Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor is the WSL’s longest-serving manager after Emma Hayes’ departure from the Chelsea at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Taylor, 51, has been in charge at the Academy Stadium for over four years, first appointed in May 2020.
He has yet to lead the team to a WSL title, but has enjoyed plenty of success since taking the job. Here’s everything you need to know about the City coach and his career to date
Gareth Taylor: His career so far
Like a few of his fellow WSL managers, Taylor had a distinguished playing career in the men’s professional game before becoming a coach.
Born in Weston-Super-Mare, Taylor’s first pro contract came at a West Country club, with Bristol Rovers offering him a deal. A four-year spell in the early nineties followed, with Taylor then turning out for Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.
Then came his first encounter with Manchester City, the forward signing for the club in November 1998 – with City struggling in Division Two at the time.
Fortunately the Citizens got themselves promoted at Wembley in dramatic fashion via the play-offs, before reaching the Premier League the following year.
Taylor later enjoyed successful spells at Burnley at Nottingham Forest before retiring in 2011 whilst at Wrexham. By that point his coaching career had already begun in earnest, regularly taking charge of Wrexham’s reserve side.
First re-joining City as under-16 coach, Taylor had various youth development roles at the club he played for, before he was offered the women’s job in May 2020 replacing Nick Cushing.
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Within months of his reign, Taylor had City’s first trophy in the bag since the 2017 Women’s FA Cup, winning the 2020 edition of the same tournament after a 3-1 win over Everton at Wembley.
Building an exciting attacking team around the likes of Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Caroline Weir, Taylor led City to an impressive second-place finish in 2020-21, with the anticipated next step being s league championship.
But tougher times followed, City lost three of their first four games the following season and were out of the title race immediately, eventually finishing a distant third. Taylor then lost Bronze and Walsh to Barcelona after the pair helped England win Euro 2022 on home soil.
What has followed since has been a steady recovery to get City back to the top of the domestic tree. Taylor’s team flirted with the title in 2023 before back-to-back defeats away at local rivals Liverpool and Manchester United ended their chances.
Last season was arguably Taylor’s best as a manager so far, winning 18 out of City’s 22 league games. Yet on the final day Chelsea were yet again champions. That, coupled with a quarter final FA Cup exit on penalties to Tottenham, means the pressure is starting to grow on Taylor to win some silverware in 2024-25.
Can he deliver? With an attack of England stars Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp, Matilda Mary Fowler and goalscoring phenomenon Bunny Shaw, City and Taylor have a great chance.
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