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Peter Taylor had already appeared 4 times for England as a 3rd Division
player when Crystal Palace sold him to Spurs in September 1976. Taylor
had made his name in the previous season's FA Cup, when Palace's
remarkable run was halted in the semi-final. Keith Burkinshaw paid £200,
000 for the stocky winger and Taylor made his debut on 2nd October 1976
in a 4-2 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, with the England international
scoring Tottenham's 2nd goal. 1976-77 was a difficult season for the
Essex-born forward to make any real impact in a poor Spurs team,
although he did manage to find the net 8 times in his 32 league games.
The Spurs team were reduced to few international stars, Taylor being one
of only a handful left at the club, and the side were relegated from
Division 1, in 22nd position. The powerfully built Taylor proved his
worth to the team the following season, missing just 1 league game and
scoring on 11 occasions to help Spurs return to the top flight at the
first time of asking.
The return to the top flight enabled the club to
bring in established stars, such as Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa.
With the emergence of the supremely gifted Glenn Hoddle, some of the
expectations were lifted from the broad shoulders of Peter Taylor. The
flying winger played in 31 of Spurs league games and scored 11 goals.
After several years of decline, Spurs consolidated by finishing 11th in
the table. Injuries and the emergence of Tony Galvin restricted Taylor's
appearances for Spurs during the following two seasons. The ex-England
international was to make fewer than 20 more appearances, often as
substitute. Taylor's final goal for the London club came from the
penalty spot on October 4th 1980, in a 3-2 win at Stoke City. One of
Peter Taylor's last games for Spurs was fittingly in a 3-1 win at
Crystal Palace in the 3rd round of the League Cup in late September
1980. After 140 appearances and 33 goals for the White Hart Lane club,
Peter joined Orient in May 1980 for a fee of £150,000. (Tony Smith)
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1971–1973 Southend United 75 (12)
1973–1976 Crystal Palace 122 (33)
1976–1980 Tottenham Hotspur 123 (31)
1980–1983 Leyton Orient 56 (11)
1983 Oldham Athletic (loan) 4 (0)
1983–1984 Exeter City 8 (0)
1984 Maidstone United
1986 Chelmsford City
1986–1990 Dartford
Teams managed.
1986–1990 Dartford (Player-manager)
1993–1995 Southend United
1995–1996 Dover Athletic
1996–1999 England U21
1999–2000 Gillingham
2000–2001 Leicester City
2000 England (caretaker)
2001–2002 Brighton & Hove Albion
2002–2006 Hull City
2004–2007 England U21
2006–2007 Crystal Palace
2007–2008 Stevenage Borough
2008–2009 Wycombe Wanderers
2010–2011 Bradford City
2011–2012 Bahrain
2013 England U20
2013–2014 Gillingham
Games for England.
| A cultured player whose skills had slipped through the scouting network, Peter Taylor was a bright spark of the Third Division who came to prominence when he inspired Crystal Palace to the semi-finals of the 1976 FA Cup, including a stunning individual performance in a fifth round win at Chelsea which prompted Don Revie to take a closer look at the vibrant left winger who had an effective tendency to dart inside and strike long-range goals. Taylor duly scored on his England debut in a 2-1 friendly win over Wales at Wrexham, and then put another away against the same opposition six weeks later in the Home Internationals. He featured in the other two Home Internationals but then didn't travel with the half-experimental squad which took part in the US Bicentennial Tournament. A move to Spurs (he is pictured above playing for the North London club) was expected to enhance his prospects but Taylor completely disappeared off the international radar and the next time he was involved in the full international squad was when he became caretaker manager in November 2000 against Italy and gave David Beckham the captaincy. (Matthew Rudd) |