Tommy Taylor - Manchester United Legend

Tommy Taylor Stats
Full Name	Thomas Taylor
Birthplace	Barnsley, England
Height	193cm (6ft 4ins)
Date of Birth	29/01/1932
Date of Death	06/02/1958
Position	Striker
Leaugue Club Football
Club		Apps	Goals
Barnsley (1949-53)		44	26
Manchester United (1953-58)		191	131
Total		235	157
International Football
England (1953-57)		19	16

Tommy Taylor Early Career
Tommy Taylor commenced on the short road to footballing stardom playing for the coal mining colliery team where worked and at the age of 16 his potential was spotted by scouts, who offered him the chance to play for home town club Barnsley, an offer which he grasped with both hands.

Taylor made his Barnsley debut on 7 October 1950 in a 3-1 home victory over Grimsby Town and in his very next game became an instant hero with the fans as he scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 victory over Q.P.R. In his fledgeling season his netted an impressive 7 goals in 12 appearances.

After scoring 26 goals in 44 games for Barnsley the youung striker came to the attention of the bigger clubs, in particular defending champions of England Manchester United.

Tommy Taylor Manchester United Career
In March 1953 Taylor moved to Manchester United for a fee of £29,999. The fee paid by the club was an interesting ploy adopted by manager Matt busby so the player didn't feel the burnden of a big price tag.

The unusual step by the Manchester United manager seemed to do the trick as the player scored twice on his debut on 7 March 1953 in a 5-2 Division One victory over Preston North End. The striker went on to net a further 5 goals in 10 appearnces that season.

In his first full season at Old Trafford he finished as the club's top goalscorer with 23 goals in 36 games. Over the next three seasons he would go on to score an incredible 76 goals in 106 appearances and was the catalyst in Manchester United picking up back-to-back League titles in 1956 and 1957.

Tommy Taylor's goalscoring exploits were begenning to garner attention from Italy's glamour clubs, with Inter Milan leading the way with a world record bid of £65,000, which was quickly turned down by the club.

His final season at United came in the 1957-58 campaign after scoring 19 goals in 29 games the player was killed in the Munich Air Disaster. The player died aged 25 before he reached his prime. During his playing career for Manchester United, England and Barnsley the strapping striker played 254 games and scored a magnificent 173 goals.

Looking back it could be said that Tommy Taylor was arguably the greatest ever center forward to have appeared for England, for country he scored 16 goals in just 19 games before the footballing world was robbed of this superb talent.

Tommy Taylor Honours

Manchester United
Division One: 1956, 1957


From Tommy Taylor, to Manchester United football legends