Leicester City In 100 Players: Gerry Taggart
The series continues with Gerry Taggart, an experienced Northern Ireland international defender who, despite injuries, was a major player for the Foxes between 1998 and 2003.
Northern Ireland centre-back Taggart played nearly 150 games for Leicester City between 1998 and 2003 out of a career total of 539 Club appearances.
An FA Youth Cup finalist with Manchester City, he made his debut in the first team as an 18-year-old in the side which was promoted to the top-flight in 1989.
He signed for Barnsley in 1989 for a fee of £75,000, playing 247 games in his five and a half years at Oakwell before becoming Bolton Wanderers’ £1M signing in 1995.
Martin O’Neill brought him to City in July 1998. After making his debut at Old Trafford, injuries limited his contributions in his first season, but he did play in the League Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur in March 1999.
He established himself in the First Team in the next season, winning the League Cup at Wembley in 2000 as well as scooping the Club’s Player of the Season award.
In Peter Taylor’s first season (2000/01), following O’Neill’s departure to Celtic, Leicester were fourth in the Premier League as late as March 2001.
During that season, Gerry played the most consistent football of his career despite a knee injury which meant he had to have a tablet and an injection before each game and could only train on Fridays. Then, he suffered a bad knee injury in April 2001 which took over a year to recover from. During his absence, City were relegated.
Gerry’s comeback was on 11 May, 2002 when he made a substitute appearance in Leicester’s last game in the Premier League before relegation.
It was also the last game at Filbert Street. Gerry played over 30 games in the promotion season which followed (2002/03), during which the Club went into administration from October until February.
He joined Stoke City, initially on loan, in December 2003. His dominant performances in defence, together with his attacking forays had made him very popular with the Leicester City fans.
Gerry also had a distinguished international career, winning 51 caps for Northern Ireland between 1990 and 2002, captaining the side on several occasions.
He returned to Leicester initially as a scout before becoming First Team Coach in 2007 under Gary Megson and Ian Holloway, and Reserve Team Coach under Nigel Pearson. In 2007, he was also caretaker manager for four games with Frank Burrows. He is currently a regular contributor to Foxes Hub on matchdays and on the Monday evening football show, Extra-Time.