Frank Taylor

John Frederick "Frank" Taylor, OBE (7 December 1920 – 19 July 2002) was an English sports journalist and President of AIPS in 1973–1977 and 1981–1993. He was also President and former of UEPS – the biggest continental section of AIPS.

Early life Born in 1920 in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, Taylor was the son of a shipyard engineer, and attended Barrow Grammar School. He fought in the Second World War as a volunteer with the Royal Air Force. In his early days, Taylor was involved in athletics.

Journalism Taylor had his first experience as a journalist in 1938 at the Barrow Guardian. Demobilisation in 1946 was followed by work for the North-West Evening Mail in Barrow, and the Sheffield Telegraph. At the end of 1950, he joined the News Chronicle (1953–61).

On 6 February 1958, Taylor was travelling with the Manchester United team and was the only sports journalist to survive the Munich air disaster. He suffered multiple injuries and spent six months in hospital. Later, he would contribute to many books and television documentaries about the disaster, such as The Day a Team Died (1960).

Family life Taylor died of cancer in London in 2002 aged 81. He is survived by his wife Peggy and two journalist sons, Andrew MacDonald, of the Financial Times, and Alastair, of The Sun.

Awards and honours In 1973, Taylor was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to sport and sports journalism.

In 1977, he would receive the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal.

Honorary member of the British Sports Writers' Association.

Memory The European Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award was named the Frank Taylor Trophy since 2003 in honour of the former president of both AIPS and UEPS.