Phil Taylor (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Philip Henry Taylor is an ex-English footballer
who played for and managed Liverpool
.
as an apprentice (in 21 league matches, scoring twice) before he was signed by Liverpool manager George Patterson
for £
5000 plus Ted Hartill in March 1936, he made his debut on the 28th of the same month in a league game at the Baseball Ground
, Liverpool shared the points with Derby County
in a 2-2 draw with Taylor scoring a late equaliser, his first goal for the club.
Taylor joined Liverpool as a young inside-forward with a lot of potential but was reverted to wing-half by George Kay
where he developed into a stylish, composed defender.
Taylor was a member of Liverpool's 1946-47 Championship winning team making 35 league appearances scoring once
Taylor represented England
3 times making his debut on the 18 October 1947 in a British Championship
match at Ninian Park
, Cardiff
, England legends Tom Finney
, Stan Mortensen
and Tommy Lawton
made it a memorable day for Taylor scoring the goals in a 3-0 win.
Taylor was handed the captaincy during the 1949/50 season and led the side to the FA Cup
final on the 29 April 1950, he appeared 7 times in the cup run. Arsenal
spoilt the day for the Reds by beating them 2-0.
Overall Phil played 345 games for Liverpool, scoring 34 goals which included 312 league appearances and 32 goals).
Taylor was also a first-class
cricket
er, and played a single game for the Gloucestershire
first team in 1938, as well as three games for their second eleven.
was sacked after failing to gain promotion back to the 1st Division.
Taylor took over reins with a determination to put Liverpool back where they belonged immediately signing Alan A'Court
, Tommy Younger
and Liverpool legend Ronnie Moran
who ended up spending five decades at Anfield.
Taylor, however, failed to achieve what he set out to do and after an unsteady start to the 1959/60 campaign he resigned stating "the strain of trying to win promotion has proved too much," a very sad Taylor spoke to the Liverpool Echo
newspaper about the difficult decision to resign as Liverpool manager, he said "No matter how great has been the disappointment of the Directors at our failure to win our way back to the first division, it has not been greater than mine. I made it my goal. I set my heart on it and strove for it with all the energy I could muster. Such striving has not been enough and now the time has come to hand over to someone else to see if they can do better."
Taylor's legacy for Liverpool was the back room team he assembled of Reuben Bennett
, Joe Fagan
and Bob Paisley
. All three were retained by succeeding Manager Bill Shankly
who together built a multiple trophy winning club.
, and one of the oldest surviving players to have seen Football League action.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
who played for and managed Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
.
Player
Phil Taylor played for his hometown club Bristol RoversBristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
as an apprentice (in 21 league matches, scoring twice) before he was signed by Liverpool manager George Patterson
George Patterson (football)
George Patterson was a football manager and secretary who was involved with Liverpool F.C. for much of the first half of the 20th century. After a playing career spent mostly with Marine F.C., Patterson joined Liverpool in 1908, as assistant to Tom Watson. After a spell as club secretary, he was...
for £
Pound (currency)
The pound is a unit of currency in some nations. The term originated in England as the value of a pound of silver.The word pound is the English translation of the Latin word libra, which was the unit of account of the Roman Empire...
5000 plus Ted Hartill in March 1936, he made his debut on the 28th of the same month in a league game at the Baseball Ground
Baseball Ground
The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby County Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. It was commonly referred to as the "BBG".As the name suggests, the stadium was...
, Liverpool shared the points with Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
in a 2-2 draw with Taylor scoring a late equaliser, his first goal for the club.
Taylor joined Liverpool as a young inside-forward with a lot of potential but was reverted to wing-half by George Kay
George Kay
George Kay was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool.The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be played at Wembley, the so-called White Horse Final.He was manager of Liverpool for 15 years and...
where he developed into a stylish, composed defender.
Taylor was a member of Liverpool's 1946-47 Championship winning team making 35 league appearances scoring once
Taylor represented England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
3 times making his debut on the 18 October 1947 in a British Championship
British Championship
The British Championship is the most prestigious ice hockey cup competition in the United Kingdom, and also the longest established ice hockey competition. It has been run under various formats and titles since 1930 and contested annually since 1966...
match at Ninian Park
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, England legends Tom Finney
Tom Finney
Sir Thomas Finney, OBE is a former English footballer, famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End, and for his performances in the English national side....
, Stan Mortensen
Stan Mortensen
Stanley Harding "Stan" Mortensen was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final , in which he became the only player ever to score a hat-trick in a Wembley FA Cup Final...
and Tommy Lawton
Tommy Lawton
Thomas "Tommy" Lawton was an English association footballer who rose to fame a short time before the outbreak of the Second World War and enjoyed a successful career which lasted until well into the 1950s....
made it a memorable day for Taylor scoring the goals in a 3-0 win.
Taylor was handed the captaincy during the 1949/50 season and led the side to the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final on the 29 April 1950, he appeared 7 times in the cup run. Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
spoilt the day for the Reds by beating them 2-0.
Overall Phil played 345 games for Liverpool, scoring 34 goals which included 312 league appearances and 32 goals).
Taylor was also a first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, and played a single game for the Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
first team in 1938, as well as three games for their second eleven.
Manager
Upon his retirement in 1954 he joined the backroom staff as a coach. He became manager of Liverpool in 1956 when former manager Don WelshDon Welsh
Donald "Don" Welsh was an English football player and manager. As a player he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47.-Playing career:...
was sacked after failing to gain promotion back to the 1st Division.
Taylor took over reins with a determination to put Liverpool back where they belonged immediately signing Alan A'Court
Alan A'Court
Alan A'Court was an English footballer who mostly played for Liverpool.- Life and playing career :Born in Rainhill, Lancashire, England, A'Court was a winger who started out at Prescot Cables as an amateur before he was signed by Reds manager Don Welsh...
, Tommy Younger
Tommy Younger
Thomas Younger was a Scottish professional footballer of the 1950s and 60s who played as a goalkeeper.- Club career :Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Younger signed for his hometown club Hibernian in 1948...
and Liverpool legend Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran is a former Liverpool captain and coach, who has twice served as caretaker manager...
who ended up spending five decades at Anfield.
Taylor, however, failed to achieve what he set out to do and after an unsteady start to the 1959/60 campaign he resigned stating "the strain of trying to win promotion has proved too much," a very sad Taylor spoke to the Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...
newspaper about the difficult decision to resign as Liverpool manager, he said "No matter how great has been the disappointment of the Directors at our failure to win our way back to the first division, it has not been greater than mine. I made it my goal. I set my heart on it and strove for it with all the energy I could muster. Such striving has not been enough and now the time has come to hand over to someone else to see if they can do better."
Taylor's legacy for Liverpool was the back room team he assembled of Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett
Reuben Bennett from Aberdeen was a Scottish professional association footballer for Queen of the South, Dundee F.C. and Elgin City. He was then manager at Ayr United and a founder member of the Boot Room coaching staff at Liverpool F.C.-Player:In Bennett's playing days he was a goalkeeper with...
, Joe Fagan
Joe Fagan
Joe Fagan was an English football manager best known for being manager of Liverpool F.C. from 1983 to 1985.- Career:Joe Fagan's playing career was largely spent at Manchester City for whom he signed in 1938...
and Bob Paisley
Bob Paisley
Robert "Bob" Paisley OBE was an English football half back turned manager. His association with Liverpool was to span nearly half a century including his contribution to the club, first as a player, then as a physiotherapist and coach, and finally as manager.In nine years as manager between 1974...
. All three were retained by succeeding Manager Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
who together built a multiple trophy winning club.
Retirement
Now in his 94th year, he is believed to be the oldest living England international footballer,, one of the last surviving players to have played before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and one of the oldest surviving players to have seen Football League action.
As a player
- Liverpool F.C (1936–1954) - Football League First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
(Level 1) championship winners medal (1947), F.A Cup runners-up medal (1950) - England (1947) 3 caps