The Smiling Executioner
Born into a mining family on 29 January 1932, Tommy Taylor joined the National Coal Board straight after school, working at Wharncliff Woodmore Colliery.
Although he hadn't developed a taste for football until he was 12 years old, Taylor played just four matches for a pub team, Smithies United, before he was snapped up by Second Division side Barnsley. By October 1950, he had made his debut for the Tykes and two weeks later he scored a hat-trick in their 7-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.
In their search for a new forward, Manchester United had been watching Taylor for several months. Aware that other First Division sides were hoping to sign the striker, Matt Busby and Jimmy Murphy made their move. Their most difficult task was to persuade the humble man that he had the makings of a First Division player. Busby paid Barnsley £29,999 and reportedly tipped the tea lady £1, preventing Taylor from feeling the pressure of being a £30,000 player.
Taylor scored twice on his debut against Preston North End, once from outside the penalty area, and by the end of the season, he had netted seven times in 11 matches. He was phenomenal in the air, as accurate with his head as many contemporaries were with their feet. Throughout his time with the Reds, Taylor was nicknamed ‘the smiling executioner’ for his pinpoint accuracy and good humour. Within a few weeks of his United debut, the striker received an England call-up and earned the first of his 19 international caps. He played a leading role in helping his country to qualify for the 1958 World Cup and had taken over from stalwart Nat Lofthouse as his nation’s first-choice centre-forward.
In United's 1956/57 title-winning season, Tommy was the team's top scorer with a remarkable 34 goals in 45 games across all competitions. No wonder Matt Busby refused Inter Milan's then-astronomical offer of £65,000 for the striker; Taylor was not for sale at any price.
Taylor started the following campaign, 1957/58, in a similarly rich vein of form. He netted 22 goals in 34 appearances, including a double in what was to be his team's final match together on English soil - a thrilling 5-4 win away to Arsenal on 1 February 1958. Five days later, as the Reds returned from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade, Taylor was among the eight players and 23 people in total who lost their lives when the team's plane crashed after a refuelling stop in Munich. Just before the third take-off attempt, Tommy and his close friend David Pegg moved to the back of the cabin to sit with another team-mate Eddie Colman, where they believed they would be safer. All three of them perished, in a tragedy that will never be forgotten.