Blast from the Past – Martin Taylor

He was big, burly and slow. But Martin Taylor was a favourite of many Blues fans for his honest manner and commitment.

In February 2004, ‘Tiny` joined Blues from Blackburn Rovers. As a former England U21 international, Taylor`s arrival was met with high hopes. In all honestly, he was never an immense defender but he ‘did a job`.

At Championship level, Taylor was a decent enough player without being spectacular.

Most people more than likely remember Taylor for the infamous incident in 2008 involving Eduardo. In the third minute of Blues` clash with Arsenal at St. Andrew`s, Taylor was late in the challenge which resulted in the Croatian striker suffering an unfortunate leg break.

Sky Sports, who were streaming the game live, refused to show replays of the incident such was the gruesome nature of the images. This led to Gunners boss Arsene Wenger claiming Taylor ‘should never play again`.

Even from the stands, Blues fans knew that the tackle was clumsy but not at all deliberate. Taylor just wasn`t that sort of bloke.

Wenger later apologised after hearing that the defender was in tears in the home dressing room and, after the game, drove to the hospital to sit at Eduardo`s bed side. The rest is history.

Born in Ashington, Taylor began youth football at Cramlington Juniors before a move to Ewood Park. He spent seven years at Blackburn incorporating brief loan spells at Darlington and Stockport County.

In 2004, Blues paid £1.25m for his services and he went on to clock up 117 appearances in B9. He had a loan spell at Norwich after Blues were promoted to the Premier League but then returned to St. Andrew`s until 2010 Watford acquired his services.

In 2012, Tiny moved to Sheffield Wednesday but struggled for game time. He went on loan to Brentford and then back to Hillsbrough before announcing his retirement in 2014.

Martin Taylor by numbers:
Age: 36
Appearances for Blues: 117
Goals for Blues: 3
Total career appearances: 374
Total career goals: 22

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