Lincoln City & Colchester United Loanee Looks To Championship Next Season

Former Lincoln City loanee Joe Taylor has discussed his experience in a ‘whirlwind’ 18/24 months in his career as he aims to compete for a Championship spot..  

The 21-year-old linked up with the Imps in the January transfer window, having spent the first half of the season on loan at League Two side Colchester United.

He bagged 12 goals for the U’s prior to the appointment of former Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley. For Lincoln he continued to demonstrate his goalscoring ability scoring 10 goals in 19 appearances, helping to spearhead Michael Skubala’s unbeaten run which pushed them to the brink of a play-off spot.

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An opportunity earned

Taylor has had to do things the hard way through large parts of his career, but his dedication and work ethic have paid off with results and goals. His impressive spells in League Two and League One last season for Colchester and Lincoln have more than earned him a shot in the second tier.

If he continues his form there is no doubt that he has the potential to play in the Premier League in the future, so long as his development is nurtured in the right environment.

The opportunity to meet his parent club, who have been relegated from the Premier League and in need of a boost, as he looks to step into the Championship could be a match made in heaven and save the Hatters a hefty transfer fee when trying to add more goals to their side.

What’s Been Said?

Speaking to SportsBoom.com Taylor admitted that it has been a whirlwind period in his career;

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind these last 18-24 months to be honest,”

“It’s been a bit of a mad one, really, but I’ve always been a confident person and believed in my ability, even with the setbacks that I’ve had during my career.”

Taylor finds himself back in the Luton Town squad following their relegation from the Premier League and is eager to prove to his parent club that he deserves the opportunity to represent them in the second tier.

After battling through a difficult start as a part time player for Kings Lynn Town he has climbed the league structure quickly.

“I was a part-time barman and playing football for King’s Lynn reserves.

“I was released from Norwich City when I was 15 and told that I wasn’t good enough. Then I was released from King’s Lynn (Town) when I was 17.

“But I’ve always been confident, I’ve always believed that if I get my head down, knuckle down and keep working hard and doing what I’m good at, then eventually someone will take a punt.

“Then it’s about whether I take it (the opportunity) or not.”

“I was doing really well there (at King’s Lynn) and I was working with some people who have played at the top level,”

“Chris Sutton used to come to all of our games because his son (Ollie) was the goalkeeper, and Darren Huckerby was also there because his son (Tom) was a centre-half.

“I also got the chance to play with (former Scotland, Norwich, Notts Forest and Aston Villa striker) Grant Holt for a little bit because he was at the club as well.

“Luckily, I had good people around me offering advice and supporting me.”

“There was Adam Drury on the coaching staff – and he played over 500 games for Norwich.

“They all told me to keep doing what I was doing, even though I wasn’t playing in the Football League.

“They said ‘if you keep scoring goals, then someone will take a punt because everyone needs a goalscorer’. Thankfully, I did.”

The striker was keen to thank his family for standing by him during tough periods of his career which saw him struggle with wanting to play anymore.

“Promotions and success are why we play football – and if you get them then I owe that all to my family because they’ve stood by me when I didn’t even want to play football anymore,” added Taylor.

“I had my dad dragging me out of the house to go and play football. I owe all my success to them.”