Gary Taylor-Fletcher

Gary Taylor-Fletcher (né Fletcher, born 4 June 1981) is an English former professional footballer. He has scored in each of the top five divisions of English football. He has been known as Gary Taylor-Fletcher since his marriage to Viv Taylor in June 2004.[3][4]

For the blues musician, see Gary Fletcher (musician).

Gary Taylor-Fletcher
Taylor-Fletcher playing for Blackpool in 2010
Personal information
Full name Gary Taylor-Fletcher[1]
Birth name Gary Fletcher
Date of birth (1981-06-04) 4 June 1981
Place of birth Widnes, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Northwich Victoria 43 (18)
2001 → Hull City (loan) 5 (0)
2001–2003 Leyton Orient 21 (2)
2001–2002 → Grays Athletic (loan) 4 (3)
2002 → Dagenham & Redbridge (loan) 3 (1)
2002–2003 → Dagenham & Redbridge (loan) 5 (1)
2003–2005 Lincoln City 90 (31)
2005–2007 Huddersfield Town 82 (26)
2007–2013 Blackpool 215 (36)
2013–2015 Leicester City 21 (3)
2014 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 4 (0)
2015 → Millwall (loan) 10 (0)
2015–2016 Tranmere Rovers 21 (2)
2016–2017 Accrington Stanley 4 (1)
2017–2018 Bangor City 32 (9)
2018 Llandudno 2 (3)
2018–2019 Bangor City
Teams managed
2017 Bangor City
2018–2019 Bangor City
2019 Llandudno
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:24, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Taylor-Fletcher began his senior career at Northwich Victoria in 1999, and made 43 league appearances whilst at the club. Towards the end of his time there, he had a brief loan spell with Hull City, before switching permanently to Leyton Orient in June 2001. He struggled to break into the Leyton Orient team, and spent a loan spell at Grays Athletic, and two at Dagenham & Redbridge. In August 2003, after 21 league appearances for Leyton Orient, Taylor-Fletcher joined Lincoln City; a successful spell saw him play 90 league games in two seasons. He then moved to Huddersfield Town in June 2005, making 81 league appearances in two seasons. Taylor-Fletcher then joined Blackpool in July 2007, and established himself as a regular player for the club. After 215 league appearances for Blackpool, he joined Leicester City in September 2013.

Career

Northwich Victoria

Born in Widnes, Taylor-Fletcher worked as a barman[5] at his local hotel.[6] It was during this time he was selected to play for England schools u18s and asked to have a trial for Northwich Victoria youth team. After 2 trial games he was automatically promoted to the 1st team .[7]

He began his career playing semi-pro football (as Gary Fletcher) with Conference National club Northwich Victoria in 1999, with whom he scored eighteen goals in 43 appearances. On 16 March 2001 he went on loan to Hull City who were then in the Third Division, the fourth tier of the Football League, where he made five appearances in two months at the club.[8]

Leyton Orient

On 8 June 2001 Fletcher was signed by another Third Division club, Leyton Orient from Northwich for a fee of £50,000 as he had scored twice against them. Later that year he was sent out on loan to Grays Athletic who were then in the Isthmian League. Fletcher scored three goals in four league games in a loan spell that lasted from 21 December 2001 to 1 March 2002. In October, he spent a month on loan at Conference National club Dagenham & Redbridge, before returning for a second loan spell in December, staying until March 2003.[8]

Lincoln City

On 14 August 2003 he signed for Lincoln City on a free transfer, where he was reunited with former Northwich Victoria coach Keith Alexander.[9] In two years with the Imps Taylor-Fletcher made 90 appearances scoring thirty goals.[8] At the start of the 2004–05 season he equalled a 106-year-old club record when he scored in all six opening games.[10] He also won the Supporters Player of the Year award for the 2003–04 season[11] and played for them in the Football League Two play-off final in May 2005, which they lost to Southend United.[12]

Huddersfield Town

Taylor-Fletcher was acquired by Huddersfield Town on a free transfer from Lincoln City on 14 June 2005.[8] He scored a hat-trick against Chesterfield in the League Cup.

During October and November, Taylor-Fletcher was consistently competing with strikers Paweł Abbott and Andy Booth for a place in the starting line-up, and on most occasions he had to settle for a place on the bench. However, during late December, he came off the bench to score two last-minute equalisers against Rotherham United and Barnsley.

In the New Year, Town manager, Peter Jackson used him as a right winger, and he scored the majority of the team's goals in the 2006–07 season. On 8 August 2006, Taylor-Fletcher scored the 500,000th goal in The Football League, with a 25-yard drive into the top-left corner, to lead the Terriers to a 3–0 home victory over Rotherham United.[13]

In January 2006, he scored against Chelsea in an FA Cup third-round match at Stamford Bridge, which, for seven minutes, put Town on level terms with the Premier League champions.

Towards the end of the season, he scored some more crucial goals against Barnsley and Bournemouth, before scoring Town's only goal in the first leg of the play-offs against Barnsley at Oakwell.

Blackpool

On 9 July 2007, Taylor-Fletcher signed for Blackpool for an undisclosed fee in a two-year deal, ahead of the Seasiders' first season back in the second tier of English football since 1978. He made his debut in the Championship in the club's first league match of the 2007–08 season, a 1–0 win over Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium on 11 August 2007.[14] He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later, on 25 August, in a 2–1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium,[15] and went on to score six goals that season. On 20 September 2008 he scored at St Andrew's as Blackpool beat Birmingham City 1–0. In doing so, he became the first player to score against the Blues in the League at St Andrew's in the 2008–09 season and also help Blackpool become the first club to beat them at home since Chelsea in the Premier League in January.[12]

In his first league start since 20 October 2009, Taylor-Fletcher scored twice in a 3–0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on 8 December. His 100th league appearance for Blackpool came on 9 February 2010, in a 2–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Taylor-Fletcher scored in the 39th minute of the 2010 Football League Championship play-off Final against Cardiff City on 22 May 2010.[16] Blackpool were the victors, thus completing Taylor-Fletcher's journey from non-League football to the Premier League since the turn of the millennium.

On 14 August 2010, he scored Blackpool's first-ever Premier League goal, in a 4–0 win over Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the 2010–11 season at the DW Stadium.[17] Twelve months later, Taylor-Fletcher also scored the first goal (for Blackpool and in all) of the 2011–12 Football League season, in a single-goal victory against Hull City at the KC Stadium.[18] He was released in the summer of 2013 after his Blackpool contract expired, his exit coinciding with a downturn in Blackpool's fortunes.

Leicester City

On 20 September 2013, Taylor-Fletcher joined Leicester City on a one-year deal.[19] He made his debut just a day later coming on as a late substitute against his former side Blackpool. He scored his first goal for the Foxes in a 5–3 win over Bolton Wanderers at the King Power Stadium. Taylor-Fletcher made 21 appearances in the league (23 in all competitions), scoring three goals, as Leicester were promoted to the Premier League as champions. On 8 May, he extended his contract by a further year.[20]

Despite his new contract, Taylor-Fletcher was omitted from Leicester's 25-man squad for the 2014–15 Premier League season.[21] On 25 October 2014 he joined Sheffield Wednesday on a month-long loan.[22] The following February, he joined Championship strugglers Millwall on loan for the rest of the season, signed by his former Blackpool manager Ian Holloway.[21]

Later career

On 17 October 2015, Taylor-Fletcher signed for National League side Tranmere Rovers on a short-term deal 30 minutes before kick-off against league leaders Forest Green Rovers. He scored in the fifth minute of his Rovers debut, which Tranmere won 2–0.[23]

On 3 October 2016 he signed for Accrington Stanley on a non-contract deal.[24] He made his debut on 4 October 2016 in the newly revamped EFL Trophy, scoring a goal in Accrington's 4–1 win over Chesterfield.[25]

He became caretaker player-manager of Bangor City in March 2017, stepping down to assistant manager when the club appointed Kevin Nicholson in May 2017.[26] The pair led the club to a second-placed finish in the Welsh Premier League during the 2017–18 season but left Bangor in May 2018 after the club was demoted after failing to obtain a tier one license.[27]

He signed for Llandudno in November 2018,[28] and scored twice on his debut in a 4–2 defeat to Bala Town.[29] On 27 November 2018, he returned to Bangor as manager.[30] He also played for the club in the Cymru Alliance.[31] On 7 May 2019, Taylor-Fletcher was appointed manager of Llandudno. Two days later, Taylor-Fletcher resigned due to business commitments.[32]

He retired from football in June 2019.[33]

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gollark: Or credit credit, for short.
gollark: Fun fact: genocide bad.

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 604. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
  2. "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  3. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher". Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  4. "All change for front man Fletch". Lincoln City F.C. Official Website. 2 July 2004. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  5. "Man Utd 4–2 Blackpool". Ghanamma.com. 22 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  6. "Taylor-Fletcher wants better deal". Sky Sports. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  7. "Leicester City add to the ranks by signing Gary Taylor-Fletcher". Leicester Mercury. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  8. "players – Gary Taylor-Fletcher". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  9. "Striker signs two-year deal". Lincoln City F.C. Official Website. 14 August 2003. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  10. "Fletch equals club record". Lincoln City F.C. Official Website. 28 August 2004. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  11. "Fletcher crowned Player of the Season". Lincoln City F.C. Official Website. 8 May 2004. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  12. "Follow the Dream – Fletch proves that hard work and determination leads to success". Up the Pool. Blackpool: Blackpool. 2008–09 season (Blackpool vs Coventry City): 34–37. 27 September 2008.
  13. "Huddersfield 3–0 Rotherham". bbc.co.uk. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  14. "results – Leicester 0 Blackpool 1". Soccerbase. 11 August 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  15. "results – Wolves 2 Blackpool 1". Soccerbase. 25 August 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
  16. "Championship play-off final as it happened". BBC Sport. 22 May 2010.
  17. "Wigan 0 – 4 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 14 August 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  18. "Hull 0 – 1 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  19. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher: Leicester City sign ex-Blackpool striker". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  20. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher: Leicester striker signs one-year deal". BBC Sport. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  21. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher: Millwall sign Leicester City forward on loan". BBC Sport. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  22. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher: Sheffield Wednesday sign Leicester striker". BBC Sport. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  23. Hilton, Nick (18 October 2015). "Forest Green Rovers 0-2 Tranmere Rovers analysis". liverpoolecho.
  24. "Accrington Stanley sign Taylor-Fletcher on non-contract deal". Lancashire Telegraph.
  25. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher scores on debut as Accrington Stanley beat Chesterfield in EFL Trophy". lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  26. "Ex-Cardiff U-23 coach Nicholson named as Bangor boss". welsh-premier.com. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  27. Dave Jones (13 May 2018). "Kevin Nicholson and Gary Taylor-Fletcher leave Bangor City". Daily Post. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  28. "Llandudno sign former English Premier League striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher". Llandudno F.C. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  29. "Match Report: - Welsh Premier League". www.wpl.cymru.
  30. Jones, Jordan (27 November 2018). "Bangor City appoint Gary Taylor-Fletcher as new First Team Manager".
  31. "Bangor return home with win against rivals Rhyl". The Bangor Aye. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  32. "Matthew Jones appointed Llandudno boss after Taylor-Fletcher's swift exit". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  33. "Gary Taylor-Fletcher: Former Blackpool striker retires aged 38". BBC Sport. 4 June 2019.
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