Steven Taylor, an international footballer, was born on January 23, 1986 in London, England. He usually plays as a central-defender, but can also play at right-back and left-back. He started his schooling from the Valley Gardens Middle School and continued at the Monkseaton High School. Steven Taylor started playing internationally in 2001 with the England Under-16 (U-16) team, and he was judged ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the Walkers International Tournament. In March 2003, he scored his first two goals for the country in a European Championship match against Slovakia and also participated in the 2003 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Youth Championship.
Steven Taylor featured in the U-20 team in the Under-20 World Championship at Dubai and on February 17, 2004, at the age of 18, he made his U-21 debut in a 3-2 win over Netherlands. In September 2005, he scored his first U-21 goal against German U-21 and in the following month scored a brace against Poland’s side. Steven Taylor played in two of the three group matches at the U21 Euro 2007 and also in the semi-final against Netherlands, scoring in the penalty shoot-out in which his team ultimately lost by 13-12 shootout.
Steven Taylor began his football career with the Caythorpe and Fulbeck J.F.C club as a centre forward in 1995. During his stint with the club, he was spotted by a Newcastle’s scout and was signed by the club. In 1998, due to injuries and absence of the club’s mid-fielders, Steven Taylor was forced to play as the centre-half and performed successfully which made him to play in the mid-field permanently for the club since then. In July 2002, he was awarded professional contract by the team, and in the immediate season he made his debut for the club’s reserve team. By the end of the following year, he was loaned out for a month to Wycombe Wanderers to let him gain experience of playing in the first team. Steven Taylor played a total of six matches for his loan club including his league debut against Notts County on December 13, 2003.
Steven Taylor returned to Newcastle United on January 11, 2004 and made his club’s first-team debut as a substitute in the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Cup 0-3 win over RCD Mallorca on March 25th. He made his first start for the club in a Premiership match on March 28th and scored his first and the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Celta de Vigo on November 23, 2006 in the UEFA Cup. He later scored his first Premiership goal for the club in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on December 9, 2006. On January 7, 2007 Steven Taylor was voted ‘Man of the Match’ in the Football Association (FA) Cup match against Birmingham for his all-round performance, which includes an equalising goal. He scored his second and the winning goal for the club on April 7, 2007 in the 2-1 win over Sheffield United, which eventually relegated Sheffield United from the Premier League.
