Gerry Taggart

Manchester City

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

Barnsley

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

Bolton Wanderers

He signed for Bolton Wanderers for a club record £1.5 million on 1 August 1995, as they prepared for the Premier League after winning promotion from Division One. However, he was unable to prevent them from being relegated after just one season among the elite.

In his second season with the club, Taggart helped Bolton reach the Premiership after they had amassed 98 points and scored 100 goals in that season and gained promotion as Champions of the First Division. The following season Taggart was relegated back to the First Division. 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 again played in Premiership football when he signed for Leicester City on 16 June 1998. Taggart was often partnered with Steve Walsh and Matt Elliott in Leicester's defence. In 2000, he won a League Cup winners medal with Leicester.

He scored his last European goal in a 1–1 UEFA Cup draw against Red Star Belgrade on 15 September 2000, at Filbert Street. In the 2001–02 season Leicester were relegated from the Premier League and Taggart opted to remain with the "Foxes" and helped them regain their top-flight status. He was over looked for the first team squad in the Premier League and joined Stoke City on loan then on a permanent basis.

Stoke City

He joined Stoke City on loan on 9 December 2003. He instantly impressed Stoke manager Tony Pulis with his leadership qualities. His loan deal was extended for another month on 6 January 2004. But he was recalled by Leicester.

He joined Stoke on a permanent basis on 26 February 2004 until the end of the 2003–04. He then signed an extension at Stoke turning down an approach from Derby County. He formed a decent defensive partnership with Michael Duberry in the 2004–05 season Pulis was sacked at the end of it though and was replaced by Johan Boskamp. Boskamp used Taggart as a coach during his one season spell and he was not offered a new contract at the end of the season.

Tamworth

Taggart had spent the 2006–07 season back with his former club Leicester City to take his coaching badges. He signed for Conference North division side Tamworth on 16 May 2007. He played twice for the "Lambs" leaving to become assistant manager at Leicester.

Taggart played international football for 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. Taggart earned 51 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring seven goals. He retired from his Northern Ireland and international football career on 18 August 2003.

Taggart spent 21 months out of the team after he was dropped by Lawrie McMenemy in 1998. He was recalled by incoming manager Sammy McIlroy. According to teammate Keith Gillespie, Taggart had angered McMenemy by drunkenly exposing his (Taggart's) penis to a female flight attendant on the way back from a 4–1 friendly defeat by Spain in June 1998.

International goals

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 February 1991	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Poland	1–1	3–1	Friendly match
2	5 February 1991	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Poland	3–1	3–1	Friendly match
3	13 November 1991	Odense, Denmark	Denmark	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
4	28 April 1992	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Lithuania	2–0	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	2 June 1993	Riga, Latvia	Latvia	2–0	2–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	9 November 1996	Nuremberg, Germany	Germany	1–1	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	3 June 1998	Santander, Spain	Spain	1–2	1–4	Friendly match

Taggart returned to Leicester on 13 September 2007 as first team coach under Gary Megson. He and Frank Burrows became caretaker managers following Megson's departure to Bolton Wanderers on 25 October 2007.

Taggart left Leicester on 10 June 2010, when it was announced he would become the new assistant manager at Oldham Athletic alongside former Leicester teammate Paul Dickov. He was placed on garden leave by the club on 31 December 2012 following a run of poor results.

In July 2014, Taggart was appointed as a match summariser for Leicester City matches on BBC Radio Leicester during the pre-season, replacing the popular Leicester striker, Alan Young. He also appeared on the station's weekly Leicester City Football Forum talk show. Taggart's media career was brief; less than 3 weeks later he resigned from the role in order to take up the role as chief scout at Doncaster Rovers, but resigned in October 2015, following the sacking of Paul Dickov.

• Sourced from Gerry Taggart profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club

• FA Youth Cup runner-up: 1988–89

• Football League Division One champions: 1996–97

• Football League Cup winner: 1999–2000
• Football League Cup runner-up: 1998–99
• Football League Division One runner-up: 2002–03

Individual

• First Division PFA Team of the Year (1): 1996–97