Ian Kenneth Taylor (born 4 June 1968) is an English former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
He played as a midfielder and best known for his time at Aston Villa. A midfielder, he had a fifteen-year career in the Football League and Premier League, scoring 103 goals in 577 league and cup competitions. He made the move from non-League Moor Green to Port Vale in 1992. With Vale he lifted the Football League Trophy in 1993. His impressive performances earned him a place on the Second Division PFA Team of the Year in 1992–93 & 1993–94, as well as the club's Player of the Year award in 1993. He made a million pound move to Sheffield Wednesday in June 1994, and he was sold on for another million to Aston Villa later in the year. He lifted the League Cup and reached the FA Cup final with the club he had supported as a boy. In 2003, he signed with Derby County, helping the club to the Championship play-offs before signing with Northampton Town in June 2005. He helped the club to win promotion out of League Two in 2005–06, before he announced his retirement in April 2007.
Playing career
Moor Green to Port Vale
Taylor played for Municipal Officials and Shirley Crusaders, and was a forklift trucker driver when started his career with Southern League Premier Division side Moor Green. He got a move into the Football League in May 1992 after scoring in Green's Midland Floodlit Cup final victory, when Port Vale paid the club £15,000 (this figure later rose to £25,000 due to instalments based on appearances). He was spotted playing for Moor Green against Burton Albion by Ray Williams, who had actually intended to scout Burton player Darren Roberts. Rudge saw him as a potential replacement for Robbie Earle. His debut came on 7 August 1992, in a 5–0 win over De Graafschap in the TNT Tournament. He became a regular in the side and in 1992–93 scored 15 goals to become the club's top scorer and earn himself the Player of the Year award, as well as a place on the PFA Second Division team. He was once again selected in the PFA's divisional team of the season for the 1993–94 season. He also lifted the Football League Trophy, scoring a "stunning overhead goal" against Fulham in the opening round, and going on to play in the final as Vale beat Stockport County 2–1 at Wembley Stadium. He would later state: "John Rudge... gave me the opportunity to play professional football. He put me in the team and had faith in me. That was the bedrock of my career".
Sheffield Wednesday
In June 1994, Taylor signed with Premier League club Sheffield Wednesday. The next month a tribunal decided upon a £1 million fee, plus £100,000 for an England appearance and £25,000 for every ten goals up to a maximum of fifty goals as well as 15% of the profit of any future sale. As it happened he was shifted on to Brian Little's Aston Villa in December that year for £1 million plus Guy Whittingham. The "profit" for Wednesday was therefore Whittingham himself, meaning all the would-be bonuses were an irrelevance. Taylor played just eighteen games for Wednesday, but did score a goal in the pre-season Steel City Cup.
Aston Villa
A lifelong supporter of the "Villans", as a child he used to stand on the Holte End at Villa Park. This fact, combined with his utterly committed displays and knack of scoring crucial goals, quickly established him as a fans' favourite. Villa narrowly stayed in the Premier League in 1994–95 after finishing three points and one place above relegated Crystal Palace. Villa finished fourth in 1995–96, and Taylor scored in wins over Manchester United, Wimbledon, Leeds United, and Southampton. He also played, and scored, in the Aston Villa side that won the 1996 League Cup final 3–0 against Leeds.
He played 36 domestic games in 1996–97, scoring in wins over Leeds, Wimbledon, and Liverpool. He scored 9 goals in 44 games in 1997–98, and maintained his first team place under new manager John Gregory. Taylor also netted important goals in Villa's 1997–1998 UEFA Cup run, when they would eventually be knocked out by Atlético Madrid on away goals at the quarter-final stage.