Jake Taylor (footballer, born 1998)

Jake Taylor

Personal information
Full name	Jake Jon Taylor [1]
Date of birth	(1998-09-08) 8 September 1998 (age 25) [2]
Place of birth	Manchester, England [3]
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Morecambe
Number	7
Youth career
20??–2014	Manchester United
2015–2019	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2021	Nottingham Forest	0	(0)
2019–2020	→ Port Vale (loan)	18	(5)
2020–2021	→ Scunthorpe United (loan)	13	(0)
2021–2022	Port Vale	23	(1)
2022–	Morecambe	51	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Jake Jon Taylor (born 8 September 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two club Morecambe. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2024.

He began his career at Nottingham Forest, though he never made a first-team appearance. He spent time on loan at Port Vale and Scunthorpe United before joining Port Vale on a permanent transfer in January 2021. He helped the club to win promotion out of League Two via the play-offs in 2022. He was sold on to Morecambe in July 2022.

Career

Nottingham Forest

Taylor was a pupil at Moorside High School in Swinton, Greater Manchester and was associated with Manchester United as a schoolboy until he was not offered a scholarship at Old Trafford at the age of 16. ^[4] In July 2015 he began a two-year apprenticeship at Nottingham Forest's youth team. ^[5] On 30 August 2019, he joined EFL League Two side Port Vale on loan after impressing manager John Askey in training games during a trial spell. ^[6] Taylor said that "Port Vale have strong links with Forest, as you have seen with Adam Crookes and also Toby Edser came in. Phil Sproson is good friends with the academy manager Gary Brazil so the link is there. They have shown an interest and I have jumped at it." ^[7]

He made his debut the following day, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute for Cristian Montaño in a 1–0 win over Cambridge United at Vale Park. ^[8] He later said that "I knew it would be physical but I think I have dealt with that quite well. Probably the speed of the game has surprised me." ^[4] On 24 September, he scored his first goal in senior football in a 3–2 victory at Macclesfield Town in the EFL Trophy. ^[9] He scored his first league goal four days later, bending the ball into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area in a 3–3 draw at Leyton Orient. ^[10] On 2 November, he scored the only goal of the game at local rivals Crewe Alexandra. ^[11] He picked up an injury early in January, but nevertheless had his loan spell extended until the end of the 2019–20 season. ^[12] The loan deal was extended after Forest rebuffed two transfer bids from the Vale. ^[13] However, he was unable to add to his tally of seven goals in 25 appearances as the league was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. ^[14]

On 1 October 2020, Taylor joined League Two club Scunthorpe United on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. ^{[15] [16]} Taylor was recalled from his loan at Glanford Park in January, having made 14 appearances for Neil Cox's "Iron". ^[17]

Port Vale

On 11 January 2021, Taylor signed a permanent deal with Port Vale on a three-and-a-half-year deal. ^[18] Rather than pay Nottingham Forest a transfer fee, the club agreed to a large sell-on clause. ^[19] New manager Darrell Clarke dropped Taylor from the starting line-up after saying he needed to "add that bit of steel to his game", though added that "I see him having a bright future". ^[20] He was sidelined with injury in early April, having scored once from 13 appearances for the club in the second half of the 2020–21 season. ^[21] His agent, Phil Sproson, commented that "he has to have a good pre-season and then see what develops... he just needs to recapture the form he had when he first came on loan". ^[22]

He missed the pre-season and the start of the 2021–22 regular season with a thigh injury. ^[23] He made 11 appearances before a reoccurrence of a quad injury saw ruled out of action "for a substantial time" in January. ^[24] He returned to action on 15 April, earning praise from interim manager Andy Crosby for his performance after coming on as a 55th-minute substitute in a 1–0 win at Hartlepool United. ^[25] He started in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium as Vale secured promotion with a 3–0 victory over Mansfield Town; Michael Baggaley of The Sentinel wrote that "[Taylor] used the ball well, spreading play with some pin-point crossfield passes". ^{[26] [27]}

Morecambe

He was reportedly a target of Morecambe in June 2022, with manager Derek Adams looking to sign him on a "bargain deal" to replace the departed Aaron Wildig. ^{[28] [29]} The transfer was confirmed on 8 July, with Morecambe paying an undisclosed fee and Taylor signing a two-year deal and stating that "I just wanted to go to a club where I felt wanted, play regularly and express myself". ^[30] He missed two months of the season after picking up a muscle injury against Accrington Stanley at the start of October. ^[31] He made fifteen starts and twelve substitute appearances throughout the 2022–23 campaign as Morecambe were relegated out of League One. ^[32] He played 32 games in the 2023–24 campaign, scoring one goal, and was not retained at the end of his contract. ^{[33] [34]}

Style of play

Taylor describes himself as a "ball-playing midfielder", though can also play at left-back. ^[35]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 April 2024

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		EFL Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2019–20 [36]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2020–21 [37]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scunthorpe United (loan)	2020–21 [37]	League Two	13	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
Port Vale (loan)	2019–20 [36]	League Two	18	5	3	0	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 1]	2	25	7
Port Vale	2020–21 [37]	League Two	12	1	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	13	1
	2021–22 [38]	League Two	11	0	1	0	0	0	6 [lower-alpha 2]	1	18	1
	Total		41	6	4	0	0	0	11	3	56	9
Morecambe	2022–23 [32]	League One	23	0	0	0	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	27	0
	2023–24 [33]	League Two	28	1	2	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	32	1
	Total		51	1	2	0	3	0	3	0	59	1
Career total			105	7	7	0	3	0	14	3	129	10

1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
2. 3 appearances in EFL Trophy and 3 appearances in League Two play-offs

Honours

Port Vale

• EFL League Two play-offs: 2022 ^[26]

References

1. "Club List of Registered Players As At 18th May 2019" (PDF). EFL. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
2. Jake Taylor at Soccerbase
3. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2020/2021". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
4. Baggaley, Michael (20 September 2019). ""That is why I'm here" - Nottingham Forest midfielder loving spell at Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
5. "Moorside High School - Jake Taylor Offered Apprenticeship In Sporting Excellence At Nottingham Forest". www.moorsidehigh.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
6. "Port Vale sign Shaun Brisley & add Nottingham Forest's Jake Taylor on loan". BBC Sport. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
7. Baggaley, Michael (2 September 2019). "'I have to earn trust at Port Vale' - Nottingham Forest midfielder". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
8. "Port Vale v Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
9. Baggaley, Michael (24 September 2019). "Macclesfield 2, Port Vale 3 Trophy match report". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
10. Baggaley, Michael (30 September 2019). "Port Vale's Nottingham Forest midfielder Jake Taylor on lessons learned and goal". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
11. Baggaley, Michael (3 November 2019). "Crewe Alex 0, Port Vale 1 recap - Jake Taylor fires Vale to victory". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
12. Baggaley, Michael (17 January 2020). "Port Vale and Nottingham Forest agree deal in principle for Jake Taylor". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
13. Baggaley, Michael (23 January 2020). "How Port Vale won the race to sign Nottingham Forest's Jake Taylor". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
14. Baggaley, Michael (17 May 2020). "Nottingham Forest midfielder says fond farewell to Port Vale after loan success". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
15. "Taylor moves out on loan". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
16. "Jake Taylor signs on loan from Nottingham Forest". www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
17. Baggaley, Michael (4 January 2021). "'One of three' - Port Vale alerted to Nottingham Forest's Jake Taylor". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
18. "Vale re-sign Taylor on deal until 2024". BBC Sport. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
19. Baggaley, Michael (11 January 2021). "Story behind the transfer deal as Port Vale win race for Jake Taylor". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
20. Baggaley, Michael (19 March 2021). "Every word from Port Vale manager ahead of Colchester game". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
21. Findlater, James (1 May 2021). "Latest injury news and match odds as Grimsby Town face Port Vale". GrimsbyLive. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
22. Baggaley, Michael (18 May 2021). "Sproson's view about Port Vale fortunes of Taylor, Brisley and Crookes". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
23. Baggaley, Michael (23 August 2021). "Port Vale update on Gibbons and Taylor ahead of friendly". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
24. Baggaley, Michael (13 January 2022). "Jake Taylor injury blow for Port Vale". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
25. Baggaley, Michael (17 April 2022). "Jake Taylor announcing his return in Port Vale promotion push". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
26. Aloia, Andrew (28 May 2022). "Vale beat 10-man Mansfield to reach League One". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
27. Baggaley, Michael (28 May 2022). "Port Vale player ratings from Wembley win over Mansfield". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
28. Baggaley, Michael (13 June 2022). "Morecambe's surprise link to Port Vale's Jake Taylor". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
29. Browne, Gavin (25 July 2022). "Morecambe boss backs former Port Vale midfielder to replace fans' favourite". Lancaster Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
30. Salmon, Craig (8 July 2022). "Shrimps swoop for midfielder Jake Taylor". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
31. Browne, Gavin (11 November 2022). "Morecambe manager looks to continue their good home form against Portsmouth". Lancaster Guardian. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
32. "Games played by Jake Taylor in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
33. "Games played by Jake Taylor in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
34. "Shrimps confirm retained list". www.morecambefc.com. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
35. Smith, Peter (30 August 2019). "Nottingham Forest midfielder becomes Port Vale's second signing of the day". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
36. "Games played by Jake Taylor in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
37. "Games played by Jake Taylor in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
38. "Games played by Jake Taylor in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2019.