Born: Hildesheim, West Germany, 4 September 1971
Position: Goalkeeper
Nationality: Northern Irish
International caps: 88
International goals: 0
Signed: 14 November 1997 from Southampton (£700,000)
Fulham debut: Fulham 1-1 York City, 18 November 1997
Fulham appearances: 232
Fulham goals: 0
Sold: 23 March 2004 to Birmingham City (£1.3m)
German-born Northern Irish international Maik Taylor was arguably one of the bargains of the early Mohamed Al-Fayed era when Fulham paid just £700,000 for his services from Southampton in November 1997. A reliable collector of crosses who was a strong shot-stopper and good with his feet, Taylor was terribly unlucky to lose his place when a combination of Jean Tigana and Al-Fayed persuaded Edwin van der Sar to move to Craven Cottage after the Whites were promoted to the Premier League.
He was an ever-present in the Kevin Keegan side that won the Second Division title in 1998-99, keeping 24 clean sheets in 46 league appearances as well as starring as the Cottagers reached the FA Cup fifth round. He was outstanding in Tigana’s Division One promotion season as well and, true to his outstanding character, accepted his demotion to van der Sar’s deputy with good grace. He eventually sought a move to remain Northern Ireland’s number one and joined Birmingham City for £1.3m in March 2004 after a successful loan spell at St. Andrew’s having made 232 appearances in seven special years in SW6.
