Man United Fan Jack Taylor To Play In Front Of Family At Old Trafford

Jack Taylor will have more reason than most to relish the opportunity of playing at Old Trafford this week when Ipswich Town visit Manchester United in the Premier League.

Just over five years ago, Taylor was playing in the fifth tier of the English game for Barnet but after three and a half seasons at Peterborough, he helped Ipswich Town achieve promotion to the Premier League last season and is now preparing to play at the division’s biggest stadium.

Speaking about the game on Wednesday, Taylor said “obviously, it’s the pinnacle of English football, it has been for many, many years now so it’s another game to look forward to and bring the best account of ourselves on the biggest stage.”

With fitness concerns over the central midfield pair of Kalvin Phillips and Jens Cajuste, Taylor could be set for a rare start away to Manchester United. “If that’s the case and the boss puts me in then I’ll be ready for it,” he said. “It’s what I train and try and play for, to put myself in the starting eleven each week. If the time comes and I’m playing, I’ll be more and ready to step up.”

Appearing at the so-called ‘Theatre of Dreams’ will be all the more special for Taylor who revealed to the media present at Playford Road yesterday that – like his head coach Kieran McKenna – he is a boyhood Manchester United fan. “My dad’s side of the family are all from Salford,” he admitted, “and they’re big United fans. They’ve got a lot of season tickets so they’re not asked for a lot of tickets. They’ll be a lot of my family there.”

As a youngster, Taylor idolised Manchester United greats Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney and with 75,000 people in attendance, it will be the biggest crowd Taylor has ever played in front of, but he told me that he will not be dwelling on that fact. “Well they’re all sort of great crowds, you don’t really count the seats in the stadium!”

“Like I said, it’s the club that I grew up watching and supporting. My family are all big reds so it’s going to be special but I’ve got to, sort of, zone out from that fan mentality and focus on what we’re doing as a football club.”

Taylor’s substitute appearance on Saturday during the 1-4 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur was his 20th in the Premier League this season. However, only one of those has come as a starter, at home to Bournemouth. His 19 appearances off the bench are the third highest in the league this season.

The man who signed Taylor, Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna told me “he’s fully aware – as all the squad are – appearances aren’t just given out, they’re earned and Jack’s earned his by how he trains and how he performs when he comes on the pitch, off the bench very commonly.”

“He also had lots of appearances off the bench last year, he knows how important we feel the players who come on in the latter stages of games are. It’s a role that he’s done very, very well and I think it’s a role that is very, very important. To do that in a Premier League squad is a really good achievement.”

Taylor explained to me the practicalities of getting accustomed to being a substitute rather than a guaranteed starter. “I’ve had to adjust a little bit, of course, because it is completely different coming on and trying to impact the game, no matter how long you get – ten, twenty, thirty minutes.”

“You’ve got to train the same as if you were starting. You’ve got to be ready for each action that you’re going to make coming on as a sub. You’ve got to come on and implement your job. It can be the difference between getting a win or a draw.”

That was illustrated perfectly in December when Taylor came on with just 15 minutes remaining away to Wolverhampton Wanderers with the scores tied. His stoppage-time header earned the Suffolk side a vital victory against the team Ipswich Town will have to overhaul to ensure a place in the Premier League next season.

“It was probably the most perfect way I could score my first Premier League goal to be honest. I think it was a 93rd winner. Yeah, just delighted to get that win. I said to the lads after that game, we need more of these moments for the rest of the season to achieve what we want to achieve.”

That goal meant that Taylor had scored a goal in each of the top five tiers of the English game, a testament to his journey from the lower leagues. He joined an elite list of players to achieve this feat alongside Jamie Cureton, Gary Hooper. Steve Finnan, Jimmy Willis, Ryan Yates and his current Ipswich Town team-mate Sammie Szmodics.

He told me that his unique place in English soccer history was not something he was aware of. “I didn’t have a clue until someone tweeted me after the game that I’d done it. I was like ‘oh yeah, I did do that!’ Yeah. it wasn’t something that I’d set a goal to do. I always wanted to reach the highest level that I could play at and thankfully I’m here as a Premier League footballer and I’ve ticked all them boxes. It’s a great achievement.”

Upon signing Taylor from Peterborough, McKenna said that the midfielder had two big career goals – to play in the Premier League and represent the Republic of Ireland. He has achieved both this season after making his international debut away to Greece in the UEFA Nations League last October.

Looking back on his first appearance for the senior Irish team, he said “it was a really hostile, hostile game to come on to. We were 1-0 down so we were chasing it a little bit but I thought I did quite well when I came on. It’s obviously a tough place to go. I’m just looking forward to embedding myself in so my team-mates get to know me a bit better.”

A hamstring injury subsequently cost him a place in the Ireland squad for games against Finland and, most significantly, away to England at Wembley Stadium. Taylor is nonetheless looking forward to the possibility of helping his country reach their first World Cup finals in 24 years. “They haven’t qualified for the World Cup for years now so it will be such a milestone for the country and it will be another box ticked if, one day, I could play at the World Cup.”

For Taylor to achieve that as a Premier League player, Ipswich Town will have to start winning games. Pundits have criticised the openness of their play which has seen them lose more points from winning positions than any other side in the division.

Taylor however is adamant that the style of play which took them to successive promotions will not be forsaken now even with Ipswich Town mired in the relegation zone, five points from safety. “We’ve got a philosophy here and how we work we’re not going to change just because of the position we’re in.”

“We obviously believe that we way we do things is going to be enough to keep us up. We’re not going to change for nothing. We’ve got goals that we’ve set that we’re ready to accomplish. I think if we stick by it, then I think we’ll get the result that we want.”