Gareth Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gareth Taylor | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gareth Taylor | |
| Date of birth | February 25, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Weston-super-Mare, England | |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Playing position | Centre-forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Doncaster Rovers | |
| Number | 10 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1990-1991 1991-1995 1995-1996 1996-1998 1998-2001 2000 2000 2001 2001-2003 2003-2006 2006 2006-2008 2008- |
Southampton Bristol Rovers Crystal Palace Sheffield United Manchester City → Port Vale (loan) → QPR (loan) → Burnley (loan) Burnley Nottingham Forest → Crewe Alexandra (loan) Tranmere Rovers Doncaster Rovers |
0 (0) 47 (16) 20 (1) 86 (24) 48 (9) 4 (0) 6 (1) 15 (4) 80 (32) 90 (19) 15 (4) 49 (10) 5 (1) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1995-2006 | Wales | 14 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Gareth Taylor (born Weston-super-Mare, 25 February 1973) is Wales international footballer currently playing for Doncaster Rovers. He is 6 ft 2" and weighs 13 stone 7 lbs and plays at centre-forward, however he has been used as a makeshift centre-back.
Taylor started his career with Southampton, but didn't make any first team appearances and was released. Bristol Rovers then signed him, and he made his league debut as a centre-back in a 6-1 defeat at Cambridge in February 1992. He did not play again until the first match of the 1994-95 campaign, by which time manager John Ward had converted him into a striker. His height meant he was a good target man and was exceptional in the air, scoring 12 goals (most of them headers) in his first full season alongside Marcus Stewart and Paul Miller in attack. His brace against Brentford on the final day ensured a Division 2 play-off spot and after a tense away goals victory over Crewe in the semi-final, Rovers made it to Wembley. Unfortunately, the Gas lost 2-1 to Huddersfield, Taylor missing an open goal from a yard out.
After four goals in seven games at the start of the following season, he was transferred to Crystal Palace for an initial £750,000 rising to an eventual £1.25 million, when most Rovers fans expected Stewart to be sold instead. He failed to make an impact at the London outfit and only managed 20 appearances and 2 goals. He was soon released and was signed by Sheffield United, where he made 50+ appearances and scored 24 goals.
Manchester City then bought him for £400,000 and he made around 40 appearances but only managed 9 goals. This led to him being loaned out to various clubs, including Port Vale, Q.P.R and Burnley (who eventually signed him on a free transfer). His time at Burnley was arguably the best time in his football career. He played 105 games altogether (scoring 37 goals) making him become a favourite with the fans.
This persuaded Paul Hart to buy him for Nottingham Forest for £500,000. At the beginning of the 2003-04 season,following his recovery from a serious eye injury sustained while still at Burnley, he became a regular in the side when David Johnson broke his leg. Forest's fortunes took a downturn largely caused by a mass exodus of players during the previous summer. Taylor played a big part in the recovery with some very important goals. His first goal for Forest came against his former club Burnley, at Turf Moor where Nottingham Forest beat The Clarets 3-0.
In the unfortunate 2004-05 season which resulted in relegation, he was made captain by Gary Megson and was highest scorer with 11 goals.
Shortly into the 2005-06 season, following a string of disappointing performances from the team,and with rumours that Megson had a deteriorating relationship with the players, he was stripped of the captaincy. With striker Grant Holt being signed to replace him, Taylor suddenly fell out of favour and was allowed to go on loan to Crewe Alexandra, where he enjoyed some success but was unable to prevent them getting relegated.
Taylor's contract at Nottingham Forest expired in the summer of 2006; the club decided against renewing it and he was released. At the end of June 2006, he joined Tranmere Rovers on a two-year contract, scoring 9 goals in all competitions in his debut season.
Taylor initially signed for Doncaster Rovers on loan on 31 January 2008, the deal was made permanent on 5 February 2008. He scored his first goal for Doncaster on April 5th 2008, the first equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium.
He is a former Wales international. Born in England, he qualified for the national side through his father who was born in Wales and scored his only international goal in a 4-0 friendly victory over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium in 2004.
[edit] External links
Gareth Taylor career stats at Soccerbase
|
|||||
