Gareth Keith Taylor (born 25 February 1973) is a football manager and former player who is the head coach of Manchester City Women. He began his career as a defender at Bristol Rovers, having left the Southampton youth team in 1991. After loan spells with non-league sides Gloucester City and Weymouth, he was converted into a striker. He then spent the 1995–96 season with Crystal Palace (who paid £1.25 million for his services), before a two-year spell with Sheffield United. He transferred to Manchester City in 1998 for a £400,000 fee, and was loaned out to Port Vale, Queens Park Rangers, and Burnley. He moved permanently to Burnley in 2001, and joined Nottingham Forest for a £500,000 fee two years later. In 2006, he was loaned out to Crewe Alexandra, before signing with Tranmere Rovers. In 2008, he switched to Doncaster Rovers, and joined Conference club Wrexham a year later, following a brief spell on loan at Carlisle United. He retired as a player in September 2011, having scored 135 goals in 642 appearances across all competitions. In addition to an eighteen-year career in the Football League he also enjoyed a nine-year international career. He won a total of fifteen caps for Wales, and scored once, in a friendly against Scotland. He was eligible for the national side because of his Welsh-born father. He went on to coach at Manchester City before he was appointed manager of the club's women's team in May 2020. He led the team to the FA Cup title in 2020 and League Cup title in 2022. Club career Bristol Rovers Born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, Taylor started his career with Southampton, but failed to make any first team appearances and was released. Second Division Bristol Rovers then signed him in 1991. Over the course of the 1991–92 season he was loaned to Gloucester City, where he played two games without scoring. He made his Football League debut as a centre-back in a 6–1 defeat at Cambridge United in February 1992. He then had another loan spell, this time to Weymouth in 1992–93, where he made five appearances without scoring. He did not play again until the first match of the 1994–95 campaign, by which time manager John Ward had converted him into a striker. His height meant he was a good target man and was exceptional in the air, scoring twelve goals (most of them headers)