Ernie Taylor (footballer born 1869)
Encyclopedia
Ernest James "Ernie" Taylor (1869 – 13 November 1944) was an English amateur
footballer who played for Southampton
in the club's first two years in the Southern League
.
, where he played his early club football while employed as a cashier with the American Shipping Company
. While working in Liverpool, he was on the books of Everton
, but failed to make any first-team appearances. In 1893, he was transferred to the shipping company's offices in Southampton
.
He joined the Southampton St. Mary's
club soon after his arrival in the town. On 26 April 1893, he was part of the St. Mary's team who played a friendly against Stoke of the Football League
at the County Ground
. Even with the future founder of football in Brazil
, Charles Miller
playing at outside-left, the "Saints" were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", losing 8–0. Despite the result, it was reported that the spectators "thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition" and looked forward to witnessing "more matches of a similar character" in future. Amongst Stoke's players were Charles Baker
, Willie Naughton
, Lachie Thomson
and Alf Littlehales
, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.
Taylor made his competitive debut in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round on 4 November 1893, when Southampton defeated Uxbridge
3–1, with Taylor scoring the "Saints" first goal. Taylor was not available for the next round of the FA Cup, where Southampton were defeated by Reading
, but appeared in all the matches in the Hampshire Senior Cup
when the Saints lost 1–0 to the Royal Engineers
in the final.
In 1894, Southampton St Mary's were one of the nine founder members of the Southern League
, which had been created to enable clubs in southern England who were not admitted to the Football League
, to play competitive football on a regular basis. For the start of their League career, Saints signed several new players on professional
contracts, including Baker
, Littlehales
and Thomson
from Stoke and Fred Hollands
from Millwall Athletic
. Despite this influx of professional players, Taylor's skill enabled him "to hold his own with the best of the professionals".
Taylor was described at the time as being "a versatile player with ample resource and a great variety of methods: he plays a defensive as well as offensive game with equal success". He featured in Southampton's inaugural Southern League match, playing at left-back in a 3–1 victory over Chatham at the Antelope Ground
on 6 October 1894. He went on to play in eleven of the sixteen league matches, generally at right-back as Southampton finished third at the end of the inaugural Southern League season
. In the FA Cup, Saints reached the First Round proper for the first time, where they were drawn against Nottingham Forest
, going down 4–1 to the Football League First Division
side.
In the 1895–96 season
, Taylor's work commitments restricted him to eight league and two FA Cup appearances, usually being replaced by either Joe Dale or Joe Rogers
, before losing his place to new signing John McMillan
in March 1896.
Taylor continued to play amateur football with Southampton's local rivals Freemantle
after leaving the Saints.
for the Deanery club and golf
at the Stoneham
Golf Club, where he was a committee member. He was also active with the Hampshire Rugby Union
.
He was later employed by White Star Line
, where he was one of the founders of the annual football match to raise funds for the Seamen's Orphanage. At White Star Line, he was appointed Chief Cashier in 1922, a post he continued to hold until 1934 when he retired, shortly after White Star Line's merger with Cunard
.
Amateur sports
Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...
footballer who played for Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
in the club's first two years in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
.
Football career
Taylor was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where he played his early club football while employed as a cashier with the American Shipping Company
American Line
The American Line was a shipping company based in Philadelphia that was founded in 1871. It began as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although the railroad got out of the shipping business soon after founding the company...
. While working in Liverpool, he was on the books of Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, but failed to make any first-team appearances. In 1893, he was transferred to the shipping company's offices in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
.
He joined the Southampton St. Mary's
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
club soon after his arrival in the town. On 26 April 1893, he was part of the St. Mary's team who played a friendly against Stoke of the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
at the County Ground
County Ground, Southampton
The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...
. Even with the future founder of football in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Charles Miller
Charles William Miller
Charles William Miller was a Brazilian sportsman, who is considered to be the father of football in Brazil.-Early life:...
playing at outside-left, the "Saints" were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", losing 8–0. Despite the result, it was reported that the spectators "thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition" and looked forward to witnessing "more matches of a similar character" in future. Amongst Stoke's players were Charles Baker
Charles Baker (footballer)
Charles Baker was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward in Southampton's inaugural season in the Southern League.-Playing career:...
, Willie Naughton
Willie Naughton
William A. "Willie" Naughton was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in Scotland and England in the 1880s and 1890s, including Celtic, Stoke and Southampton...
, Lachie Thomson
Lachie Thomson
W.J.G. "Lachie" Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.-Stoke:...
and Alf Littlehales
Alf Littlehales
Alfred "Alf" Littlehales was an English professional footballer who played at centre-half for Southampton in the 1890s.-Football career:...
, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.
Taylor made his competitive debut in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round on 4 November 1893, when Southampton defeated Uxbridge
Uxbridge F.C.
Uxbridge Football Club are a football club representing Uxbridge but now based in West Drayton, in the County of Middlesex England. They were established in 1871 and are one of the oldest clubs in the South of England. They were founder members of the Southern League Division Two in 1894 and have...
3–1, with Taylor scoring the "Saints" first goal. Taylor was not available for the next round of the FA Cup, where Southampton were defeated by Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
, but appeared in all the matches in the Hampshire Senior Cup
Hampshire Senior Cup
The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1888 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of 1914 to 1919 when it was postponed due to World War I.Despite the...
when the Saints lost 1–0 to the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers A.F.C.
The Royal Engineers Association Football Club is an association football team representing the Corps of Royal Engineers, the "Sappers", of the British Army. In the 1870s it was one of the strongest sides in English football, winning the FA Cup in 1875 and being Cup Finalists in four of the first...
in the final.
In 1894, Southampton St Mary's were one of the nine founder members of the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
, which had been created to enable clubs in southern England who were not admitted to the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, to play competitive football on a regular basis. For the start of their League career, Saints signed several new players on professional
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
contracts, including Baker
Charles Baker (footballer)
Charles Baker was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward in Southampton's inaugural season in the Southern League.-Playing career:...
, Littlehales
Alf Littlehales
Alfred "Alf" Littlehales was an English professional footballer who played at centre-half for Southampton in the 1890s.-Football career:...
and Thomson
Lachie Thomson
W.J.G. "Lachie" Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.-Stoke:...
from Stoke and Fred Hollands
Fred Hollands
Frederick George "Fred" Hollands was an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for Millwall Athletic and Southampton St Mary's in the 1890s.-Football career:...
from Millwall Athletic
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
. Despite this influx of professional players, Taylor's skill enabled him "to hold his own with the best of the professionals".
Taylor was described at the time as being "a versatile player with ample resource and a great variety of methods: he plays a defensive as well as offensive game with equal success". He featured in Southampton's inaugural Southern League match, playing at left-back in a 3–1 victory over Chatham at the Antelope Ground
Antelope Ground
The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St...
on 6 October 1894. He went on to play in eleven of the sixteen league matches, generally at right-back as Southampton finished third at the end of the inaugural Southern League season
Southern Football League 1894-95
The 1894-95 season was the first in the history of the Southern League. Sixteen clubs joined the new league, which was split into two divisions...
. In the FA Cup, Saints reached the First Round proper for the first time, where they were drawn against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
, going down 4–1 to the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
side.
In the 1895–96 season
Southern Football League 1895-96
The 1895-96 season was the second in the history of the Southern League. Millwall Athletic won Division One for the second successive season.-Division One:...
, Taylor's work commitments restricted him to eight league and two FA Cup appearances, usually being replaced by either Joe Dale or Joe Rogers
Joe Rogers (footballer born 1874)
Joseph James Rogers was an English professional footballer who played either as a forward or full back for Southampton, Grimsby Town and Newcastle United.-Football career:...
, before losing his place to new signing John McMillan
John McMillan (footballer born 1865)
John McMillan was a Scottish professional footballer who played at half-back for Heart of Midlothian and Southampton in the 1890s.-Football career:...
in March 1896.
Taylor continued to play amateur football with Southampton's local rivals Freemantle
Freemantle F.C.
Freemantle Football Club were a football club based in the Freemantle area of Southampton who were active at the end of the nineteenth century. During their brief heyday, they were rivals to Southampton Football Club...
after leaving the Saints.
Later career
Taylor was actively involved with many other sporting bodies, including playing cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for the Deanery club and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
at the Stoneham
North Stoneham
North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish in south Hampshire, England. It was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a number of scattered hamlets, including Middle Stoneham, North End, and Bassett Green, and...
Golf Club, where he was a committee member. He was also active with the Hampshire Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
.
He was later employed by White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
, where he was one of the founders of the annual football match to raise funds for the Seamen's Orphanage. At White Star Line, he was appointed Chief Cashier in 1922, a post he continued to hold until 1934 when he retired, shortly after White Star Line's merger with Cunard
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
.