotiations. At the time, he was one of the most expensive players in British football and had also been subject of interest from clubs includingSheffield Wednesday,Derby County andWolverhampton Wanderers.
He got off to a great start, scoring twice on his debut. By the end of the1952–53 season, Taylor had scored seven goals in his first 11 games for United. He played a key role in United winning the First Division title1955–56 and1956–57 and scored in the1957 FA Cup final, when United were denied theDouble as they lost 2–1 toAston Villa (winners of the competition for a then record seventh time). He also helped United reach the semi-finals of theEuropean Cup in the 1956–57 season, when they were theFootball League's first entrants into Europe's premier club competition.
Such was Taylor's worth that Matt Busby decided to reject an offer of £65,000 for him fromInternazionale in the summer of 1957. Had the deal gone through, it would have been one of the most expensive transfer fees in world football at the time.
At the time of his emergence, many saw Taylor as the perfect eventual replacement forNat Lofthouse in theEngland side. In all, he played 19 times for England, scoring 16 goals. His first cap came on 17 May 1953 and a week later he found the net for the first time at senior international level in a 2–1 friendly win overChile. He managed two hat-tricks for the England team, the first in a 5–2 win overDenmark on 5 December 1956, the second in a 5–1 win overRepublic of Ireland on 8 May 1957. His last appearance for England came on 27 November 1957 againstFrance, in which he scored twice in a 4–0 win.[3]
Taylor died in theMunich air disaster, aged 26, on 6 February 1958. He had recently become engaged to hisfiancée Carol.
He is buried atMonk Bretton Cemetery in his hometown Barnsley.[4]
Taylor holds the all-time Manchester United league goal strike record of 0.67 goals per game.
On 8 July 2011, ablue plaque was unveiled at 22 Great Stone Road inStretford. This was a boarding house in the 1950s and Manchester United used it as lodgings for their unmarried players – particularly the ones whose families did not live locally. Taylor lived there with players includingDavid Pegg andMark Jones until these players were killed at Munich, by which time Jones had already married and left the house. A number of players who survived the crash or who were not on the plane also lodged at this house. The landlady was Margaret Watson.
The plaque is sponsored byStretford High School (which is only 50 yards away) and came about as a result of a local history project undertaken by the pupils at the school. The plaque was unveiled by the cricket umpireDickie Bird, who was at school with Taylor in Barnsley.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other[5] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barnsley | 1950–51 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 7 | ||
| 1951–52 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| 1952–53 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 30 | 21 | |||
| Total | 44 | 26 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 46 | 28 | |||
| Manchester United | 1952–53 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 10 | ||
| 1953–54 | 35 | 22 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 23 | |||
| 1954–55 | 30 | 20 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 20 | |||
| 1955–56 | 33 | 25 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 25 | |||
| 1956–57 | 32 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 34 | |
| 1957–58 | 25 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 34 | 22 | |
| Total | 166 | 112 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 191 | 131 | |
| Career total | 210 | 138 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 237 | 162 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Minute | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 May 1953 | Estadio Nacional,Santiago,Chile |  Chile | 48' | 1*–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 31 May 1953 | Estadio Centenario,Montevideo,Uruguay |  Uruguay | 89' | 1*–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| 3 | 9 May 1956 | Wembley Stadium,London, England |  Brazil | 3' | 1*–0 | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 65' | 3*–2 | |||||
| 5 | 28 November 1956 | Wembley Stadium,London, England |  Yugoslavia | 65' | 2*–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 6 | 89' | 3*–0 | |||||
| 7 | 5 December 1956 | Molineux Stadium,Wolverhampton, England |  Denmark | 18' | 1*–0 | 5–2 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 20' | 2*–0 | |||||
| 9 | 48' | 3*–1 | |||||
| 10 | 8 May 1957 | Wembley Stadium,London, England |  Republic of Ireland | 8' | 1*–0 | 5–1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 17' | 2*–0 | |||||
| 12 | 40' | 4*–0 | |||||
| 13 | 15 May 1957 | Idrætsparken,Copenhagen,Denmark | Denmark | 71' | 2*–1 | 4–1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 14 | 86' | 4*–1 | |||||
| 15 | 27 November 1957 | Wembley Stadium,London, England |  France | 3' | 1*–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 16 | 33' | 3*–0 |
Manchester United
Individual
