PLAYER PROFILE

Matt Taylor

Position: Defence

Height: 5'10

Weight: 11st 8lbs

Date of Birth: 1981-11-27 Oxford, England

Matt Taylor

Matthew Taylor began his career as a trainee playing for Luton Town and spent four years with the club before signing for Portsmouth in June 2002 - one of the few players that Harry Redknapp actually spent money on, shortly after taking over as manager.

Taylor was seen as a long-term investment, and, at the age of 21 had already caught the eye of the then England Under 21 coach David Platt.

During the 2002/03 season, the Oxford-born midfielder made 38 appearances for Pompey and has been on hand to score the odd crucial goal here and there - seven in total.

The following season was also a successful one for Taylor. He proved that he possesses great pace which can be worrying for any defence. It is a season which will most probably be remembered for his scoring of the equaliser in the FA Cup clash with Liverpool in February 2004 which earned Portsmouth a replay, and consequently a 6th round tie with Arsenal.

The 2004/05 season continued this success, as did the 05/06 campaign, which saw him play 37 games and score seven goals as his side miraculously stayed up, despite looking doomed to relegation earlier in the season.

The 2006/07 season proved to be his most successful yet as he made 34 starts and scored nine goals, one of which was a wonder volley from 45-yards out against Everton.

However, in 2007/08 he found himself on the sidelines at Pompey and struggled to make the kind of impact he had in previous years. In January 2008 he left the club to join Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee.