Barnet paid £700 to safe the 24-year-old's launch in June 1995. Eighteen months later, Southampton supervisor Souness paid £500,000 to deliver him to the Premier League.
A fan of the membership relationship again to that FA Cup remaining win twenty years prior, Taylor's keep at The Dell lasted simply 11 months with Souness having departed on the finish of his first season within the high flight.
After his childhood hero Keegan signed him for an formidable Fulham facet in search of promotion from the third tier, it was at Craven Cottage the place Taylor's worldwide potential got here to the eye of McMenemy, who had develop into Northern Eire supervisor in 1998.
By way of a since closed loophole, on the time a British citizen born overseas was eligible to symbolize any of the House Nations. McMenemy, who had been Southampton supervisor when Keegan had performed for the membership within the early eighties, enquired about Taylor's curiosity earlier than the person himself even “had any thought” he certified.
“When Kevin approached me and mentioned that he'd been contacted by Northern Eire, I believed it was a unbelievable alternative to go and symbolize a rustic and play worldwide soccer,” he says.
“I used to be in my late twenties enjoying in League One. Put it this fashion, it did not take me lengthy to resolve.”
Taylor was not the one participant Northern Eire approached on such grounds with a prolonged courtship of Birmingham Metropolis's Nigeria-born striker Dele Adebola in the end proving fruitless.
As such, there was a level of scepticism round Taylor's degree of dedication given he had by no means set foot in Northern Eire earlier than being included as an overage participant for an under-21 fixture in opposition to Switzerland in April 1998.
“Initially, as a result of we misplaced some dangerous video games and we have been poor in sure video games, while you're not born and bred within the nation some issues are mentioned within the stands that are not nice to listen to.
“I form of understood that, however then I used to be decided to repay the religion via my dedication and availability each time I used to be known as upon.
“Do not get me fallacious, it did not final very lengthy, and as soon as I might received them over and everybody noticed that I used to be hellbent on being profitable, issues clearly modified.”
