Graham Taylor

Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln City, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Taylor grew up in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, which he regarded as his h...

Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln City, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Taylor grew up in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, which he regarded as his hometown. The son of a sports journalist who worked on the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, Taylor found his love of football in the stands of the Old Show Ground watching Scunthorpe United. He became a professional player, playing at full-back for Grimsby Town and Lincoln City. After retiring as a result of injury in 1972, Taylor became a manager and coach. He won the Fourth Division title with Lincoln in 1976, before moving to Watford in 1977. He took Watford from the Fourth Division to the First in five years. Under Taylor, Watford were First Division runners-up in 1982–83, and FA Cup finalists in 1984. Taylor took over at Aston Villa in 1987, leading the club to promotion in 1988 and finishing second in the 1989–90 Football League First Division. In July 1990, he became the manager of the England team. They qualified for the 1992 European Championship but were knocked out in the group stage. Taylor resigned in November 1993, after the team failed to qualify for the 1994 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 Stadium, he returned to Watford and led the club to the Premier 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 the 2002–03 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 for BBC Radio 5 Live. Early life Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Taylor moved in 1947 to a council house in Scunthorpe, where his father, Tom, was the sports reporter for the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph. He went to the Henderson Avenue Junior School, then Scunthorpe Grammar School (now The St Lawrence Academy), where he met his future wife, Rita, from Winteringham. He played for the England Grammar Schools football team, and joined the sixth form after passing six O-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". Playing career His playing career began with as an apprentice for Scunthorpe United. He then went on to join Grimsby 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 to Lincoln 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. Club managerial career Records Taylor was the only manager to have twice led teams that amassed over 70 points in one Football 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). 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. Lincoln City (1972–1977) Taylor was the youngest person to become an FA coach, at the age of 27. Following his retirement from playing, and a spell as player coach, Taylor became manager of Lincoln City, being the youngest manager in the league at the age of 28, on 7 December 1972 after David Herd resigned. 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 at Southport on 28 April 1975. Taylor led Lincoln to the Fourth Division title in 1976; his team's 32 wins, 4 defeats and 74 points were all league records (when 2 points were awarded for a win). Lincoln finished 9th in the Third Division in 1976-1977 under Taylor. Watford (1977–1987) In June 1977, Taylor was hired to manage Watford by new owner Elton John. He turned down an approach from First Division West Bromwich Albion in favour of the Hertfordshire-based club, then competing in the Fourth Division, surprising pundits and supporters alike. John acted on the advice of Don Revie when hiring Taylor. Taylor led Watford from the Fourth Division to the First Division in only five years. In his first season Watford won the 1977–78 Fourth Division title, losing only five of 46 games and winning the division by 11 points. In the Third Division Taylor led Watford to another promotion, finishing second, and losing out on the title by one point in the 1978–79 season. Taylor's third season, in the Second 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 the 1979–80 season. In the next season, the 1980–81 season, Taylor improved Watford's performance, ending it with 16 wins and a 9th-place finish. In the 1981–82 season Watford achieved promotion, ending the season in 2nd place, and gaining 23 wins and 11 draws in 42 games. In the First Division with Taylor as manager, Watford gained its highest-ever victory (8–0 against Sunderland) as well as the "double" over Arsenal, an away win at Tottenham Hotspur, and home victories over Everton and Liverpool; this resulted in Watford finishing runners-up in the entire Football League. He then took the side to the third round of the UEFA Cup, having finished second in 1982–83 (the club's first season as a top division club). Taylor also led Watford to the 1984 FA Cup final, which Watford lost to Everton 2–0. In his final season, 1986–87, Watford finished ninth in the league and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, missing out on another Wembley appearance when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur, their chances hardly helped by the fact that both of their first team goalkeepers were injured. Aston Villa (1987–1990) In May 1987, Taylor left Watford for a new challenge at Aston Villa, who had just been relegated from the First Division. Second-tier football was a terrible setback for the Midlanders, who had won the European Cup just five years earlier and had been league champions six years earlier. Taylor managed to take Aston Villa back to the top flight with his first attempt, securing their top flight safety in 1988–89 with a draw on the final day of the league season. 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 by Liverpool. Following this success, Taylor accepted an offer to take over the England national football team from Bobby Robson, who left the job after England's semi-final defeat to West Germany at the 1990 World Cup. International management: England (1990–1993) Appointment 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 an FA Cup final once in 1984. 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". 1992 European Championship Despite the unease at his appointment, England lost just once in Taylor's first 23 matches (a 1–0 defeat to Germany at Wembley Stadium in September 1991). However, England struggled to qualify for Euro '92. In a group containing Turkey, Ireland, and Poland, England were held to 1–1 draws by Ireland and managed just 1–0 wins home and away against Turkey. It was only a late goal from Gary 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. 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 of Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher and Bryan Robson. He also faced accusations he could not cope with "stars", after he dropped Paul Gascoigne for Gordon Cowans for a qualifying game against Ireland. fearing he might "lose his head" in what would be a "bruising" encounter. Matters were not helped by Taylor's reluctance to use creative players who were not perceived to have high work rates, such as Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley. He also suffered several injuries, notably to Gary Stevens, Lee Dixon, John Barnes and Paul Gascoigne, leaving the squad in a makeshift position going into the finals. England were drawn to face France, Denmark and hosts Sweden in group 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 as John Jensen struck a post. The game ended 0–0. In the match against France, Platt nearly scored with a diving header which went inches wide of the post, and Stuart Pearce hit the bar with a free-kick. The game also ended 0–0. England needed to beat hosts Sweden 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 to Tony Daley who wasted a chance to pass to Lineker in the open. England held a slender 1–0 lead at half-time. After half-time, Sweden changed their personnel and formation, and dominated the second half, scoring twice to win 2–1 and eliminating England. 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 by The 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 a turnip. 1994 World Cup Qualification Stuttering start Taylor's relationship with the press was partially restored when he admitted his mistakes a few weeks after the finals. 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". England were drawn in Qualification Group 2 for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The group contained Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and San Marino. England were expected to qualify along with the