Graham Taylor RIP

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

Very highly regarded by everyone in football and particularly at The Grove for bringing his full Villa squad for the Mark Penn and Paul & Lee Joinson testimonial in May 1990. It was to prove to be just days before David Platt scored that memorable England goal in the World Cup against Belgium.

[lutleyyeltz]

A great character with a wicked sense of humour.
I sat next to him on a flight to Milan about 10 years ago and he never stopped talking about football for the whole trip.
A true football man.

[RaidenYeltz]

Great stories. Keep them coming if you can.

He's a little before my time. But I'll always remember him as the Villa manager when they broke my heart as a kid, when Hitzlesperger bounced a shot off Gilchrist's back to win 2-1.

[Wheels]

I think I remember hearing that on the radio on the way to a Yeltz game possibly Moor Green away it may even have been the day of that cup tie refereed by Kevin Friend I'm probably totally wrong about that though.

[Wheels]

Ignore the previous post I got where we were on that day completely wrong. Graham Taylor seemed like a real footballing man and is a sad loss to the game as a whole at all levels

[andy]

Never mind all this V*lla stuff , what he did for Watford was truly remarkable. Almost up there with the Wimbledon Crazy Gang feat for me. I know he had the Elton John backing but he built one helluva hard side to play against. Old fourth division to first and a cup final to boot. The less said about the England time the better. Always came across as a very nice bloke.
R.I.P.

[andy]

Does anyone remember the documentary in 1994 called An Impossible Job? It documented his time as England manager and was a great (if painful!) watch.

[spongeyeltz]

A very sad loss. A nicer bloke you could never wish to meet. I used to valet his Jaguar (always gave me £80.00 instead of £50.00 charge). He got me loads of work through referrals. I wish I could repeat some of the anecdotes he told me. Used to have loads of banter, with me being a blue nose at the time.
R.I.P Graham

[RobYeltz]

Graham was a proper football man, a man who rebuilt Aston Villa after their last relegation. I met Graham a couple of times, a nicer bloke you couldn't wish to meet. He would talk football for hours and his knowledge was brilliant. I remember going to something with him where he was guest speaker not long after I gained my coaching badges. I learnt more listening to him in the 40 minutes he spoke than from any other person in football.
Graham was an absolute gentleman, a man of great integrity and honour. Whilst he will always be remembered by Villa and Watford fans for the way in which he helped to build or rebuild those clubs many also quite rightly admire how he worked his way up from the bottom at Lincoln to get to where he did as England manager. The disgraceful way in which the tabloid media portrayed him during this time will sadly hang over him but even then he dealt with it like the true gentleman he was. RIP Graham.

[dazzlingdazza]

Does anyone remember the documentary in 1994 called An Impossible Job? It documented his time as England manager and was a great (if painful!) watch.

Yes I watched it barely 2 hours ago, it's on you tube.
Never forget his "The referee has got me the sack so thank him for me will you ?!" to the linesman when England lost to Holland which ended our chances are qualifying for U.S.A. 94. I think he was victim to some of the worst media abuse ever, totally disgraceful.

Yes he did well at Villa, but what he did at Watford taking them from bottom division to top flight in 5 seasons was impressive.

A top bloke, a footballing man through and through and that documentary is well worth a watch.

R.I.P Graham Taylor.