View source for Matt Taylor (American soccer)

{{Short description|American soccer player and coach}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name  = Matthew Taylor
| fullname    = Matthew Taylor
| image       = 
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|10|17}}
| birth_place = [[Columbus, Ohio]], United States
| height      = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}
| position    = [[Striker (association football)|Forward]]
| currentclub = [[Ventura County FC]] (head coach)
| clubnumber  = 
| youthyears1  = 
| youthclubs1  = Irvine Strikers
| collegeyears1  = 2000–2003
| college1  = [[UCLA Bruins men's soccer|UCLA Bruins]]
| years1 =  2003
| years2 =  2004 
| years3 =  2005–2007 
| years4 =  2007 
| years5 =  2008 
| years6 =  2008–2009 
| years7 =  2009–2010 
| years8 =  2010–2011
| years9 =  2011–2012
| years10 = 2012–2014
| years11 = 2014–2016
| years12 = 2016–2017
| clubs1 =  [[Orange County Blue Star]] 
| clubs2 =  [[Kansas City Wizards]] 
| clubs3 =  [[Chivas USA]] 
| clubs4 =  [[Portland Timbers (2001–2010)|Portland Timbers]] 
| clubs5 =  [[Hollywood United F.C.|Hollywood United]] 
| clubs6 =  [[TuS Koblenz]] 
| clubs7 =  [[FSV Frankfurt]] 
| clubs8 =  [[Rot Weiss Ahlen]]
| clubs9 =  [[SC Paderborn 07]]
| clubs10 = [[SC Preußen Münster|Preußen Münster]]
| clubs11 = [[1. FC Saarbrücken]]
| clubs12 = [[Kickers Offenbach]]
| caps1 =  18   
| caps2 =  17   
| caps3 =  37   
| caps4 =  8   
| caps5 =  ? 
| caps6 =  22   
| caps7 =  9   
| caps8 =  30 
| caps9 = 23
| caps10 = 69
| caps11 = 56
| caps12 = 22
| goals1 =  11  
| goals2 =  3  
| goals3 =  2  
| goals4 =  1  
| goals5 =  ?
| goals6 =  7  
| goals7 =  0  
| goals8 =  17 
| goals9 = 4
| goals10 = 22
| goals11 = 21
| goals12 = 2
| nationalyears1 =   
| nationalteam1 =   
| nationalcaps1 =    
| nationalgoals1 = 
| pcupdate    = 21:51, 2 May 2017 (UTC)
| ntupdate    = 
| manageryears1 = 2018–2020
| managerclubs1 = [[UCLA Bruins men's soccer|UCLA Bruins]] (assistant)
| manageryears2 = 2021–2023
| managerclubs2 = [[Real Salt Lake]] (assistant)
| manageryears3 = 2024–
| managerclubs3 = [[Ventura County FC]]
}}
'''Matthew Taylor''' (born October 17, 1981) is an American [[Association football|soccer]] coach and former player who is currently the head coach of [[Ventura County FC]] in [[MLS Next Pro]].

==College career==
Born in [[Columbus, Ohio]], Taylor grew up in [[Irvine, California]] and played [[College soccer in the United States|college soccer]] at [[UCLA]] from 2000 to 2003. Taylor was mostly a substitute his first year, but earned a larger role as a sophomore, finishing the season with seven goals and two assists. As a junior, he bettered that, registering 12 goals and eight assists, while being an important part of a UCLA team that won the [[NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament|NCAA Championship]]. Taylor's senior season was his best, as he scored 14 goals and had 8 assists, was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year, and was a [[Hermann Trophy]] finalist. Taylor was the nation's leading scorer in the NCAA tournament during UCLA's championship run in 2002 and was named to the all tournament team at the college cup. Taylor is also the all-time leading scorer for UCLA in post season tournament play. During his college years he played several games alongside former Germany national team player [[Jürgen Klinsmann]] with [[Orange County Blue Star]] in the [[USL Premier Development League]].

==Professional career==
An excellent MLS Combine saw the [[Kansas City Wizards]] trade up to draft him 4th overall in the [[2004 MLS SuperDraft]]. Although stuck behind [[Davy Arnaud]] and [[Josh Wolff]] and receiving little playing time in 2003, Taylor showed his scoring acumen registering three goals and an assist in only 524 minutes from a substitute's role.

After his first season, Taylor was left unprotected for the [[2004 MLS Expansion Draft]], and was selected 8th overall by [[Chivas USA]]. He became one of the few non-[[Hispanic]]s on the squad. Taylor was Chivas USA's first ever player to be named MLS player of the week. Taylor's first four years in MLS were hampered by injuries including a broken tibia, and double hernia surgery. Taylor became a first eleven player for Chivas USA coach Hans Westerhof and responded by leading all offensive categories in a starter's role. Taylor just started to regain the speed and quickness to match his work rate when he decided to leave Chivas USA over a contract dispute with then coach Preki. On July 25, 2007, Taylor signed for [[Portland Timbers (2001–10)|Portland Timbers]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Timbers sign forward Matt Taylor from Chivas USA|url=https://www.timbers.com/news/timbers-sign-forward-matt-taylor-chivas-usa|website=[[Portland Timbers]]|publisher=[[Portland Timbers (2001–10)|Portland Timbers]]|access-date=January 15, 2016|date=July 25, 2007}}</ref>

He had a short stint at the amateur side [[Hollywood United F.C.|Hollywood United]] in the Los Angeles–based [[USASA]]-affiliated Coast Soccer League, where he scored two goals on penalty kicks against his former club the [[Portland Timbers (2001–10)|Portland Timbers]] in the first round of the [[2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup]], helping Hollywood to a shocking 3–2 win over the USL side.

On August 14, 2008, Taylor moved to [[TuS Koblenz]], then playing in Germany's second tier [[2. Fußball-Bundesliga]] just three days before their season started and scored in his first game for the team.<ref name="goal">{{cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/de/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=822610|title=Spielbericht 2. Liga: TuS Koblenz - RW Oberhausen|website=Goal.com|accessdate=October 6, 2017}}</ref> On October 5, 2008, he scored a hat trick for Koblenz in a 5–0 win over Kaiserslautern. On May 27, 2009, Taylor signed a two-year contract with FSV Frankfurt, but left for [[3. Liga]] club [[Rot Weiss Ahlen]] after playing only on year for FSV. Taylor moved to Preußen Münster for the 2012/13 3. Liga season after playing the 2011/12 season with [[SC Paderborn 07]] in the 2. Bundesliga. Two years later he signed for [[1. FC Saarbrücken]].

==Coaching career==
After retiring in 2017, Taylor returned to his alma mater to become an assistant coach at [[UCLA Bruins men's soccer|UCLA]]. In 2021, he became an assistant coach for [[Major League Soccer]] club [[Real Salt Lake]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsl.com/post/2021/03/11/rsl-adds-matt-taylor-assistant-coach|title=RSL Adds Matt Taylor as Assistant Coach|website=rsl.com|accessdate=March 11, 2021}}</ref> On January 22, 2024, he was announced as the new head coach of [[Ventura County FC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lagalaxy.com/2/news/la-galaxy-ii-name-matt-taylor-head-coach|title=LA Galaxy II Name Matt Taylor Head Coach|work=LA Galaxy II |accessdate=January 22, 2024 |last1=Ii |first1=LA Galaxy }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150812004659/http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/regionalliga/rlsw/regionalliga-suedwest-2012/2015-16/1-fc-saarbruecken-106/51112/spieler_matthew-taylor.html Matthew Taylor] at Kicker

{{Ventura County FC squad}}
{{Ventura County FC managers}}
{{MLS Next Pro head coaches}}
{{SportingKCFirstPick}}
{{2004 MLS SuperDraft}}
{{Pac-12 Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Year navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Matt}}
[[Category:1981 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany]]
[[Category:American men's soccer players]]
[[Category:Hollywood United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Orange County Blue Star players]]
[[Category:Chivas USA players]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City players]]
[[Category:UCLA Bruins men's soccer players]]
[[Category:Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer players]]
[[Category:USL First Division players]]
[[Category:TuS Koblenz players]]
[[Category:FSV Frankfurt players]]
[[Category:Rot Weiss Ahlen players]]
[[Category:SC Paderborn 07 players]]
[[Category:SC Preußen Münster players]]
[[Category:1. FC Saarbrücken players]]
[[Category:2. Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:3. Liga players]]
[[Category:Regionalliga players]]
[[Category:Soccer players from Columbus, Ohio]]
[[Category:USL League Two players]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City draft picks]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Real Salt Lake non-playing staff]]
[[Category:UCLA Bruins men's soccer coaches]]
[[Category:Soccer players from Irvine, California]]
[[Category:Ventura County FC coaches]]