Former Scarborough Athletic goalkeeper Tommy Taylor admits that he’s loving life at National League North side Darlington following his departure from The FlamingoLand Stadium in 2020.
The 28-year-old shot stopper has made 11 appearances for his new side, recording two clean sheets and he said: “I’m absolutely loving it up at Darlington, it’s like being at a professional club and it’s brilliant.
“We get everything done for us - I don’t even have to clean my own boots, which is mental.
“The fan base is unbelievable and it’s just a great club to be at.”
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic presented Taylor with a very difficult decision. Having lost his job, Buxton made an approach for the goalkeeper, offering him a huge increase in his salary. It was an offer that was too good to turn down.
Taylor reflects: “I would have loved to have stayed at the club, but I couldn’t afford to turn down the offer from Buxton.
Tommy Taylor, with a young fan, following a clean sheet at The FlamingoLand Stadium
“I had a mortgage and a car to pay for and the money that Buxton offered me was £200-£300 more than what I was on so it helped out massively.”
At the time, head coach Darren Kelly said: “I had a telephone conversation with Tommy and he told me that he had decided to join Buxton.
"I had driven to Leeds to meet him on Frid
ay and discuss things because he is a player that has been brilliant since I took over as manager. I'm gutted to see him go.
"Tommy has made his decision on his future now, so we have to move on."
Taylor suffered online abuse from some Scarborough fans, but moving with team mates Chris Dawson and James Walshaw helped him settle in at his new club.
“I was getting online abuse from some of the fans and it got to the point where I was wondering if I’d made the right decision.
“It helped having Chris and James with me but all of the lads were great and I settled in well.”
His time at Buxton came to an end in the sum
mer, with Darlington taking him on as their number one choice keeper at Blackwell Meadows and Taylor is hopeful his side can push on from their tough start to the campaign.
He said: “We’ve had a lot of new signings up there and I think it was always going to take us a while to gel.
“It wasn’t that we were playing poorly, it was just the individual errors that were costing us and I’m confident that we will go on a run and push towards the play-off places.”
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