Falkirk’s London born striker Lyle Taylor has been in Scotland long enough to learn that the Bairns' rivalry with Saturday’s IRN-BRU SFL First Division opponents Dunfermline Athletic is a fierce one and also to tell his family down south that he has not required to learn Gaelic in order to understand his team-mates.
22-year-old Taylor was a summer capture by Manager Steven Pressley, who has continued his policy of taking young players who have shone in England and further afield to the club, and then giving them the platform of The Falkirk Stadium to play in.
Kallum Higginbotham came up from Rochdale and earned a move to Huddersfield Town and Farid El Alagui came in from lower league French football and is now banging in goals for Brentford. The Bairns will be hoping that Taylor shines in his time with the club as much as Higginbotham and El Alagui did.
The one time Millwall striker became an instant hero with blue and white fans after impressive pre-season displays against Middlesbrough in the ‘Ramsdens Challenge’ match between The Ramsdens Cup holders and the team that the pawnbroking and financial services company sponsor in England as well as Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers.
Taylor notched a hat-trick in an entertaining 7-3 defeat from Tony Mowbray’s side to announce his arrival in the Scottish game however, his family who were watching the action live on BBC ALBA were a bit bemused with what they were hearing.
“It was great that the game was live on TV as it gave my family a chance to see the standard of club that I had joined,” said Taylor before adding, “My Dad and step mum watched the game and it was great that I scored the three goals although unfortunately, we lost a few goals as well. They did wonder what was going on as the commentary sounded very strange and they only picked up the odd word in English!
“They thought it was quite funny to hear my goals described in the manner they were and when I was speaking to them later that day, they were asking if I had to learn Gaelic to talk to any of my team-mates.”
Taylor added: “I was able to tell them that the language was not widely spoken and none of the players here spoke it.”
That hat-trick was followed with a fine lobbed goal against Bolton Wanderers before Taylor opened his competitive account with a brace against Stirling Albion in The Ramsdens Cup, before netting solo strikes against Elgin City in The Scottish Communities League Cup as well as in the IRN-BRU SFL First Division against Partick Thistle, Morton and Hamilton Academical.
Scoring in Scotland is a long way from where Taylor began his career as he explained: “My first year as a professional was spent with Millwall where I progressed from their youth set-up to working with Kenny Jackett who was my Manager.
“Richard Shaw, who was recently in charge of Coventry, was the assistant and I learned a lot there. I come from New Cross which is just a stone's throw away from the ground. Looking back, I was really lucky to find a professional club so close to home.”
The striker’s contract at the Lions ended in July, 2009 and he moved to non-League Concord Rangers where he blossomed and scored 34 goals in his only season for the club, with his form seeing him step back to English League football with AFC Bournemouth in August, 2010.
The Beach Boys, as Concord are known, are based in Canvey Island in Essex with Taylor saying: “I was only 19 when I went there and I needed to learn more about the game. There are three leagues below the Conference National League but I really enjoyed playing there and the Manager, Danny Cowley, was great with me.
“He just told me to go out and play with a freedom that I had not had before. I enjoyed it and scored a lot of goals that brought me to the attention of Eddie Howe at Bournemouth.”
Howe and Taylor’s time together was brief as the former left to become the Manager of Burnley in January, 2011 with Taylor saying: “I did really enjoy my time there and it was good to get a couple of seasons back at such a good level of senior football.”
Taylor linked up with a former Bairn during his time there as one time Dundee, Aberdeen and Partick Thistle frontman Steve Lovell was there with the striker saying: “I played alongside Steve who was a very experienced striker and was good to learn from. I was up front with him when he scored his last ever goal against West Brom in a cup tie and also when he played his last ever game against Hereford just over a year ago.”
Frontman Taylor also had loan spells at Lewes, Woking and Hereford United before his contract with the Cherries ended and talks about a move north started.
“It was a contact of Eddie Howe that got in touch about joining Falkirk,” commented Taylor before adding, “I had never really thought about playing in Scotland before but during that phone call, my pal was on Google finding out as much as he could. I had thought it was too far away but football is in such a state nowadays that if you want to play, then you may have to move.”
Taylor added: “I have now moved hundreds of miles north to play football and that is just an example of what players have to do now. There are loads of players who have played hundreds of games that are without clubs now so I am lucky.
“The Manager at Falkirk, Steven Pressley, wanted me to play for him and when I came up and saw the stadium and the facilities at Stirling University, it was an easy choice to make.”
Whilst Taylor has adapted to life in Scotland well, Falkirk have had a stuttering start and Saturday’s derby with Dunfermline Athletic represents a chance for Pressley’s side to win only their second League game of the season and their first home success of the 2012/13 First Division campaign.
Taylor said: “We have had a slow start but we will pick up and there is no game better than this one to pick things up in. I have been told that this is a massive derby game and it is really important to the fans.
“Dunfermline have looked strong this season and it will be a tough game but I have learned already that there are no easy games up here. However, all the teams like to play football when they have possession and work hard to get it back when they don’t.”
One of the things that Taylor has found surprising is that the youthful nature of his colleagues means that he is one of the senior members of the Falkirk squad as he said: “I am 22 and unfortunately, I have been told I am one of the old heads in the squad.
“It is a bit of a strange experience but the way I look at it, if I was still a teenager, I probably would not be here as I would not have been ready to come up. It is funny how things work out.”
Taylor is no stranger to derby games as he explained: “When I was at Bournemouth, I was involved in a couple of games against Southampton in League One which were quite big affairs. I was on the bench at St. Mary’s and that was quite a special atmosphere. I am told that The Falkirk Stadium will be like that this weekend and I am looking forward to it.”
As for his move north, Taylor said: “I am enjoying it thankfully, as it is a bit far from home.”
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