Neil Joseph "Piffles" Taylor (March 29, 1895 – May 24, 1947) was a Canadian

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

pilot,

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

player, coach, and executive. He was "largely responsible for the development of football in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

". Born in

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

, and raised in

Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan Yellow Grass is a town in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located in the Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, approximately northwest of Weyburn, at the junction of Highways 39 and 621. The town is located on the Canadian Pacific Railway ...

, he studied law and played collegiately at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

before joining the

Regina Rugby Club The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

in 1914. In 1916, he joined the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

and became a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

. He lost an eye when he was shot down and spent a year in a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, ...

during World War I. His brother Sam, also a pilot, was shot down and killed. Despite the loss of an eye, Taylor returned to the Regina RC in 1919,

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

ing the team to the

Hugo Ross Trophy The Hugo Ross Trophy was named after a Winnipeg real estate broker, Hugo Ross, who donated the championship trophy to the Western Canada Rugby Football Union (WCRFU). Hugo Ross died a year earlier in April 1912, as he was one of many who drowned in ...

over

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. He played for them through 1921, and served as their coach in 1922 and 1923. He joined the newly renamed Regina Roughriders as their executive in 1926. In 1934, he was named team president, a post he held until 1937, when he was briefly president of the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

. He presided over the WIFU again from 1941 to 1942, and served as president of the Canadian Rugby Union in 1946 before his sudden death the same year. He was posthumously inducted to the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. The home of the Roughriders, Park de Young, was renamed the now-defunct Taylor Field in his honour in 1947, and the

, awarded annually to the champions of the WIFU, was replaced with the N. J. Taylor Trophy in 1948. Taylor was posthumously inducted to the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 1963. In 2006, the street directly in front of the now-defunct stadium's west entrance was renamed Piffles Taylor Way.A new, old name
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Piffles 1895 births 1946 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Canadian football quarterbacks Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian World War I pilots Canadian prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Players of Canadian football from Ontario People from Collingwood, Ontario Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Varsity Blues football players Canadian disabled sportspeople Royal Flying Corps officers Sportspeople with visual impairment Canadian military personnel of World War I Canadian military personnel from Ontario Canadian blind people Saskatchewan Roughriders team presidents