Jeff Taylor (footballer)

For other people named Jeffrey Taylor, see Jeffrey Taylor (disambiguation).

Jeffrey Neilson Taylor (20 September 1930 – 28 December 2010) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Fulham and Brentford as a forward. He went on to perform opera.^[3]

Jeff Taylor

Personal information
Full name	Jeffrey Neilson Taylor[1]
Date of birth	(1930-09-20)20 September 1930
Place of birth	Huddersfield, England
Date of death	28 December 2010(2010-12-28) (aged 80)[2]
Place of death	Holmfirth, England
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1949–1951	Huddersfield Town	68	(27)
1951–1954	Fulham	33	(14)
1954–1957	Brentford	94	(34)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Football career

In an eight-year career as a professional footballer, Taylor played in the First Division, Second Division and Third Division South of the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Fulham and Brentford respectively.^[1] Taylor scored in double-figures in his first two seasons with Huddersfield Town.^[4] He moved to Fulham in November 1951 and scored a hat-trick in one of his early appearances against Middlesbrough,^[2][5] before his music studies began to take precedence and he dropped out of the first team picture.^[6] He was Brentford's second-highest scorer in the 1956–57 season, his last in football.^[1] Taylor finished his career having scored 84 goals in 204 games.^[1] Looking back in 1997 on his premature retirement, Taylor said, "singing won the day. I had no long-term ambitions in football and I realised that it was impossible to marry the two".^[6]

Opera career

While still a footballer, Taylor was able to use his wages to pay for his studies in singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music.^[6] Taylor performed opera under the name "Neilson Taylor" and was a bass baritone. After retiring from football, he joined the Yorkshire Opera Company.^[6] Taylor moved on in 1962 to understudy Michel Roux in Pelléas et Mélisande and Walter Alberti and John Shirley-Quirk in L'incoronazione di Poppea at Glyndebourne.^[6] His time at Glyndebourne proved to be a breakthrough and he toured the world, spending time in Australia and a year at Mantua in Italy, which led to work at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and in Rotterdam.^[3] He appeared on the 1971 Unicorn recording A Peter Warlock Merry-Go-Down, subtitle "songs, catches and poems, sociable, amorous and bibulous", which was put together by Fred Tomlinson. It was reissued in 2024.^[7]

Taylor failed fully to deliver on his promise as a performer, but found fulfilment when he was made Professor of Singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow and he remained in the role for 18 years.^[3]

Personal life

His younger brother, Ken Taylor also played football for Huddersfield.^[6] Ken was also a professional cricketer, playing three Tests for England and first-class cricket for Yorkshire.^[6] Ken's son (Jeff's nephew) Nick Taylor also played cricket for Yorkshire. While still a footballer, Taylor studied for a degree in Geography at London University.^[6] After retiring from teaching, Taylor retired to Yorkshire.^[3]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Huddersfield Town	1949–50[4]	First Division	21	11	0	0	21	11
	1950–51[4]		34	11	3	2	37	13
	1951–52[4]		13	5	―		13	5
	Total		68	27	3	2	71	29
Fulham	1951–52[5]	First Division	21	4	0	0	21	4
Brentford	1954–55[8]	Third Division South	13	4	0	0	13	4
	1955–56[8]		43	15	2	1	45	16
	1956–57[8]		38	15	2	2	40	17
	Total		94	34	4	3	98	37
Career total			203	73	7	5	210	78