Tommy Taylor was dubbed ‘magnifico’ by Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano and is arguably the greatest centre forward ever to play for Manchester United and England.
Yet 61 years to the day since his Old Trafford debut, his name does not feature as often as it should.
On February 6 1958, along with seven teammates, Taylor lost his life in the Munich air crash aged just 26.
It was a tragic waste of such promise: in Taylor’s 191 appearances for the Red Devils he netted 131 goals, a ratio of two every three games which is yet to be surpassed at United.
Nicknamed ‘the smiling executioner’, many felt he would not have looked out of place on a Hollywood film set given his black curly hair and dashing good looks. United’s female followers believed Taylor to be a replica of Adonis.
He was a mere mortal though and will always be remembered in British football history as a wonderful footballer and a friendly, down-to-earth man.
The Barnsley-born striker signed for Matt Busby’s United from his hometown club in 1953 for a club-record fee of £29,999.
The story goes that Busby didn’t want to burden Taylor with the tag of being a £30,000 player, and so gave the extra pound out his own pocket to the lady who was serving the tea in the boardroom.
Regarded by many as the finest header of a football of his era, Taylor was a unique and special talent.
On his debut against Preston on March 7 1953, he powered home a header from outside the area, alerting the United fans to his astonishing ability.
Taylor was a tall man, standing at 6ft 1in but became famed for pace, movement and imperious control.
Capable of moving to either flank and possessing the stamina to run at full speed for 90 minutes, Taylor was a nightmare for defenders given his movement and athleticism for such a tall, powerful man.
Taylor found a perfect foil in Dennis Viollet – fifth on United’s all-time scoring list – as his strike partner, often gifting him many knock-down opportunities.
Together they were lethal and they helped fire United to successive Division One titles in 1956 and 1957 as well as two European Cup semi-finals in 1957 and 1958.
Just two months after his arrival at United, Taylor made his England debut and he was no less prolific at international level, scoring 16 goals in 19 England games.
Such was the ability of Taylor and his respect within the game, Internazionale offered United a world record transfer fee of £65,000 for his services in 1957 – an offer which Busby refused.
His touch and first-time distribution gave him a quality that few other forward players had for bringing others into the game, while his devastating skill in the air set him apart from the rest.
Incorrectly labelled a ‘Busby Babe’ as he was not a home-grown player, Taylor had his blossoming career and his life so tragically cut short in Munich.
Taylor’s goalscoring record is extraordinary, as were his many talents and there was every reason to believe he had still to reach his peak as a player, and the ‘smiling executioner’ deserves to be ranked among the finest players ever to grace Old Trafford.
Image courtesy of British Pathe via YouTube, with thanks.
