Ex-City Defender Swaps Bantams for Robins

Exeter City’s former captain, Matt Taylor, 32, has left Bradford City by mutual consent and signed a two-year deal with Cheltenham Town. He’ll be wearing the number 4 shirt for the Robins, and looks set to be made team captain.

Exeter City’s manager would have come across Matt Taylor at Team bath where Matt was studying for a Diploma in Fitness Excellence. Matt had been a goalkeeper but converted to central defender in his non league playing days.

Taylor played 162 times for the Grecians, scoring 20 goals, including some important goals, like the headed equalising goal against Huddersfield on the last day of the 2009/10 season that Exeter win and kept their place in League 1.

He won two promotions with the Grecians, playing in the Conference play off final against Cambridge United, then the following season he played in that all important game at Don Valley where Exeter City got a 1-0 win over Rotherham United to secure promotion to League 1.

He was made captain at Exeter once Dan Seaborne had moved on to Southampton.

Matt Taylor left for Charlton Athletic at the end of 2010/11 season. He played 44 times for Charlton helping them win promotion to the Championship that season. He didn’t feature so much in the Championship for Charlton, playing 14 games. At the end of the season he joined Bradford City. Last season was blighted by injury for Matt and he was restricted to just 3 games for the Bantams, and went on loan to Colchester where he made 6 appearances.

He was always a popular player with the Grecians and was a good team captain and he’d do well in our current set-up.

Matt Taylor speaking on the Cheltenham Town website said:-

It’s always important to get the future sorted.

There is a good set of lads down here who are hungry to do well and they are the sort of ingredients you need to have success and there’s no reason why we can’t look forward to having a good season.

I like to think I’m an experienced defender who is quite solid and I’ve played enough games now! Hopefully I can talk to the lads around me, encourage them and give everything to the team.

We’ll get a chance to see Matt Taylor in action on Boxing Day when the Robins visit the Park, then again at Whaddon Road on Saturday 21st March.

The BBC reported that Matt Taylor signed for Exeter City on 12 June 2007, here.