Ryan Taylor

Ryan Anthony Taylor (born 19 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer.

A versatile player and former England under-21 international, he was able to play as a full back or across the midfield, and had excellent free kick taking ability.

Taylor began his career at Tranmere Rovers in 2002, and made 122 league and cup appearances in three full seasons with the club, being voted as Tranmere's Player of the Year and onto the PFA Team of the Year in 2004–05.

Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Taylor came through the Tranmere Rovers youth team to score the winning goal on his first-team debut in a 2–1 win over Hartlepool United in a League Cup tie at Victoria Park on 10 September 2002.

He made his league debut in a 3–1 win over Brentford four days later at Prenton Park.

He maintained a regular place in the starting eleven under both Ray Mathias and Brian Little, and ended the 2002–03 campaign with three goals in 32 appearances, before scoring six goals over 39 matches in the 2003–04 season.

He spent most of his time at right back, after succeeding veteran defender Steve Yates.

He scored 10 goals in 51 appearances in the 2004–05 season, including one in the League One play-off semi-final second leg victory over Hartlepool United; the tie went to penalties however, and Taylor missed one of the penalties as Tranmere were beaten 6–5.

He was voted onto the League One PFA Team of the Year for his performances across the season.

He was also voted as Tranmere Rovers Player of the Year by both his teammates and the supporters.

He was sold to Premier League club Wigan Athletic in July 2005 for a fee of £750,000.

In July 2005, he was sold to Wigan Athletic for £750,000 (potentially rising to £1.3 million with appearance clauses); and signed a four-year contract.

The transfer ended weeks of speculation, that had seemed him linked with Norwich City, Arsenal, and Everton; Norwich manager Nigel Worthington had in fact stated that "he's gone to Everton".

Taylor scored his first goal for Paul Jewell's Wigan with a penalty in a 3–0 home victory over Watford in the League Cup on 25 October 2005.

However, he fractured his fifth metatarsal in a 1–1 FA Cup third round draw with Leeds United on 7 January, which ruled him out of action for three months.

He ended up spending the remainder of the 2005–06 season out injured after breaking his leg in a reserve team match against Newcastle United reserves in April.

He scored one goal in 16 appearances in each of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.

On 19 September, Rovers confirmed that Taylor had signed a new long-term deal to keep him tied to the club until June 2006.

He scored his first top-flight goal with a well placed free kick in a 1–0 home win over Newcastle United on 25 February 2007.

Frozen out of the first-team picture under new manager Chris Hutchings, Taylor was restored to the first team after Steve Bruce replaced Hutchings as manager in November 2007.

When Newcastle returned to the JJB Stadium on Boxing Day, Taylor repeated his feat of the same tie in the previous season, again beating Shay Given with a free kick to score the only goal of the match.

On 5 April, he doubled his Premier League goal tally with two close-range efforts to give Wigan an important 2–0 home win over relegation rivals Birmingham City.

He continued his run of goals over Newcastle into the 2008–09 season, scoring in both the home and away fixtures, to help Wigan to secure an away draw and home victory.

Taylor played ten matches in the remainder of the 2008–09 season as Newcastle finished one point short of safety.

He scored his first goal for the club on 22 August to help secure a 2–0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Injuries restricted his appearances, though after scoring in four consecutive matches against Newcastle United he joined the club in a trade deal in January 2009.

After Newcastle dropped out of the top-flight, Taylor helped the club to win promotion as champions of the Championship in 2009–10.

In February 2009, Taylor was traded to Newcastle in a part-exchange for Charles N'Zogbia, and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Newcastle.

Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear said that he was "over the moon" to signed Taylor, noting that his versatility and experience would make him a useful addition.

Taylor said that Newcastle were in a relegation fight, and said "we have to get on and battle".

He went on to score four goals in 36 appearances – mostly as a substitute – in the 2009–10 season as Newcastle won promotion as champions of the Championship.

However, he then faced a catalogue of injuries, firstly fracturing a metatarsal and then breaking a leg in the 2010–11 season, and then picking up a serious cruciate knee ligament injury in August 2012.

Taylor played a total of 106 matches for Newcastle, though featured just 18 times in his final three seasons.

Taylor lost his first-team place under Chris Hughton's stewardship at the start of the 2010–11 season, though claimed two long-range goals in the League Cup in victories over Accrington Stanley and Chelsea.

He was released by Newcastle in May 2015, and spent the 2015–16 campaign at Hull City, where he made only occasional cameo appearances.

He signed with Port Vale in October 2016 and again in March 2017.

He signed with Indian Super League club ATK in December 2017.

He returned to England and signed with Fleetwood Town in September 2018.

He ended his 17-year career in the English Football League at the end of the season, having scored 42 goals in 350 competitive appearances.

He came out of retirement in October 2020 to play for non-League side Colne and moved on to Buxton in January 2022.