Gerry Taggart

Football player infobox2
playername = Gerry Taggart


fullname = Gerald Taggart
height = height|ft=6|in=1
nicknames = Gerry
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1970|10|18
cityofbirth = Belfast
countryofbirth = Northern Ireland
currentclub = Leicester City
clubnumber =
position = Defender (retired)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1989–1990
1990–1995
1995–1998
1998–2004
2003–2004
2004–2006
2007
clubs = Manchester City
Barnsley
Bolton Wanderers
Leicester City
→ Stoke City (loan)
Stoke City
Tamworth
Total
caps(goals) = 013 (1)
247 (20)
081 (5)
142 (13)
008 (2)
048 (3)
002 (0)
541 (44)
nationalyears = 1990–2002
nationalteam = Northern Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 051 (7)
manageryears = 2007
managerclubs = Leicester City (caretaker)

Gerald "Gerry" Taggart (born October 18, 1970 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former professional footballer, who is a coach at Leicester City.

Playing career

Manchester City

Taggart started his career as a trainee with Manchester City in 1989. Gerry spent one season with the club making 13 appearances, and scoring one goal.

Barnsley

Limited chances in the City team saw Taggart drop down a division to take up the option of joining Barnsley where he spent five happy seasons, and also make the Northern Irish national team in the process, Taggart spent most of his time at Barnsley under former Northern Ireland player Danny Wilson, Taggart made 247 appearances, scoring 20 goals for the club.

Bolton Wanderers

When transferring from Barnsley to Bolton in 1995 he became the Wanderers first ever £1 million purchase. Gerry's solid displays at the heart of Barnsley's backline had alerted other teams of his ability and it wasn't long before Bolton Wanderers spent £1.5 million on Taggart on August 1, 1995. In his second season with the club (1996/1997 season) Gerry helped Bolton reach the Premiership after they had amassed 98 points and 100 goals in that season and gained promotion as Champions of the First Division. Unfortunately relegation back to the First Division the following season was undoubtedly one of the more disappointing parts of Gerry's career. In a total of three seasons with the club, Taggart made 81 appearances, scoring 5 goals for Bolton, with one such goal coming in the last ever game at the clubs old Burnden Park ground against Charlton Athletic in April 1997.

Leicester City

Taggart got another taste of Premiership football when he signed for Leicester City on June 16, 1998. Taggart was an integral member of the Leicester City squad and often partnered Foxes favourite and former Tamworth player Steve Walsh in the heart of Leicester's defence. Taggart and Leicester City where becoming a stronger force in the premiership and as seasons went on the team attracted big name players and grew from strength to strength. In 2000 Gerry won a League Cup winners medal with Leicester City, In the 2001/2002 season Leicester City were relegated from the Premiership, Taggart spent a following two seasons with the club, but falling out of favour in the first team, he spent the latter season on loan with Stoke City.

toke City

After showing some impressive displays while on loan [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/3301603.stm Taggart joins Stoke] ] , Stoke City decided to sign Gerry permanently on February 26 2004 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/3488934.stm Taggart joins Stoke City] ] . In the summer of 2004 Taggart with his team-mates played in a training-match against Roma. Taggart accidentally made a hard foul on Damiano Tommasi, whose knee healed from the horrifying accident for a long time. Eventually, Tommasi got back to big football.

At Stoke, Taggart formed a decent partnership with Michael Duberry in the heart of Stoke City's defence, but in truth injuries started to hamper Taggart's time with the club, Gerry decided to retire from the playing side and concentrate on taking up a coaching role with the club. Taggart only stayed with the club for two seasons, before being released on June 8 2006.

Gerry was a coach at Stoke City when they met the team he was playing for, Tamworth in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2006.

Tamworth

Taggart had spent the 2006/2007 season back with his former club Leicester City in order to take his coaching badges, but seemingly refreshed and ready to take on the commitments of the playing side once more, Taggart signed for Conference North division side Tamworth on May 16, 2007 [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Tamworth sign up veteran Taggart |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tamworth/6662825.stm |work= |publisher="BBC Sport" |date=2007-05-16 |accessdate=2007-11-03 ] . He and former team mate Robert Ullathorne both participated in the Football League Cup Final 1999 for Leicester City in which they lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.

Coaching career

Taggart returned to Leicester City on September 13, 2007 as first team coach under Gary Megson. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/6987880.stm Megson excited by Leicester job] , BBC Sport 2007-09-13. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.] He and Frank Burrows became caretaker managers following Megson's departure to Bolton Wanderers on 25 October 2007. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/7061876.stm Megson appointed Bolton manager] , BBC Sport 2007-10-25. Retrieved on 2007-10-26]

International career

Northern Ireland

Taggart played international football for his native Northern Ireland, making his debut in 1990 and spending 13 years at the back for Northern Ireland with his final appearance coming in 2003 while at Leicester City, Taggart earned 51 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring seven goals. Gerry pulled the curtain down on his Northern Ireland career on August 18 2003 when he declared his retirement from international football [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leicester_city/3160973.stm Taggart quits big stage] ] .

Honours

;Manchester City
*Runner-Up
**FA Youth Cup: 1988/89

;Bolton Wanderers
*Winner
**First Division: 1996/97

;Leicester City
*Winner
**League Cup: 1999/00
*Runner-Up
**League Cup: 1998/99
**First Division: 2002/03

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=7777|name=Gerry Taggart
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/php/spieler.php?id=11329 National Football Teams]