Graham Taylor (footballer)

Graham Taylor

Graham Taylor pictured in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Graham Taylor
Date of birth	(1944-09-15)15 September 1944
Place of birth	Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England
Date of death	12 January 2017(2017-01-12) (aged 72)
Place of death	Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England
Playing position	Full back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1968	Grimsby Town	189	(2)
1968–1972	Lincoln City	150	(1)
Total		339	(3)
Teams managed
1972–1977	Lincoln City
1977–1987	Watford
1987–1990	Aston Villa
1990–1993	England
1994–1995	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1996–2001	Watford
2002–2003	Aston Villa
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Graham Taylor OBE (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 the industrial steel town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, a town with which he still had many connections in later life and 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 player, playing at full back for Grimsby Town and Lincoln City.

After retiring as a player through 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 2nd place in the First Division in 1989–90.