Football master class
Graham Taylor on the beautiful game
As England prepares for its World Cup Campaign under the much maligned leadership of Sven Goran Erickson, a former manager of the England football team, Graham Taylor shared his experiences of the beautiful game with LJMU students.
Speaking to an audience of around 100 sports science students, Graham Taylor delivered a football master class on Thursday 16 February. During his talk he reflected on his experiences, both as a player and a manager, highlighting the increasingly important role that science plays in professional football. Following his lecture, Taylor took part in an Q&A session.
Dr Barry Drust, course leader for LJMU’s Science and Football programme pictured above with Graham Taylor, said: “With 1000 league games under his belt as a manager, Graham Taylor was more than qualified to give our students a real insight on what’s its like to work in professional football today. He was also one of the first managers to really embrace sports science when he was manager of Watford in the 1970s.”
Graham Taylor began his career as a player for Grimsby Town, before a hip injury forced him off the pitch and onto the touch line as the youngest manager in the league, when he took over at Lincoln City FC in 1972, aged just 28. In 1977, he joined Watford, leading them from Division Four to Division One in only five years. He also took the side to the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1983 and the 1984 FA Cup final, which Watford lost to Everton 2-0. After a decade at Watford, he joined the newly relegated Aston Villa, bringing them back to top flight competition within one season. During his third season at the club Villa finished runners-up in the First Division.
It was this success that prompted the call to lead the England football team in 1990 following the departure of Bobby Robson, after England's world cup semi-final defeat to Germany. He served as manager for three years before England's failure to advance from the World Cup 1994 preliminary competition forced his resignation.
After England, he managed Wolves (1994-1995) before returning to Watford first as General Manager and then Manager, steering the club to victory in the Division Two championship. The following season Taylor won promotion to the Premier league, though they were relegated after one season.
After a brief respite from football management between 2000 and 2002, Taylor returned to his old job at Aston Villa. In 2003, he officially retired when after Villa finished 16th in the Premiership.
Now a much respected sports commentator, Graham Taylor was awarded an OBE for services to football in 2002 and entered the Football Association Hall of Fame that same year.
Pictures:
- Top: Dr Barry Drust introduces Graham Taylor to an audience of around 100 staff and students.
- Bottom: Graham Taylor shares a joke with sports science student Kirsty Goh and friends