Ryan Taylor - Player Profile

Ryan was signed by Paul Jewell on 13th July 2005 from his only previous club, Tranmere Rovers, for a fee of £750,000. He was the second outfield player Latics had ever signed as a Premiership club. He played his first Latics game in a pre season training camp in Denmark. The game was played on 20th July 2005 against Elite 3000 and Latics won the game 0-0. He made his Latics League debut as a 63rd minute substitute for Gary Teale against Charlton Athletic on 20th August 2005. The game resulted in a 0-1 defeat. On Friday 7th October 2005 Ryan made his England Under 21’s debut when he came on as a substitute for Anton Ferdinand in a European Championships qualifying game against Austria at Elland Road. Also playing in the game was his Latics team mate Leighton Baines who was making his fifth England Under 21’s start. This was the first time in the club’s history that TWO of their players were representing England!

Just four days later he played his first full game for England against Poland. He earned his third cap in the play-off, first leg against France at White Hart Lane that resulted in a 1-1 draw in front of an Under 21’s record crowd of over 34,000 on Friday 11th November 2005.

Things then went horribly wrong for Ryan, after making 3+8 Premiership appearances without scoring he broke his leg. At the beginning of April, during his comeback efforts he broke his ankle in a reserve game against Newcastle United, and that ended his season prematurely. He remained on the sidelines until 13th January 2006 when he made a comeback against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a game that resulted in a 4-0 defeat.

After making 38+18 Premier League appearances for Latics, netting 6 times, he was transferred to Newcastle United on 2nd February 2009. The deal also involved Charles N’Zogbia signing for a club record fee of £6,000,000, a new club record.

A bit of Ryan Taylor trivia – did you know that Ryan is the grandson of former professional wrestler Tony St Clair?