Matthew Taylor (footballer, born 1981)

Matt Taylor
Taylor playing for West Ham United in 2012
Personal information
Full name Matthew Simon Taylor[1]
Date of birth (1981-11-27) 27 November 1981 (age 42)[2]
Place of birth Oxford, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Team information
Current team
Wealdstone (manager)
Youth career
0000–1999 Luton Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Luton Town 129 (16)
2002–2008 Portsmouth 178 (23)
2008–2011 Bolton Wanderers 123 (23)
2011–2014 West Ham United 76 (2)
2014–2016 Burnley 37 (4)
2016–2017 Northampton Town 44 (7)
2017–2019 Swindon Town 71 (9)
Total 658 (84)
International career
2002–2003 England U21 3 (0)
Managerial career
2018 Swindon Town (caretaker)
2019–2021 Tottenham Hotspur U-18s
2021–2022 Walsall
2023–2024 Shrewsbury Town
2024– Wealdstone
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Matthew Simon Taylor (born 27 November 1981) is an English former professional footballer, who most notably played for Portsmouth and Bolton Wanderers. He is the current manager of National League side Wealdstone.

As a player, Taylor was a full-back, wing-back and midfielder in the Premier League for Portsmouth, Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United, and Burnley and in the Football League for Luton Town, Northampton Town and Swindon Town. He scored 84 goals in 658 league games in a 20-year career in English football.

Taylor began his coaching career while still a player at Swindon Town and, upon retiring from playing in 2019, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur to coach their U18s. He landed his first Football League management job in May 2021, taking over as head coach of Walsall. He was dismissed in February 2022 and hired at Shrewsbury Town in League One in June 2023. He was then sacked in January 2024. He was appointed as Wealdstone manager in May 2024.

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018" (PDF). English Football League. p. 90. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 401. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. ^ "Matthew Taylor". Swindon Town F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2018.