Dale Taylor (born 12 December 2003) is a Northern Irish 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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and the Northern Ireland national team.

Club career

Taylor is a former youth academy player of Greenisland and Linfield. He joined English club

in July 2020. He signed his first professional contract with the club in December 2020. On 4 July 2022, Taylor signed a new three-year deal with Forest. On 23 August 2022, Taylor made his professional debut in a 3–0 victory over

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. On 20 January 2023, Taylor signed on loan with

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

for the remainder of the season. Taylor scored his first senior league goal in a 2–0 victory over

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on 28 January 2023. On 23 July 2023, Taylor signed with League One side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on a season-long loan. In the 2024 EFL Trophy final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, Taylor scored an 89th-minute equaliser against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, but Wycombe went on to lose the match 2–1. On 28 August 2024, Taylor returned to League One, joining

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

on a season-long loan deal. He scored 11 goals for the club, and received the club's Player of the Year award.

International career

Taylor is a Northern Irish youth international. In November 2021, he received his first call-up to senior team. He made his senior team debut on 12 November 2021 in a 1–0

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

win against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Wycombe Wanderers *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

runner-up: 2023–24 Individual *

Player of the Year: 2024–25

References

External links

* 2003 births Living people Men's association football forwards Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Linfield F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players English Football League players {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub