Being coached by Taylor was a huge thrill
GRAHAM TAYLOR was central to my first football memory. As a six-year-old boy, I will never forget watching on TV when Everton beat his Watford side 2-0 in the 1984 FA Cup final. What he did with Watford was extraordinary. Everyone talks about Wimbledon being football’s fairytale because they won the FA Cup in 1988 but what Watford achieved, with three promotions, a trip to Wembley and a runners-up spot in the old First Division, could be seen as superior. Taylor was also part of my formative years as footballer. In the mid-1990s when I was a scholar at Lilleshall, he took our year group for a training session and it was a huge thrill, as a 14-year-old, to have the then England manager watching you and encouraging you to fulfil your dream. I am at the other end of the spectrum now and the only football I play is five-a-side on a Friday night but, still, Taylor remains a part of my football life. Why? It all comes down to An Impossible Job,
the documentary about his time in charge of England. If someone doesn’t hit a long pass, one of our group will shout ‘Can we not knock it?’ and if someone complains about not receiving a ball, you will hear someone call ‘Demand it, Les!’ — as Taylor did to Les Ferdinand. Many other lines are aired, too. The reason we can recall those words so easily is because, I believe, An
Impossible Job is the greatest football documentary ever made. Taylor deserved our utmost respect for giving the cameras such access and being so honest. More than anything, though, he deserved our respect for what he was — one of life’s true gentlemen. I had the privilege of meeting him on many occasions and I can only concur with the tributes that have flowed in for him. He will be sadly missed, but will be warmly remembered for ever.