LYLE HIGH CLUB
Goal hero, TV hit and body double to the star : Why the Harry Kane of Wimbledon won’t be fazed by facing Spurs – or their main man – at Wembley
ONE man who certainly won’t be intimidated facing Tottenham’s Premier League millionaires at Wembley is AFC Wimbledon striker Lyle Taylor.
Taylor is no stranger to life in the spotlight, rubbing shoulders with big names and delivering on the big stage for the League One Dons, including their last visit to the national stadium.
In fact, mixing with the game’s top stars will be nothing new to Taylor, who landed modelling and body-double work before his career really took off, through ex-footballer Andy Ansah.
The striker, 27, said: “It was great fun. I have done adverts with some of the best, including one with Ronaldinho for the 2010 World Cup.
“I was supposed to be just doing practice run-throughs of what Ronaldinho was going to do, but ended up being a body double for Brazil striker Luis Fabiano.
“The nicest bloke I ever did an advert with was Didier Drogba – that was for a TV. The last job I did was for Nike. It was supposed to be on July 2, 2010 and I called Ans (Ansah) and said, ‘I’ve been invited down for a trial by Eddie Howe at Bournemouth and I can’t come.’
“He said to me, ‘All right, let me get back to you’. The day after he called me back and said, ‘Lyle we’ve managed to move it forward a week, so you can come.’
“Little did I realise doing this advert would mean there was going to be a big 3D image of me hanging from the ceiling at Nike Town in London. That was probably the best job.”
Taylor was at nonleague Concord Rangers at the time, but a long, winding journey brought him back home to London and Wimbledon, in 2015, via stints at nine different clubs.
Taylor landed himself in hot water at two of those clubs – Falkirk and Sheffield United – after Twitter outbursts following criticism from fans. But he is a big favourite at Kingsmeadow, where he has enjoyed the longest spell of his career, after scoring some huge goals for the club.
He said: “I have got a relationship with the fans, probably because of scoring against MK Dons in the first win at home, scoring in the 2016 play-off final at Wembley – the best day of my career – and in the semi-final against Accrington.
“I have been lucky enough to be a big part of the recent history of this club and hopefully will be remembered for those things.”
Taylor is on a hot streak now and faces Spurs, and possibly Harry Kane, after netting 12 goals in his last 15 games. He said: “There comes a time when everything you touch goes in the back of the net, and I have been there.
“Once, in League Two, I had a half-volley from almost in the corner of the box. I remember it came over my shoulder, against Hartlepool, it went far post and hit the woodwork and went it.
“I watched it back and I’m thinking, ‘Why are you shooting from there?’ If I could get 100 of those and shoot, I would never score. But when you are confident, you are just on fire.
“Ask Harry Kane. Everything he touches is gold. Do I feel like that now? I feel good. I wouldn’t say I’m Harry Kane. That would be a bit far fetched.”
But Kane only has one more goal than Taylor in his last 15 appearances and the AFC man joked: “Is it? I am Harry Kane, then, aren’t I?”