HIS LEGACY WILL LIVE ON FOREVER
OXFORD CITY say that if it wasn’t for tragic Managing Director Colin Taylor the club may still be playing County League football.
The 62-year-old was found dead at the club’s Marsh Lane ground on Sunday – a death, police confirmed, which is not being treating as suspicious. Taylor stepped in to save troubled Oxford more than 20 years ago and has since dedicated his life to the club. Unsurpringly, the news has rocked the club and indeed the local area. A coroner’s report is due out on Monday but regardless of the outcome, City chairman Brain Cox says the cherished father of two must be remembered as the man who has spearheaded the club’s ascent back up the pyramid. “We took the club over together, we built it up but he is the one who did 75 per cent of the work here – and his level of commitment in over 20 years seemed to increase every season,” an emotional Cox told The NLP. “His legacy is not only the fact that he leaves behind a club which has risen from Step 5 to the National League North, but one which has significant roots in its community and one with a wonderful £2.2m facility which he helped build. “He was Oxford City, and it goes without saying that without his drive and passion we would be nothing like the club we are today. We may still be where we were when we started all those years ago.
“I simply describe him as a lovely man. He was essentially a full-time volunteer – you will not find anyone in sport anywhere who worked harder.
“Sometimes he wouldn’t sleep because of work business. It’s only now he’s gone we’re discovering he did absolutely everything. It’s a tragic loss and we’re all desperately saddened.”
Taylor’s family said they have been “overwhelmed” by the tributes paid in a statement.
He leaves widow Sue and daughters Laura and Sarah who said:“The support from Oxford City – which was so important to him – and the wider football community has shown us just how many lives he touched. He was a dearly loved husband and father and words cannot express how much we will miss him.”
The club’s former manager Mike Ford paid his own tribute, saying: “It’s a horrible situation and my thoughts are with Colin’s family. I admit I shed a couple of tears when I heard the awful news.
“Everything he did was for the football club. It was always the most important thing to him.”
A date for his funeral will be set following the publication of the coroner’s report.