DOB: 28 November 1901
Died: 25 May 1962
Debut: Round 18, 1922 against Fitzroy at Princes Park
Last Game: Round 7, 1935 against North Melbourne at Arden Street
From: Hawksburn/South Yarra
Number: 35 (1922-1931, 1935)
Honours:
Premiership Player - 1926
150 Heroes selection
Victorian state player - 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1935 (15 games)
Life Member
Games: 164
Goals: 100
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 93 | 3 | 68 | 56.70 |
Recruited to the Seconds after being recommended to the club by a fan who had seen him in action, Taylor played two games in the lower grade late in 1922 before being promoted to the senior side for the last game of the season. From there he became a regular, missing just two games until 1932.
Taylor played all 16 games in 1923, and after playing for Victoria in 1924 was heavily courted by Carlton. He was persuaded to remain at Melbourne, and by the time the Redlegs won the 1926 flag he was one of the league's top players. Taylor finished second behind Gordon Coventry in the 1927 Brownlow Medal count.
One of the best centremen of his era, he was well known for his partnership with Stan Wittman, Taylor was moved to full-forward in 1923 and kicked 19 goals despite having accuracy issues. Late that season he was moved to the wing and half-forward with better results. In 1924 he found his place in the middle of the ground, where he remained until a move back to the half-forward flank during the 1926 finals series.
He was a member of the 1924 and 1927 Victorian interstate carnival sides and a regular for Victoria. Taylor played the first 127 games of his career in a row, the first VFL footballer ever to achieve his century in even time. Injuries from a game against Footscray in Round 16, 1929 kept him out of a crucial match against St Kilda which Melbourne lost, causing them to miss the finals.
Taylor moved to North Melbourne as captain for three seasons from 1932 to 1934 - including a year as captain/coach in 1933 - but was cleared back to Melbourne in 1935. At 33, he played three final games, scoring a career high seven Brownlow Medal votes in those matches, before retiring at the end of the year after finishing the season with the Seconds.
Appointed Chairman of Selectors after the death of Fred Ince, Taylor served on the selection committee until the end of 1950 and also as a director in 1936 and 1937, from 1939 to 1942 and from 1945 until his death in 1962.
Taylor was Melbourne's delegate to the VFL from 1953 until 1962. He was granted a leave of absence on 16 March and died just over two months later.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1922 | 1 | 0 | n/a |
| 1923 | 16 | 19 | n/a |
| 1924 | 16 | 7 | 0 |
| 1925 | 19 | 5 | 3 |
| 1926 | 21 | 6 | 1 |
| 1927 | 18 | 5 | 6 |
| 1928 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 1929 | 17 | 30 | 0 |
| 1930 | 18 | 11 | 2 |
| 1931 | 15 | 12 | 0 |
| 1935 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Lists
100 Plus Consecutive Games
Administrators
Last game of the season debuts
North Melbourne
Notes
May have been born 19 November 1900.
Media
Sporting Globe - 15/08/1925
Table Talk - 14/06/1928
Argus - 07/04/1932, 18/04/1935
Sun - 02/12/1935
Herald - 05/09/1935, 24/01/1953
Links
Boyles Football Photos
Demonwiki image gallery
Wikipedia profile