Shaun Taylor (born 26 February 1963) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who made more than 500 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, playing for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Taylor was born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

. A hard-tackling no-nonsense defender, he played

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

for clubs including Holsworthy FC,

St Blazey St Blazey ( kw, Lanndreth) is a small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Blaise is the civil parish in which St Blazey is situated; the name St Blaise is also used by the town council. The village of Biscovey and the settlements of ...

and

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ' ...

before moving to

in December 1986 at the age of 23. He captained Exeter to the Fourth Division championship in 1989–90, and played 200 league games for the club before moving to

in July 1991 for a £200,000 fee. He was an ever-present as Swindon gained promotion to the

in 1992–93, a season when he scored 13 goals including one in the play-off final, a high total for a defender, and played every game in their only season in the top flight. After a second relegation, he captained Swindon to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title, and became the first player to win the club's Player of the Year award three times. He played 259 games in all competitions for the club before joining

in September 1996 for £50,000. After a further 105 league games for Bristol City, helping the club to promotion to Division One in 1998, Taylor retired as a player and joined the club's coaching staff. Released in May 2005, he moved to

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

in June as assistant to manager

Gary Owers Gary Owers (born 3 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer, and football manager. He most recently managed Torquay United. He was previously manager of Bath City and Forest Green Rovers as well as the assistant manager at Al ...

; their contracts were terminated by mutual consent after a poor start to the 2006–07 season. In July 2009 Taylor rejoined

as youth coach. He then became Assistant manager at Exeter City's Devon rivals Torquay United until he was dismissed in May 2013. Taylor's younger brother Craig was also a professional footballer. On 12 July 2013, Shaun was appointed Professional Development Coach with his hometown club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

youth academy. In January 2018 Shaun Taylor returned to Torquay United as their new Head of Academy Coaching.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 1989–90 Fourth Division, 1995–96 Second Division, 1997–98 Second Division

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Shaun 1963 births Living people Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English footballers Association football defenders St Blazey A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Bideford A.F.C. players Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Forest Green Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff Torquay United F.C. non-playing staff Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches