ALAN TAYLOR 

Date and Place of Birth 14th November 1953 - Hinckley   Transfers to and from Burnley from Hull City - June 1984 to Bury - June 1986   First and Last Burnley Games Plymouth Argyle (Ha) - 25th August 1984   Colchester United (a) - 6th May 1986   Other Clubs Rochdale, West Ham United, Norwich City, Vancouver Whitecaps, Cambridge United, Vancouver Whitecaps, Hull City ---------------------------------------- Bury, Norwich City

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

Alan Taylor spent two years with the Clarets towards the end of his football career and was with us during the worst period in the history of the club.

His last game before joining the Clarets was against us and then he somewhat strangely sat by and watched us relegated to the Fourth Division when many judges believed his goals might just have been able to keep us up.

Taylor's start in football was not the best. He signed for Preston as a youth team player but was rejected by North End and drifted into non-league football, firstly with Morecambe and then with their close rivals Lancaster City.

He did well enough with Lancaster to earn himself a contract with Fourth Division Rochdale and such was his success at Spotland that he was only with them for just over a year before he moved into the top flight with West Ham.

Manager John Lyall had watched him a number of times and splashed out £40,000 on him at the end of 1974. Taylor had just recovered from an injury that had kept him out of a number of games including four FA Cup games, two against Marine and two against Tranmere.

That injury meant he wasn't cup tied and that proved to be a blessing in disguise. The Hammers had won through to the sixth round after wins against Southampton, Swindon and QPR but once in the last eight Taylor grabbed the headlines for the rest of the competition.

He scored both West Ham goals as they beat Arsenal 2-0 to reach the semi-finals and after a 0-0 draw in the first game he scored both again as Ipswich succumbed 2-1 in the replay at Stamford Bridge.

That took West Ham to Wembley and incredibly it was a double again from Taylor that won it with a 2-0 win against Fulham in the Final.

The following season was his best at West Ham as they enjoyed a return to European football. He was used as a substitute in the final defeat against Anderlecht, the Belgian side winning 4-2.

Soon after injuries began to take their toll and he was never again a regular in the side. West Ham suffered relegation in 1978 and Taylor left the year after in a £90,000 transfer for Norwich where he teamed up with John Bond for the first time.

After Norwich he played for Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada before returning to England where he played for Cambridge United. Then it was back to Vancouver for three years before he pitched up at Hull to join their 1983/84 promotion campaign.

That ended in failure when they needed to beat Burnley by three goals or more in the last match, they won 2-0, and after the game Taylor came into the Centre Spot at Turf Moor with the Burnley players. He said their manager had resigned in the dressing room and that he'd agreed to sign for Burnley.

For whatever reason John Benson chose not to play him very often and as the Clarets slipped towards the basement there was no place for Taylor in the side although he did make a rare appearance in the FA Cup win at Penrith and grabbed a hat trick.

Benson finally brought him back into the side at the end of the season and he scored seven times in nine games, including the winner in each of the last two away games at Swansea and Walsall. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and we went down.

In the following season he was a regular and netted sixteen league goals, more than twice any other player, and won the Supporters' Club's Player of the Year Award. Unfortunately finances dictated and we couldn't afford to offer him another deal.

At the age of 32 he moved to Bury where he was part of Martin Dobson's promotion squad that also included other ex-Clarets Terry Pashley, Kevin Young, Leighton James and Brian Flynn.

After two years at Gigg Lane he returned to Norwich before hanging up his boots and running a newsagents shop in the city with his wife Jeanette.

Taylor had great pace and looked as though he was going to be a hell of signing when he came to Turf Moor. Why he used only sparingly during that relegation season only John Benson will ever know. But alongside Wayne Biggins he could have formed a partnership to see us some distance from the bottom of that league.