| Graham Taylor (football Manager) |
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Information AboutGraham Taylor (football Manager) |
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PLAYING CAREER His playing career began with Grimsby Town in 1962 for whom he went on to play 189 games at fullback, scoring twice. He was transferred to Lincoln City in the summer of 1968 , he scored 1 goal in 150 appearances. Taylor was forced to retire from playing following a serious hip injury in 1972 . MANAGERIAL CAREER Taylor was the youngest person to become a FA coach, at the age of 21. Following his retirement from playing, Taylor became manager of Lincoln City , he was the youngest manager in the league at the age of 28. Taylor led Lincoln to the Fourth Division title in 1976 , during which the Imps set the league records for most wins (32), least defeats (4), and most points (74) (when 2 points were awarded for a win). In 1977 Taylor was hired to manage Watford by new owner Elton John . Taylor led Watford from Division Four to Division One in only five years. He even took the side to the third round of the UEFA Cup , having finished second in Division One in 1983 . Taylor also led Watford to the 1984 FA Cup final, which Watford lost to Everton 2-0. In . Taylor managed to take Aston Villa back to the top flight with his first attempt. During his third season at the club Villa finished runners-up in the first division. Following this success Taylor took over the England National Football Team from Bobby Robson , who left the job after England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany . Taylor took England to the Euro 92 championships, where England played poorly. In England's last game of the tournament, a 2-1 defeat to the hosts, Sweden , Taylor substituted Gary Lineker in his final game for England. By doing this he prevented Lineker from equalling, or even breaking, Bobby Charlton 's record of 49 goals for England. This led to a media vilification of Taylor, including the infamous "turnip" campaign by The Sun . Taylor also agreed to be filmed during the world cup qualification campaign for a Channel 4 Fly On The Wall documentary in which his portrayal further undermined his authority. During the film Taylor was heard to use foul language and what became his personal Catchphrase "Do I Not Like That". Taylor left the job in November 1993 , within days of England's failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the USA . Sir Jack Hayward appointed Taylor as manager of Wolves in March 1994 . However Taylor failed to gain promotion with the ambitious club, and he was fired in November 1995 . In the summer of 1996 Elton John , who had recently bought Watford for a second time, appointed Taylor as General Manager at Vicarage Road. A year later Taylor had appointed himself as the club's manager, he won the Division Two championship at his first attempt. The following season Taylor won promotion to the Premier league, where Watford were relegated after one season. Watford finished 9th in Division One at the end of the 2000-01 season, at this point Taylor decided to retire. During this final season Taylor had become only the third manager to manage 1000 league games in England, after Brian Clough and Jim Smith . Taylor came out of retirement February 2002 to return to his old job at Aston Villa, he retired for a second time after Villa finished the 2002/2003 season in 16th place in the Premiership . He recently became vice-president at League One club Scunthorpe United . Since leaving the game in 2004 , from the position of Director of Football at Aston Villa, he has become a pundit on BBC Radio Five Live .
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