Peter Taylor (footballer, born 1928)
Peter Thomas Taylor was an English football player and manager. A goalkeeper with a modest playing career, he went on to work in management alongside Brian Clough at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, winning the Football League with both clubs and the European Cup twice with Nottingham Forest.
He joined Coventry City in 1945 and spent the 1953–54 season as Coventry's first-choice goalkeeper but was otherwise mostly used as a reserve player. He was sold on to Middlesbrough for £3,500 in 1955 and kept goal for the Second Division club for four full seasons after being promoted to the first-team in the 1956–57 campaign. He lost his first-team place in 1960 and in June 1961, joined Port Vale for a £750 fee. He took a free transfer to non-League Burton Albion in May 1962, where he ended his playing career. Throughout his playing career, he built for his future management career by learning from Coventry manager Harry Storer and building a close relationship with Middlesbrough striker Brian Clough, six years his junior.
He was appointed as manager of Burton Albion in October 1962 after impressing the chairman with his knowledge of the game. He built a strong team and led the club to victory in the Southern League Cup in 1964. In 1965–66 season, Clough appointed him as his assistant at Hartlepools United, and Taylor helped Clough to rebuild the playing squad with a decent eighth place in the Third Division in the 1966–67 season. The pair moved on to Derby County in May 1967, taking the club to the Second Division title in 1968–69, then the First Division title in 1971–72, and the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1973. The duo resigned in October 1973 after their strained relationship with the club's board of directors became unworkable. Clough and Taylor moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion in November 1973, and Taylor stayed on as manager after Clough left Brighton in July 1974.
In July 1976, Taylor left Brighton to work alongside Clough at Nottingham Forest. Repeating their achievement at Derby by winning promotion into the top-flight in 1976–77 and then winning the league title in 1977–78, they then surpassed their previous accomplishments by winning the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. Forest also lifted the Anglo-Scottish Cup, the FA Charity Shield, the European Super Cup, and twice won the League Cup. Taylor retired in May 1982 but returned to the game in November 1982 to manage Derby County. He retired for the second and final time in April 1984.
Following a dispute over Nottingham Forest player John Robertson's transfer in May 1983, he and Clough had not been on speaking terms, and Taylor's sudden death in October 1990 robbed Clough of the chance of reconciliation, something he greatly regretted. In April 2009, a statue of Clough and Taylor was commissioned at Derby's Pride Park Stadium. In October 2015, Nottingham Forest's main stand at the City Ground was renamed the Peter Taylor Stand.
Playing career
Nottingham Forest
Peter Taylor was born on 2 July 1928, one of eight children in the Meadows, Nottingham to Tom and Jenny Taylor, an engineer and housewife, respectively. He met his future wife, Lily Thorpe, at the age of 14, who persuaded him to play for her father's team, local non-League side Christchurch. He later moved on to play for Mapperley Methodists before he was spotted by Nottingham Forest and signed to their youth team, the Forest Colts. He made his first-team debut for the club as an amateur in a wartime fixture against local rivals Notts County at Meadow Lane in 1944, at the age of 16.Coventry City
He signed with Coventry City on his 17th birthday, though was initially only a part-time player as his father insisted that he also complete an apprenticeship in bricklaying. Under the stewardship of Harry Storer, Coventry finished seventh in the Second Division in 1950–51, and Taylor made his debut in the Football League on the final day of the season, breaking Alf Wood's run of 261 consecutive first-team appearances. The Birmingham Sports Argus described how "if Peter's role has denied him the glamour of a glorious achievement in action, he has his share of personal glamour. He's a tall, fair-haired good looker and so comely that he was described as the film star of Highfield Road. Is single too." Taylor did not stay single for long, however, and married Lily Thorpe in June 1951.Coventry were relegated in 1951–52, with Taylor having made 29 appearances. Coventry finished sixth in the Third Division South in 1952–53, with Taylor only appearing eight times. It proved to be Storer's final season as manager, and Taylor later cited Storer as his managerial mentor and would go on to quote Storer numerous times throughout his career. Taylor played 42 games as Coventry posted a 14th-place finish under Jack Fairbrother in 1953–54, then played ten matches as they finished ninth in 1954–55. Taylor decided to leave the club after losing his first-team place to future Coventry City Hall of Famer and England international Reg Matthews.
Middlesbrough
Taylor was sold to Middlesbrough in the summer of 1955 for £3,500 by new Coventry manager Jesse Carver, following an assessment of the playing staff by Carver and new coach George Raynor. It was at Middlesbrough that Taylor first met his future managerial partner Brian Clough, who was then fourth-choice striker at Ayresome Park. Taylor spotted Clough's potential and helped him to achieve a place in the first-team. Taylor initially contacted Storer, now manager of Derby County, to try and get him to sign Clough. Storer had told him he had spent the club's budget on signing Martin McDonnell and Paddy Ryan. Manager Bob Dennison led "Boro" to 14th in the Second Division in 1955–56, seeing both Clough and Taylor only as "useful reserves". The pair spent their spare time coaching schoolboys to boost their wages and to gain experience. Clough went on to become the club's star striker with 197 goals in 213 league games, and though Taylor would also break into the first-team after replacing Rolando Ugolini, he later said he was only ever an "average goalkeeper".Port Vale
In June 1961, Port Vale manager Norman Low paid Middlesbrough £750 for Taylor's services. Largely unneeded at Vale Park, Ken Hancock being a virtual ever-present from 1960 to 1964, his only appearance was in a 2–1 Third Division defeat at Bradford Park Avenue on 3 February 1962. He left on a free transfer for Burton Albion in May 1962, where he began his management career.Management career
Burton Albion
In October 1962, Taylor was offered the manager's job at Burton Albion after impressing chairman Trevor Grantham with his knowledge and theories on the game. In summer 1963 he oversaw a complete overhaul of the playing staff, only retaining four players, and completely rebuilt the squad. He signed strikers Richie Barker and Stan Round, who would score a combined 308 goals for the club, and remain the club's two highest goalscorers. He survived calls for his resignation after a defeat to Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup and went on to create one of the most successful sides in Burton's history, beating Weymouth to win the Southern League Cup in 1964. In 1965, he walked out on a newly signed £34-a-week three-year contract at Burton to become Clough's assistant manager at Hartlepools United on wages of £24 a week. He later admitted the decision, which he took against the advice of his friends and family, was "against all logic". His successor, Alex Tait, led Burton to promotion out of the Southern League Division One in 1965–66.Hartlepools United
Before their arrival, Hartlepools had been forced to apply for re-election to the Football League five times in the previous six years. Taylor stated that the squad were all free transfer signings and some of the players struggled with "drink, debt or abandoned wives". The two gradually turned around the club's fortunes. They started by painting Victoria Park. Taylor had little chance to show his skills in the transfer market as the club only had £7,500 to spend, £4,000 of which went on centre-half Johnny Gill. Other signings included two of Taylor's former players at Burton, defender Tony Parry and goalkeeper Les Green; Parry would go on to win the club's Player of the Year award. The pair went on to lead the club to an eighth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1966–67 after replacing most of the playing staff, an improvement on 1965–66 when the pair had only managed an 18th-place finish. On 15 November 1966, the then chairman, Ernest Ord, who was known for playing mind games with managers, sacked Taylor saying he couldn't afford to pay him anymore. Clough refused to accept it, so Ord sacked him as well. However, there was a boardroom coup where they refused to ratify the two sackings and which instead saw Ord ousted as chairman. Both Clough and Taylor were reinstated. Clough had initially wanted to quit the club numerous times due to interference from Ord, but Taylor insisted that they stay as they could not walk out on their first job in management. After Ord resigned as chairman, Clough wanted to remain at Hartlepools, but Taylor persuaded him to take the offer to manage Derby.Derby County
In May 1967, Clough and Taylor left Hartlepools to join Derby County after being recommended to the club by Len Shackleton. At Derby, Taylor and Clough proceeded to re-build the side, with Taylor instrumental in signing players such as Dave Mackay and Roy McFarland. Future England centre-half McFarland, who he described as an "uncut diamond" from the Third Division, was his first signing for a fee of £24,000. Other signings he initiated included winger John McGovern and full-back John Robson. After the 1967–68 season had finished with the club fifth from bottom in the Second Division, Clough and Taylor had released 16 players and numerous more staff members, including "a tea lady who laughed after a bad defeat".Derby were promoted to the First Division in 1968–69, prompting chairman Sydney Bradley to state that "Brian and Peter built an ocean liner out of a shipwreck". Derby finished fourth in 1969–70, and then strengthened again from a player Taylor had scouted, signing midfielder Archie Gemmill from Preston North End for £64,000. Most signings involved scouting from Taylor, with the only two transfers he had played no part in being Clough's former Sunderland teammates Colin Todd and John O'Hare. Following a ninth-place finish in 1970–71, Derby went on to win the League Championship in 1971–72 – the first in the club's history. Clough and Taylor continued to strengthen the club in the transfer market however, with Taylor noting that "a manager should always be looking for signs of disintegration in a winning side and then sell the players responsible before possible buyers notice their deterioration".
Derby reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the following season, controversially losing to Juventus; Taylor had spotted Juventus player Helmut Haller talking with referee Gerhard Schulenberg at half-time and described how a "squad of heavies" restrained him after he attempted to overhear the pair's conversation. Clough went on to call the Italian team "cheating bastards". On 15 October 1973, both he and Clough resigned, partially after a dispute with the Derby board over Taylor's crucial but largely undefined role. However, numerous reasons were behind Clough and Taylor's resignation. Taylor, in particular, had been frustrated by what he felt was a lack of support from the club's directors over the pair's transfer policy. The pair had come close to leaving Derby earlier, turning down offers to manage Coventry City and the Greece national team. Fans protested against the board following their resignation, and the players also demanded they be reinstated, but chairman Sam Longson's relationship with Clough and Taylor was irreparable.