Exclusive interview with former Crystal Palace striker Gareth Taylor: ‘Expectation levels were really high on me due to price tag’

EXCLUSIVE
BY ANDREW MCSTEEN

“Not much has changed. It was nice coming back down on to Purley Way which is where I stayed in a hotel when I first came here,” said Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor with a smile when asked by the media what it was like to return to the club he signed for as a player back in 1995 after guiding his side to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in their Women’s Super League clash at Selhurst Park earlier this month.

Taylor joined the SE25 outfit on  September 27, 1995 from Bristol Rovers as the Eagles looked to bounce back to the Premier League after suffering a unique relegation the previous May which had seen them finish fourth from bottom in a 22-team league, but take the last relegation spot due to the league being readjusted to 20 teams for the following season.

“It was a really strange and really prolonged signing,” Taylor told the South London Press. “I remember some interest in the season previously, when we lost in the play-off final to Huddersfield but probably then Rovers may have been able to fend off the interest from Palace.

“It then went on to the beginning of the following season. I played in the first six or so games for Rovers and was scoring goals. I was playing really good football in that period, the two or so seasons before, but Ron (Noades, Crystal Palace chairman) made a beeline to try and sign me.

“I’m not too sure whether that was what was Palace needed at that time  because they had good strikers there –  the likes of Bruce Dyer, Jeroen Boere and Dougie (Freedman). I remember coming up to London and speaking to Ron and all of the guys at Selhurst. It took so long to get that deal across the line but then, all of a sudden, I’m going into a different environment.

“I really struggled with that, because I’d been used to playing at Bristol Rovers, a family club and then I went into the ‘lion’s den’, if you like, in London, into an environment where there’s experienced pros and young players who were really street-wise. It took me a while to settle, I’ll be honest.”

Taylor had made the step up from the old Football League Division 2 (now League One) to a Crystal Palace side in Division 1 (now Championship) with a new manager, in the returning Steve Coppell, coming to terms with a relatively freshly-assembled squad due to a number of summer transfers both in and out, including his, for a reported £1.25 million.

“It was a big price tag, for sure,” said Taylor, who had converted from a defender into a forward. “At one point I think it was £1.2 million, but I think it got reduced because I was having medical issue after medical issue where that (figure) was really being challenged.

“In the end, I wasn’t sure if that was actually the final figure, but, in those days, it was big money and we’d signed Andy Roberts at that time too who came in for big money as well (a reported £2.5 million).

“There were some good guys there, some experienced pros like Ray Houghton, Chris Coleman – a good mate of mine – and Richard Shaw.

“Nigel (Martyn) was still there, but was basically on his way out, and there were young players coming through as well, the likes of Clinton Morrison and Sagi Burton.”

Taylor made just 22 appearances for the Eagles, scoring twice, including a winner at Stoke in a 2-1 win in December 1995, after Freedman had scored the first, and another strike in an FA Cup loss at Port Vale.

Taylor would be resident in South London for just 163 days, leaving the club on March 7, 1996 when then Palace boss Dave Bassett, who replaced Coppell in February, sold him to Sheffield United.

And despite such a brief sojourn in the capital, one of his overriding memories in his playing career was forged while in South London – the 6ft 1in tall striker made his senior national team debut for Wales, one of two national team appearances while at the Eagles.

Taylor played 84 minutes in the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match in Albania on November 15, 1995 which ended 1-1, before coming on as a 63rd minute sub in Italy in a 3-0 friendly loss which saw him play against such luminaries as Gianfranco Zola, Alessandro del Piero, Antonio Conte and Fabrizio Ravanelli, alongside Welsh internationals familiar to Palace in Kit Symons, Coleman and Glyn Hodges.

“I was immensely proud when I received confirmation through. It might have been a phone call, I can’t quite remember, but if it was a letter, then my dad would definitely have it,” said Taylor about his senior call-up while at Palace.

“It was a great opportunity for me. Bobby (Gould, Wales coach) was really good to me. He saw that I was doing really well in the U21s but I was under no illusions when I first got into the senior squad because I was trying to dislodge Dean Saunders, Ian Rush and Mark Hughes.

“Later, when those guys retired, it was Craig Bellamy, John Hartson and Ryan Giggs was still there. For that next period of maybe 10-12 years, I got maybe 15-16 caps and if I’d been involved in all of the games (Wales played) over that period it could have been 100 caps, but it was a fantastic period for me. I really enjoyed it.

“We then had the transition of Mark Hughes going from a team-mate into then being my boss. He changed a lot of things with Wales and really professionalised things before the period when Gary Speed took over.

“I was really proud to play for Wales. My father was born in Wales, all of his mother’s side are Welsh and I was born probably as close to Wales as possible in Western-Super-Mare, which is half-an-hour away.”

Taylor credited the link with international team-mate Saunders as putting him on the pathway to management when, as a Wrexham player working under Saunders, the Welsh legend let him take charge of the reserve team. He is now in his fourth season as Manchester City boss, a spell which has seen his side win the WSL and FA Cup as well as lose the title on goal difference.

His playing career ended at Wrexham, following moves to Manchester City after Sheffield United – where he played against the Eagles at Wembley in the 1996-97 play-off final win – and then having spells at Port Vale, Queen’s Park Rangers, Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Crewe, Tranmere, Doncaster and Carlisle.

“I was really pleased to be able to play for Palace, but it was a difficult time, a difficult period for me, there’s no doubt,” said the 51-year-old.

“Palace was tough because the expectation levels were really high on me due to the price tag, which is absolutely normal, but it’s a club that I’m pleased to have had that experience of.

“I’m really pleased to have played for, particularly, a London club, because that was my only time there.

“After Palace I moved around the northern clubs. The only goals I scored were in away games and, unfortunately, I never scored at Selhurst – although I did when I came back, playing against Palace.

“I’m really proud to have played for that club, worn the shirt. It’s a fantastic football club and I’m just sorry that they never really saw the best of me.”

Taylor is still in touch with players from his spell in SE25, not least Freedman, who is now sporting director at Palace.

“I enjoyed playing with Dougie and I still see him quite a bit on occasion, we exchange messages. I actually saw him down at Downing Street straight after last season,” said Taylor, in reference to an event hosted by the Secretary of State for culture, media and sport for the WSL in May.

“It was great getting an insight and really good to see him being really hands on with the women’s team as well. His knowledge of it was really impressive.

“I like him as a sporting director, because he’s one of these quiet ones that you never really hear about.” He’s doing a really good job.”

PICTURES: NEIL EVRITT