Mike Taylor returns to Stratford Town from Tamworth
POWERHOUSE striker Mike Taylor has returned to Stratford Town from fellow Southern Premier Central rivals Tamworth.
The 33-year-old, fondly known as 'The Beast', is a popular figure among the Bards faithful and has a record of 119 competitive appearances and 44 goals for Stratford.
Taylor started out in the Solihull Moors youth set-up before linking up with Midland Combination side Earlswood Town where he hit over 40 goals in the 2010-11 season.
He then enjoyed spells at Worcester City and Solihull Moors before linking up with the Bards for the first time in July 2016.
Taylor then moved on to Redditch United early in the 2016-17 campaign, but was quickly back at the Arden Garages Stadium by November and finished the season with 11 goals from 32 competitive appearances.
The season after Taylor ended the 2017-18 campaign with 13 goals from 48 appearances in all competitions. Taylor was then among the leading goalscorers for the 2018-19 Southern Premier Central campaign and played a part in Stratford reaching the first round of the FA Trophy, hitting an injury-time winner against ten-man South Shields.
He would depart Stratford for Tamworth, but after two months he made his way back to Knights Lane via Leamington. During the course of the season, Taylor made 39 appearances for Stratford, netting 20 times.
At the start of the 2019-20 campaign 'The Beast' had a short spell with Stourbridge before making the move to Bromsgrove Sporting, where he would score an impressive 25 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions before the season was declared null and void.
He would then score two more times for the Worcestershire side during the curtailed 2020-21 campaign. Taylor signed for Tamworth, teaming up with old Stratford boss Thomas Baillie, for the 2021-22 season and in 15 competitive appearances with the Lambs, he scored four times.
