Maik Taylor

In June 1995, Taylor joined Barnet of the Football League Third Division for a fee of £700. Eighteen months later he was signed by Southampton of the Premier League for a fee of £500,000.

Southampton

Taylor had become a "Saints" fan as a schoolboy so when Graeme Souness brought him to The Dell in January 1997, no-one was more delighted than Taylor himself. Taylor immediately went into the first-team, replacing Dave Beasant, and made his debut on 11 January in a 1–0 victory at Middlesbrough. During his first season at Southampton, the team struggled near the foot of the table, avoiding relegation by one point, having been in last place with five matches to play. Souness left the club in the summer of 1997, being replaced by Dave Jones who brought in several new players, including goalkeeper Paul Jones from his previous club, Stockport County. Taylor spent the rest of his time at Southampton on the bench and was sold to Fulham in November 1997.

Fulham

Taylor was bought by Fulham in 1997 from Southampton at a cost of £800,000. Fulham's manager Kevin Keegan rated him as the "best taker of a cross I've ever seen" and he proved to be a good signing for the Cottagers, helping them win the Second Division title in 1999. The First Division championship followed in 2001 and thus promotion to the Premier League. Whilst at Craven Cottage, Taylor earned his first international cap for Northern Ireland in a 3–0 defeat by Germany on 27 March 1999. He went on to make…

Taylor was born in Germany to an English father and a German mother. As a British citizen who was born abroad, FIFA eligibility rules at the time of Taylor's first international selection entitled him to represent any of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom at international level. He opted for Northern Ireland, despite having no familial connection to that country. Taylor made his debut for the Northern Ireland U21 team in April 1998 at the age of 27, as an over-age player in a 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland. His senior debut was against Germany in 1999: Northern Ireland lost 3–0. In an August 2005 friendly Taylor saved an injury time penalty from Malta's George Mallia to keep the score at 1–1. He became a regular in the Northern Ireland national team, and played 88 matches, including the famous 1–0 victory over England in September 2005. Taylor was replaced by Lee Camp as first choice goalkeeper, but was recalled to the Northern Ireland squad in August 2011 despite not being registered with a club since leaving Birmingham City. He made his 88th appearance for Northern Ireland on 11 October 2011, captaining his country in a 3–0 defeat away to Italy in a Euro 2012 qualifier. While working as the national goalkeeping coach, the 43-year-old Taylor made an emergency return to the squad in June 2015 as a back-up goalkeeper, following an injury to Roy Carroll the day before a Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania.

In July 2013, Taylor – who had studied UEFA B Licence and UEFA A Licence, Part 1 – was hired as goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland national team. On 8 March 2019, he agreed a short-term deal to become the goalkeeping coach at Bradford City until the end of the 2018–19 season. In June 2019 he left Bradford to take up a similar role at Walsall, and in July 2022, returned to Birmingham City as part of newly appointed head coach John Eustace's backroom staff.

Taylor was born in Hildesheim, West Germany, to a German mother and an English father who was serving as a staff sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) regiment of the British Army. Taylor began his football career at ASC Nienburg of Nienburg, Lower Saxony, in Germany before moving to England as a schoolboy. He later followed in his father's footsteps by joining the REME based at Arborfield in Berkshire, where he attended Princess Marina College. He later moved to Bordon in Hampshire where he played football for his regiment and for the Army and Combined Services representative sides. During this period he also played for Petersfield Town, Basingstoke Town and Farnborough Town, with whom he won the Southern League Premier Division title in 1993–94.