David Taylor (footballer, born 1889)

David Taylor
Personal information
Full name David William Taylor
Date of birth 1889
Place of birth Shrewsbury, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Playing position Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
190?–1909 Newcastle East End
1909–1910 Hull City 0 (0)
1910–1911 Darlington
1911–1914 Heart of Midlothian 89 (0)
1914–19?? Bristol Rovers 26 (0)
1919–1921 Darlington (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

David William Taylor (1889 – after 1920) was an English footballer who played as a full back in the Scottish League for Heart of Midlothian. He also played for Newcastle East End of the Northern Alliance, North-Eastern League club Darlington (two separate spells), and for Bristol Rovers of the Southern League. He was on the books of Football League club Hull City without playing for their first team.

Personal life

Taylor was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in 1889, the son of David Taylor, a gas stoker, and his wife Eliza.[2][3][4] The family moved to the Newcastle upon Tyne area when Taylor was very young.[5][6]

Football career

Taylor had been playing Northern Alliance football for Newcastle East End when he signed for Football League Second Division club Hull City ahead of the 1909–10 season.[3] He played for Hull's reserves in the Midland League,[7] but never for the first team, and was transfer-listed at the end of the season. He applied (unsuccessfully) to the Football League for a reduction in the fee,[8] before Tom McIntosh brought him to Darlington of the North-Eastern League early in 1910–11.[1] He established himself in the team, and helped them progress from the first qualifying round of the 1910–11 FA Cup through ten matches to reach the third round proper (last 16) – eliminating First Division team Sheffield United and Second Division Bradford Park Avenue on the way – and set a club record that was equalled but never broken.[9][10] They eventually lost to Swindon Town, who finished the season as Southern League champions.[9][11] According to a profile in the Athletic News, he was "strong and free in tackling, has good speed, and drives powerfully. A stumbling block to the cleverest forward, and quick in all that he does."[1] It also suggested he had attracted considerable interest from clubs in both divisions of the Football League, and had established a reputation as "the best left back in the North-Eastern League".[1]

At the end of the season, he moved on to Heart of Midlothian of the Scottish First Division,[12] a club with a significant number of English players.[13] He made his debut on 26 August 1911, standing in at right back for Tom Hegarty in a 3–0 win away to Queens Park.[14] That was his last appearance until mid-November, when he came into the side at a more customary left back, and played regularly until the end of the season.[14] He helped Hearts finish fourth in the league and reach the semifinal of the 1911–12 Scottish Cup, in which they lost to Celtic.[13] Taylor missed only one match the following season as Hearts finished third and again lost in the Scottish Cup semifinal, this time to Falkirk.[14][13] In 1913–14, he was ever-present for the first 29 matches of the season, but after a mistake against Kilmarnock led to a defeat that ended Hearts' chances of winning the league,[15] he was left out for a few matches in favour of the young Duncan Currie.[14] The "magnificent service" Taylor gave to the club earned him a mention in an Athletic News profile of Tom McIntosh, as an example of the newly appointed Everton manager's "rare intelligence and judgment in signing up young and promising players".[16]

After three years north of the border, Taylor was unable to agree terms for a fourth season with Hearts.[17] He returned to England and signed for Bristol Rovers of the Southern League in what the Western Daily Press dubbed a "sensational capture" for a club record fee, of which the player would receive a share.[18] He completed the season with Rovers, making 26 Southern League appearances,[2] after which competitive football was suspended for the duration of the war.

The Darlington club effectively folded during the war; a successor, Darlington Forge Albion, was formed to represent the town in the Northern Victory League in 1919. When competitive football resumed, Forge Albion's player-manager Jack English assembled what the Sunderland Daily Echo's season preview dubbed a "team of all the talents", including many well-known pre-war players of whom Taylor was one, to take Darlington's place (and adopt its name) in the North-Eastern League.[19] Taylor played regularly as Darlington finished as runners-up in the 1919–20 North-Eastern League, reached the second round proper of the FA Cup in 1920–21, and won that season's North-Eastern League title, an achievement which ensured their inclusion among the teams invited to form the Football League Third Division North for 1921–22.[9] Bristol Rovers, who still held Taylor's registration, had been admitted to the League the previous season, and the management committee ruled that Taylor was jointly owned by both clubs.[20] He appeared for neither.[21]

References

  • Except where otherwise stated, contemporary newspaper references are sourced from the British Newspaper Archive (subscription required).
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Who are 'The Quakers'?". Athletic News. Manchester. 6 February 1911. p. 1.
  2. 1 2 Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  3. 1 2 "The new men". Hull Daily Mail. 20 August 1909. p. 2. David W. Taylor, a back from Newcastle East End, is 20 years old, weighs 12 stones, and stands 5 feet 9 inches.
  4. ↑ "David William Taylor". England and Wales Birth Registration Index. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via FamilySearch.org.
  5. ↑ "David Taylor". England and Wales Census, 1891. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via FamilySearch.org.
  6. ↑ "David William Taylor". England and Wales Census, 1911. Retrieved 17 February 2017 – via FamilySearch.org.
  7. ↑ "Hull City Res. v. Rotherham County". Daily Mail. Hull. 2 April 1910. p. 3.
  8. ↑ "The Football League". Derby Daily Telegraph. 5 September 1910. p. 3.
  9. 1 2 3 Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 7, 15. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
  10. ↑ "Club Honours and Records". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  11. ↑ "Swindon Town". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "Players come and go". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 5 May 1911. p. 5.
  13. 1 2 3 "History 1904–1914". Heart of Midlothian F.C. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "David Taylor Appearances". London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  15. ↑ "Hearts disappointing". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 9 March 1914. p. 5. Despite their previous shortcomings, it was never doubted but that Kilmarnock, who had only once taken a couple of points away from Rugby Park this season—that at Aberdeen, where so many other clubs have won—would have provided Hearts with a brace of points at Tynecastle. Yet in a game which never reached a high level Kilmarnock won on their merits by a goal scored by Goldie, who was let in by a blunder on the part of Taylor.
  16. ↑ "Everton's new secretary – Mr. Tom McIntosh". Athletic News. Manchester. 27 October 1919. p. 1 – via PlayUpLiverpool.com.
  17. ↑ "Taylor goes south". Daily Record. Glasgow. 29 May 1914. p. 7.
  18. ↑ "Bristol Rovers' capture". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 30 May 1914. p. 5.
  19. ↑ Lloyd, Chris (10 September 2003). "Pub side that hit the big league". The Northern Echo. Middlesbrough. p. 6. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
    'The Ranger' (27 August 1919). "North-Eastern League. Prospects of the competition". Sunderland Daily Echo. p. 4.
    "English and Sheffield United". Star Green 'un. Sheffield. 7 June 1919. p. 2.
  20. ↑ "F.A. Management Committee". Hull Daily Mail. 6 August 1921. p. 1.
  21. ↑ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.