Stuart Taylor

Arsenal

Taylor was born in Romford, London. After a brief spell as a teenager with Wimbledon, Taylor joined Arsenal in 1997 as a youth player. He made his Arsenal debut in a League Cup game against Ipswich Town in November 2000. While at Arsenal he was loaned out to Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Peterborough United and Leicester City. His league debut for Arsenal came in a 3–1 win against Manchester United in November 2001. He went on to make ten League appearances in Arsenal's 2001–02 Premier League-winning season, thus qualifying him for a winners' medal. This feat was achieved in the final match against Everton, with the title already won. Richard Wright started the game with Taylor upon nine appearances. Manager Arsène Wenger substituted Wright in the 85th minute of play for Taylor who thus earned a medal with this cap. During his time at Arsenal he was tipped to become David Seaman's successor. However, although he saw off competition from Alex Manninger and Wright, the signings of Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia in 2003 and 2004 respectively saw him struggle for playing time. Taylor also missed the whole of the 2003–04 season due to a persistent shoulder problem. After the signing of Almunia, Taylor thus became the club's third-choice goalkeeper and Wenger told Taylor that he would understand if he chose to leave. During his stay at Highbury Taylor won a league title, an FA Cup as well as two Charity Shields. Altogether he made 30 appearances in all…

Taylor played for the England U20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Andrew Johnson. He was capped three times for the England U21 team.

Notes

Arsenal

Premier League: 2001–02 FA Cup: 2002–03 FA Charity/Community Shield: 1999, 2002