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Players Index Page Last Updated
9 August 2022
 
 

Tommy Taylor

Manchester United FC

19 appearances, 16 goals

P 19 W 11 D 6 L 2 F 51: A 21
*(actual F 48: A 21)
74% successful

1953-57

captain: none
minutes played:
1610

Timeline

  Thomas Taylor (*Actual for and against are the goals scored
while the player was on the field.)
Birth 29 January 1932 at 4 Quarry Street, in Smithies, Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire [registered in Barnsley, March 1932].
Attended Burton Road Junior and Rayley Secondary Modern Schools
 

According to the 1939 register, Thomas is the second of six children to Charles and Violet (née Hodgkins), living at 4 Quarry Street in the Smithies area of Barnsley. His father is a hewer in the coalmines.

Death Thursday, 6 February 1958 at Flughafen München Riem, Kirchtrudering, West Germany, aged 26 years 8 days [registered in the GRO Air Deaths, 1947-65].
One of 23 fatalities of the Munich Air Disaster, one of four England players.

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &
Biographies Tommy Taylor: The Smiling Executioner - Brian Hughes (Empire Publications Ltd, December 1996)
 

x. - A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999).

Club Career

Club(s) Began his football career playing at school and as a centre-foward with Barnsley Boys. Never intending to carve out a career in football, he only played with local amateur side Smithies United FC, of the Nelson League, because they were a man short. After just three matches, he was noticed by the Barnsley FC scouts, who signed him on 7 February 1948 on amateur forms and to their groundstaff, just ahead of Hull City FC. On 25 July 1949, Taylor signed professional forms. On 4 March 1953, Taylor joined Manchester United FC for a transfer fee in the region of £30,000.
Club honours x
Ballon d'Or
eighth 1957;
Individual honours x
Distinctions x
Height/Weight 6' 0", 12st. 11lbs [1957].

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career

Player number One of two who became 719th players (719) to appear for England.
Position(s) Inside-left/right, centre-forward
First match No. 277, 17 May 1953, Argentina 0 England 0, an end-of-season South American tour match at Estadio Monumental, Nuñez, Buenos Aires, abandoned after 36 minutes, aged 21 years 108 days.
Last match No. 317, 27 November 1957, England 4 France 0, a friendly match at The Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, aged 25 years 302 days.
Major tournaments World Cup Finals 1954; British Championship 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58;
Team honours British Championship shared 1955-56, 1957-58, winners 1956-57;
Individual honours England B (two appearances, four goals, one hat-trick, 1956);
England Top Goalscorer 1956 (7), 1956-57 (10), 1957 (7);
Distinctions The fourth substitute to be used by England, but the first at home, and the first at Wembley.
Died 71 days after his final England appearance, an unwanted record shared with Roger Byrne. At the time, Taylor was the fifth youngest player to die. In fifteen days time, he will become the sixth youngest.
Died the same day as Roger Byrne, David Pegg and Frank Swift, and three days after Joe Cottle.

Beyond England

Left school to work on the pit top at Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery.  - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.x.

On 6th February 1958 the airliner carrying players and backroom staff of Manchester United, plus a number of journalists and supporters, crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from Munich airport. United were returning from Belgrade where they had just beaten Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup and had stopped off at Munich for re-fuelling. Twenty-three of the forty-four passengers on board the aircraft lost their lives. - Munich Remembered and Never Forgotten - Munich58.co.uk



The Numbers
parties Apps comp. apps starts substitute unused/
reserve
minutes goals ave.min comp. goals captain
14 19 9 18 ▲1
▼1
three 1610 16 101 min 5 four none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.
P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
19 11 6 2 51 21 +30 2 6 2.684 1.105 73.7 +9

Venue Record

Venue P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home 6 5 0 1 23 8 +15 0 2 3.833 1.333 83.3 +4
Away 12 6 5 1 24 9 +15 2 4 2.00 0.75 70.8 +5
Neutral 1 0 1 0 4 4 =0 0 0 4.00 4.00 50.0 =0

Shirt Record

Colour P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
White 18 10 6 2 48 20 +28 2 6 2.667 1.111 72.2 +8
Red 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 0 0 3.00 1.00 100.0 +1

Competition Record

Competition P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L

WCP

3 2 1 0 10 3 +7 0 0 3.333 1.00 83.3 +2
WCF 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 0 1 3.00 2.00 75.0 +1
World Cup 5 3 2 0 16 7 +9 0 1 3.20 1.40 80.0 +3
British Championship 4 1 2 1 8 5 +3 0 1 2.00 1.25 50.0 =0
Friendly 10 7 2 1 27 9 +18 2 4 2.70 0.90 80.0 +6

Tournament Record

World Cup Preliminary Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WCP 1956-58 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7 0 0 3.333 1.00 83.3 +2
WCP All 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7 0 0 3.333 1.00 83.3 +2
World Cup Final Tournament
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WCF 1954 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 0 1 3.00 2.00 75.0 +1
WCF All 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 0 1 3.00 2.00 75.0 +1
World Cup
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WC 1952-54 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 0 1 3.00 2.00 75.0 +1
WC 1956-58 3 2 1 0 10 3 +7 0 0 3.333 1.00 83.3 +2
WC All 5 3 2 0 16 7 +9 0 1 3.20 1.40 80.0 +3

British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1955-56 1 0 1 0 1 1 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 =0
BC 1956-57 1 0 1 0 1 1 =0 0 0 1.00 1.00 50.0 =0
BC 1957-58 2 1 0 1 6 3 +3 0 1 3.00 1.50 50.0 =0
BC All 4 1 2 1 8 5 +3 0 1 2.00 1.25 50.0 =0

All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
WC 5 3 2 0 16 7 +9 0 1 3.20 1.40 80.0 +3
BC 4 1 2 1 8 5 +3 0 1 2.00 1.25 50.0 =0
9 4 4 1 24 12 +12 0 2 2.667 1.333 66.7 +3

Match History

 Club: Manchester United F.C. - nineteen full appearances (1610 min) 16ᵍ manager: Walter Winterbottom - nineteen full appearances (1610 min) 16ᵍx

apps match pic match details comp res. rundown shirt

Age 21
276 18 April 1953 - England 2 Scotland 2, Empire Stadium, Wembley BC HD reserve

unofficial  
one appearance - Buenos Aires XI 14 May 1953
1 277 17 May 1953 - Argentina 0 England 0
Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires abandoned after 36 minutes
tour Aab   ³⁶ 10

one of two who became the 719th player (719) to appear for England.
one of two players who became the twelfth Manchester United player to represent England

2 278 24 May 1953 - Chile 1 England 2
Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago
  AW ¹ 48 10
3 279 31 May 1953 - Uruguay 2 England 1
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
AL ² 89 10
280 8 June 1953 - United States 3 England 6, Yankee Stadium, New York AW unused sub
  

Age 22
286 16 May 1954 - Yugoslavia 1 England 0, Stadion JNA, Beograd
tour
AL withdrawn
party member
B  
withdrawn party member - Yugoslavia 16 May 1954
287 23 May 1954 - Hungary 7 England 1, Népstadion, Budapest   AL  
B  
withdrawn party member  - Switzerland 23 May 1954
 
WCF
inside-left 10x
4 288 17 June 1954 - Belgium 4 England 4ᴭᵀ
Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel
ND 25
5 289 20 June 1954 - England 2 Switzerland 0
Wankdorfstadion, Bern
AW 43
290 26 June 1954 - Uruguay 4 England 2, Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel NL party member
  

Age 23
301 30 November 1955 - England 4 Spain 1, Empire Stadium, Wembley Fr HW unused sub

Age 24 B  
one appearance - Scotland February 1956, Switzerland March 1956.

6 302 14 April 1956 - Scotland 1 England 1
Hampden Park, Glasgow
BC AD 91 8
7 303 9 May 1956 - England 4 Brazil 2
Empire Stadium, Wembley
Fr HW ³ 2
67header
9
8 304 16 May 1956 - Sweden 0 England 0
Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna

tour
AD   9
9 305 20 May 1956 - Finland 1 England 5
Olympiastadion, Helsinki
  AW (1-3) 44 9

Taylor becomes the third England player to be replaced

10 306 26 May 1956 - West Germany 1 England 3
Olympiastadion, Berlin
  AW   9
11 307 6 October 1956 - Northern Ireland 1 England 1
Windsor Park, Belfast
BC AD   9
  
12 309 28 November 1956 - England 3 Yugoslavia 0
Empire Stadium, Wembley
Fr HW (1-0) 30
59
88

Taylor becomes the fourth England player to be a substitute (the first at home/Wembley)
Taylor is the third substitute to score, the second to score twice

13 310 5 December 1956 - England 5 Denmark 2
Molineux, Wolverhampton
Fr HW 2
20
53
9
  

the 49th (twelfth post-war) hattrick scored
his seven goals in 1956 makes him the top goalscorer for the year

Age 25
14 312 8 May 1957 - England 5 Republic of Ireland 1
Empire Stadium, Wembley

WCP
HW ¹⁰ 10
¹¹ 17
¹² 40header
9

the fiftieth (thirteenth post-war) hattrick scored (the third at Wembley)
Taylor is the first since Bill Dean (May 1927) to score a hat-trick in two consecutive matches

15 313 15 May 1957 - Denmark 1 England 4
Idrætsparken, København
  AW ¹³ 71
¹⁴
86header
9
16 314 19 May 1957 - Republic of Ireland 1 England 1
Dalymount Park, Dublin
  AD   9

his ten goals in 1956-57 makes him the top goalscorer for the season

17 315 19 October 1957 - Wales 0 England 4
Ninian Park, Cardiff
BC AW 39 9
18 316 6 November 1957 - England 2 Northern Ireland 3
Empire Stadium, Wembley
BC HL   9
19 317 27 November 1957 - England 4 France 0
Empire Stadium, Wembley
Fr HW ¹⁵ 3header
¹⁶
33
9
  

his seven goals in 1957 makes him the top goalscorer for the year

On 6th February 1958 Tommy Taylor tragically lost his life.
in the Munich Air Disaster

 
cg