Ernie Taylor

Football career Taylor was born in Liverpool, where he played his early club football while employed as a cashier with the American Shipping Company. While working in Liverpool, he was on the books of Everton, but failed to make any first-team appearances. In 1893, he was transferred to the shipping company's offices in Southampton.

He joined the Southampton St. Mary's club soon after his arrival in the town. On 26 April 1893, he was part of the St. Mary's team who played a friendly against Stoke of the Football League at the County Ground. Even with the future founder of football in Brazil, Charles Miller playing at outside-left, the "Saints" were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", Amongst Stoke's players were Charles Baker, Willie Naughton, Lachie Thomson and Alf Littlehales, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.

Taylor made his competitive debut in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round on 4 November 1893, when Southampton defeated Uxbridge 3–1, with Taylor scoring the "Saints" first goal. Taylor was not available for the next round of the FA Cup, where Southampton were defeated by Reading, but appeared in all the matches in the Hampshire Senior Cup when the Saints lost 1–0 to the Royal Engineers in the final. For the start of their League career, Saints signed several new players on professional contracts, including Baker, Littlehales and Thomson from Stoke and Fred Hollands from Millwall Athletic. Despite this influx of professional players, Taylor's skill enabled him "to hold his own with the best of the professionals".

Taylor continued to play amateur football with Southampton's local rivals Freemantle after leaving the Saints.

Later career Taylor was actively involved with many other sporting bodies, including playing cricket for the Deanery club and golf at the Stoneham Golf Club, where he was a committee member. He was also active with the Hampshire Rugby Union.

He was later employed by White Star Line, where he was one of the founders of the annual football match to raise funds for the Seamen's Orphanage. At White Star Line, he was appointed Chief Cashier in 1922, a post he continued to hold until 1934 when he retired, shortly after White Star Line's merger with Cunard.