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Bob Taylor was born in the North East on February 3rd 1967 in Littlethorpe Hospital, Easington Couny Durham a stones throw away from his village home of Horden. He gained an interest in football from a young age playing in the school team with the likes of fellow ex pro Brian Honour who played for over ten years at Hartlepool and later took over the role of team captain when Brian left.
Strangely during his younger years Bob was always a defender playing full back for his junior school.. It wasn't until senior school that Bob moved into a forward role, where he started scoring goals and hasn't looked back since.
After leaving school Bob had a couple of unsuccessful trials at local football clubs - Hartlepool and Newcastle. However, it didn't do anything to dampen either his or his dad's ambitions of getting Bob involved in the thing he loved the most! football!
Bob got his first big break when current team Horden Colliery appointed the former Sunderland full-back Dick Malone as their new manager. After three months at the club, in December 1985, Malone recommended Bob his teams top scorer to Leeds United.
He got off to a great start to his Leeds career as he made his debut in the third team, playing against York City in the Northern Intermediate League with hime finishing on the winning side with a hat trick in a thrilling 5-4 win.
Bob went on to score twelve goals for the third team in the last fifteen games of that season and signed a two year contract onnce he turned eighteen and by the start of the 1985-86 season, Bob had progressed into the reserve side at Leeds.
Super made his Football League debut in a Second Division game against Millwall at Elland Road on Saturday April 12 1986 and has happy memories about his three years at Elland Road, through which time he had firmly established himself as a professional and earnt the ranking as the clubs top scorer (excluding penalties) in his second season there.
Unfortunately, what turned out to be Bob's final season didn't go as well, with Leeds getting off to a dreadful start which saw them trail to the bottom of the league, followed by the sacking of Billy Bremner and Bob not starting another game.
Bob eager to play first team football learnt that Joe Jordan, the Bristol City Manager, was interested in signing him and on 23rd March 1989 Bob was on his way to Bristol City and first team football. Three weeks after his first game, he firmly entered the hearts of the Bristol City fans by scoring his first hat-trick in a 6-1 smashing of Huddersfield Town. By the end of his first season, Bob had scored 8 goals in just twelve games.
With Joe Jordan in charge and Bob scoring the goals the 1989-90 season went down in football history as an epic one for the city of Bristol. In total Bob scored a remarkable 34 goals, in just 47 games, 27 of those coming in the League. His succes continued with his opening goal in the 2-0 win at Walsall on November 4 helping to send City to the top of the Third Division for the first time. It was then only fitting that he went on to being named City?s Player of the Year in 1990.
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Bobs time at Bristol came to an end when Bobby Gould, then Manager of West Bromwich Albion signed him on 31st January 1992. Things did not start that well for Bob at West Brom and within six months of signing, Bobby Gould was sacked. The board of directors at West Brom then replaced Gould with Argentinean legend Ossie Ardilies.
As a result of Ardilies appointment, West Brom secured promotion via the play-off final at Wembley in the 1993/94 season with a 3-0 win over Port Vale. In that season, it was Bob who first got the nickname of 'Super' by scoring 37 goals and building up a striking partnership with Andy Hunt, who had signed from Newcastle. The partnership lasted for the next few seasons, and in Bob's opinion, was the best of his career.
Although, the Taylor and Hunt partnership blossomed, West Brom didn't and struggled for the next few seasons. As a result, both Hunt and Taylor left the First Division for the Premiership. At first, Bob was pessimistic about leaving but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life. There was a lot of issues within the club. The manager wanted me to go on loan and I didn't want to go at first. It was a major wrench to leave but, in the end, I went out on loan to the Premiership to Bolton. I loved it, I scored against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and against the Villa at their place. I was living out my dreams.
Although Bob only played 14 games for Bolton, 2 as a substitute, he still regards it as one of the best times of his career. I played a few games for them, scored a few goals as well. I was never going to win the F.A cup or anything like that, but it's what you dream about as kid. Taylor signed permanently the next season for Bolton Wanderers, and played over 80 games scoring 24 goals for the Trotters.
Taylor returned to his footballing home, the Hawthorns, on transfer deadline day in 2000, on the same day as 4 other players. With West Brom poised to be relegated, Taylor's 5 goals in 8 games kept the Baggies safe from relegation. I got a phone call asking me if I?d like to go back to West Brom and I jumped at the chance. I didn?t even think about it, my heart ruled my head really. When we secured safety on the final game of the season against Charlton it was a great day. To see the fans ?Boing-Boinging? again was fabulous. I did an interview after the match and I said that a club of the size of West Brom shouldn?t be celebrating staying in Division One.
Most of the credit for keeping the club in the division was shared between Bob and the new manager, Gary Megson. However, in the next two seasons that followed, West Brom, under Megson and with Taylor in the team, finished in the play-offs and then got promoted automatically, with Taylor scoring the goal against Crystal Palace that secured promotion to the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Bob, he only played four games for the Baggies in the Premier League. I'd have liked to have played more. I've played in the Premiership before with Bolton but to play there with West Brom was special. I'd worked hard for 10 years of my life to get there and to come on in the first game against Man United was special for me. My only wish was if I could have got a goal for West Brom, which really would have been the icing on the cake for me.
Bob?s contract ran out at the end of that season - his testimonial year - and the club decided not to renew his contract. Bob played his last game for his beloved club on the last game of the season at home to his home town club Newcastle United. There was a clip on the video of me walking off when I was being subbed with tears in my eyes. It wasn't really that it was to be my last game for the club, it was because my testimonial was in 2 days time and I didn?t know if I'd be fit, so I was really disappointed."
Bob left the club a true fans favourite, after playing over 300 games for the Baggies, if anyone has any doubts about what high regard Bob is held in West Bromwich, then they should read the following Bob Taylor joke that was passed around in late March 2003, on an Albion fans? internet chatroom:
Bob Taylor, Michael Owen and David Beckaham are standing before God at the throne of heaven. God looks at them and says, Before granting you a place at my side, I must first ask you what you believe in. Addressing David Beckham first, he asks, What do you believe?? David looks God in the eye and states passionately, I believe football to be the food of life. Nothing else brings such unbridled joy to so many people, from the slums of Rio to the bright lights of Barcelona. I have devoted my life to bring such joy to people who stood on the terraces supporting their club. God looks up and offers David the seat to his left. He then turns to Michael Owen. And you, Mike, what do you believe?? Michael stands tall and proud. I believe courage, honour and passion are the fundamentals of life, and I've spent my whole playing career providing a living embodiment of these traits. God, moved by the passion of the speach, offers Michael the seat to his right. Finally, he turns to Bob Taylor. "And you, Mr Taylor, what do you believe?" "I believe", says Bob, that you're sitting in my seat.
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