Taylor's tale still set to have happy ending

But when Gordon Taylor awoke at around 4am last week -- no doubt his head still abuzz with thoughts of the players strike -- an emotive rendition of the verse on Radio 4 immediately struck a chord with the former Blackburn winger.

Armitage -- a self-confessed Huddersfield fan -- tells the life-story of a ten pence piece, from its formative days at the mint to the point when it came 'within an ace of it's end.'

But when the coin comes to muse about its greatest ambition of all, the answer is as simple as it is magical: 'to be flipped in Wembley's centre circle.'

Taylor, as a child growing up on a council estate in Ashton-Under-Lyne, harboured similar ambitions, only his dreams extended to scoring the winner rather than being the instrument for the toss-up.

But, like the coin in the poem, he reluctantly had to accept that his life was destined to take a different path.

Sure, there were times when he came desperately close. On three occasions he appeared in FA Cup semi-finals only for his dreams to implode at the final hurdle.

However, Taylor's lasting legacy to a game which has engulfed his life over the last four decades will not be cast in the form of an FA Cup winners medal.

Instead, he may well go down in history as the man who forced football to rediscover its conscience if he succeeds in his current battle with the Premier League over the distribution of television money.

Widely regarded as one of the most eloquent advocates the game has ever had, his thoughtful and diplomatic approach to football's problems in his role as the chief executive of the PFA has earned him the admiration of not only his own members but also that of most genuine lovers of the sport.

But his high-profile role with the PFA has often overshadowed a hugely successful playing career which spanned two decades.

How many players for instance can lay claim to playing in the same game as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer and walking off with the man of the match award?

But that's exactly what happened when he spent a brief spell in the North American Soccer League where he upstaged a host of living legends while playing for Vancouver against the New York Cosmos on a balmy summer night in 1977.

"They were fantastic times," recalled Taylor, with a twinkle in his eye.

"George Best was at Los Angeles and I think Johan Cruyff was at Washington.

"But the Cosmos were the ones everyone wanted to meet.

"To play against the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto was something pretty special, especially as we beat them 5-2.

"I didn't score but I did get a man of the match award for laying on crosses for four of the goals.

"And I think it was a record crowd for the Empire Stadium as well."

Taylor's fascination with the sport was first fostered on playing fields close to the family home in Ashton-Under-Lyne where he spent most of his childhood years 'playing out his dreams.'

Outstanding schoolboy performances for Lancashire Boys then brought him to the attention of clubs like Blackburn, Manchester United and Birmingham.

But he ultimately opted for Bolton despite a last-ditch attempt from the legendary Tom Finney to lure him to Preston on the afternoon of his last ever game for North End.

"I thought that was brilliant for him to come out and speak to a youngster like me on such an emotive day for him at the end of such a brilliant career," said Taylor.

"But I later chose Bolton because that was my club, really."

Over the next 10 years, he then clocked up 258 league appearances for Wanderers, scoring 41 goals, before a move to Birmingham and a brief flirtation with his Wembley dream.

After helping the Blues to promotion from the old second division in 1972, the Midlanders also made the Cup semi-finals that season only to be swept away by an all-conquering Leeds side.

However, they returned again in 1976 for an epic semi with Fulham when Taylor suffered his ultimate heartache.

"I knew I wasn't going to play for my country and I knew I wasn't going to win the title so to get to a cup final was my one big chance.

"So when we drew at Hilsborough 1-1 and then had a replay at Maine Road, I thought it was a great omen for me given that I came from the Manchester area.

"But we got beat in extra time by a last-gasp header, if you could call it that, because it was one of those which virtually trickled over the line.

"I remember my dad who was waiting outside the ground for me after the game and the Fulham coach was there, all lit up, with the champagne flowing freely.

"I didn't know what to say to him because we were both gutted and maybe we knew it was my last chance.

"I think I just said sorry in the end and he said 'forget it, you did your best.'

"But 26 years on and I'm still coming to terms with it which is why the poem really struck a chord last week."

The following year he answered a call from Jim Smith to join Blackburn along with Dave Wagstaffe, where the pair helped to save the club from relegation to the Third Division.

And his two years at Ewood turned out to be happy ones, even though they were interrupted by injury.

"That was great because I was there at a time when we had a lot of good youngsters in Paul Bradshaw, John Bailey, Stuart Metcalfe, Tony Parkes and Derek Fazackerley so we played some really good stuff."

However, in a cost-cutting measure, Taylor was later released which prompted a final swansong at Bury and it was during those next two years at Gigg Lane where he became heavily embroiled with the PFA.

He had always been involved, first as a delegate at Bolton, then a committee member during his time at Birmingham and Blackburn.

But he joined the organisation full-time on his retirement in 1981 when he was appointed secretary and chief executive.

And it is in that role that he is now currently taking on the might of the Premier League in a battle which could safeguard the association's immediate future.

If he wins, he will have more than earned his medal.