Alan Taylor is a player that will live on forever in the clubs history though his best remembered exploits were sandwiched into 2 months and none of the games were at The Boleyn.
Signed from Rochdale in November 1974 by John Lyall, who was in his first season as team manager after Ron Greenwood had moved upstairs, his career for the Hammers initially was stop start making 3 sub appearances in the December all from the bench, in fact his first game in the starting 11 came in the F.A cup sixth round at Highbury on the 8th March 1975 and here Alan scores his first two goals for the club to put the hammers into the Semi-final.
Alan was lucky to even appear for West Ham in that seasons cup competition as just before leaving Rochdale he suffered an injury that ruled him out of the First round proper of the tournament, leaving Rochdale the week after the game he missed out on being cup tied for his new club.
The first semi-final against Ipswich was a dull 0-0 draw played out at Villa Park and just 4 days later the teams met again at Stamford Bridge where the hammers triumphed 2-1 with again both goals being scored by the Hinckley born striker, sending the us to Wembley for the first time in 10 years and to a meeting with the clubs favourite son Bobby Moore, who was seeing out his career at Fulham. They had defeated Birmingham City the same night 1-0 with a 120th minute winning goal from John Mitchell.
Taylor would see out the season in the first team but failed to score in the league again as the club geared up for its third wembley F.A cup final appearance and yet on the 3rd of May in the Final Alan Taylor stamped his place into Hammers History with both goals to secure the trophy again after first winning it in 1964.
To think that just barely 6 months before was turning out in the basement of English football in front of crowds around the 3,000 mark and his season ended in front of 100,000 at wembley and in front of millions around the world watching.
The next season was saw Alan find his scoring boots hitting the ground running scoring 5 goals in the first three games of that season, including both away to Liverpool at Anfield in a 2-2 draw and by the end of the year he had hit 12 in total with another winning goal against Arsenal at the Boleyn in that total. 1975 turned into 1976 and West Ham were on another cup run this time though in Europe as they attempted to win the Cup Winners Cup for the second time but Alans goals were getting fewer and fewer though he did score against the Dutch outfit Den Haag as west Ham turned a 4-2 1st leg deficit into a away goals victory after a 3-1 victory at home to move into the Semi-Final.
Alan missed the semi-final victory and only made the bench for the final v Anderlecht in Belgium but with Frank Lampard sustaining an Injury in the first half Alan came on but the locals ran out winners 4-2 with future Hammer Frankie Van Der Elst being the star player.
Though ending in disappointment that first full season would be Alan's best for the club scoring a total of 17 goals in all competitions in 47 appearances finishing top scorer at the club for the only time, the next seasons were not the best for West Ham nor Alan injuries and form meant he was in and out of the team evident by the fact that in his first 18months at the club he made 44 league appearances scoring 15 times, but yet in the next 3 years after he managed just another 44 league games scoring just 10 goals.
On the 5th of May 1979 almost 4 years to the day of his finest game Alan played his last game for the Hammers away to Blackburn Rovers, in the summer he left to join Norwich City but he lasted only a season and left to ply his trade in the American soccer league for Vancouver. Cambridge, Hull, Burnley and Bury were the next short stops on his travels before finally going back to the Canaries in 1988 for just 4 games where he finally retired, though he did play in the local Non League scene in East Anglia.
In retirement Alan has been a Milkman, ran his own Newsagents and worked as a pallbearer all around the Norwich area but he can also be found around the lounges of the Boleyn ground, wowing the fans with his rags to riches story and if i do say so myself he is also one of the nicest men you could wish to meet.
