A FORMER Vauxhall Motors player has put his troubled past behind him and is now making a big name for himself in the Championship.
Striker Paul Taylor, who was banned from football for six months after testing positive for cocaine in 2008, has bagged three goals in a week for Peterborough United.
The 23-year-old came off the subs’ bench at Millwall last Tuesday and inspired a late fightback, setting up one goal and scoring the other as Darren Ferguson’s side came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
Taylor was rewarded with his first start for the Posh in Saturday’s televised home game against Ipswich Town – and netted two goals in a sensational 7-1 win.
Vauxhall chairman Alan Bartlam is pleased to see one of the club’s former players doing so well.
He said: “He has all the ability in the world and it’s great to see him playing with a smile on his face.”
Taylor’s nomadic and sometimes controversial career now appears to be firmly back on the rails.
He joined Vauxhall in 2007 and his dazzling displays earned a loan move to Chester City – then still in the Football League – the following year. But his stay at the Deva Stadium was brief and dogged with disciplinary problems.
The former Manchester City trainee was suspended for missing training sessions and matches. Worse was to follow when he failed a random drug test at Chester’s training ground in October 2008.
Once he had served his six-month ban, he resurfaced in Belgium, playing for lower-division side Royal Racing Club Montegnée before securing a move to top-flight Belgian side Anderlecht.
He was snapped up by Peterborough following a successful trial earlier this year.
Posh manager Ferguson said: “The lad’s got some ability. He’s got great feet and is a good dribbler of the ball.”
Bartlam reckons some of the players currently on the books at Vauxhall could follow Liverpool-born Taylor into the Football League.
“The players we have got could go on to play at a really high level too,” he said.
Motors match report – page 62.
