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On this day in 1996, Lincoln City were considering what looked like a significant addition to John Beck’s squad, with experienced striker John Taylor poised to complete a permanent move to Sincil Bank. Taylor was 31 and already well known to Beck, having played under him during Cambridge United’s remarkable rise through the divisions at the start of the decade. It was a move that made plenty of sense on paper. Taylor had a strong goalscoring pedigree, understood Beck’s methods and had already shown City what he could offer during his temporary spell, but there were concerns over both the cost of the transfer and the condition of a player whose recent career had been disrupted by injury. Taylor’s route into the professional game had been far from conventional. After starting out with Colchester United, where he did not make a league appearance, he dropped into non-league football with Sudbury Town and worked as a shipping clerk before Cambridge United paid £1,000 for him in 1988. It was there that his career really took off. He became part of a young Cambridge side that enjoyed extraordinary success under Beck, forming a productive partnership with Dion Dublin as the U’s won promotion from the Fourth Division through the play-offs in 1990 before following it with the Third Division title a year later. Taylor scored 46 league goals in 160 appearances during that first spell at the Abbey Stadium and was also part of the Cambridge sides that reached successive FA Cup quarter-finals, establishing himself as one of the most effective lower-league strikers of the period. His form eventually took him to Bristol Rovers, where he maintained an excellent scoring record with 44 goals in 95 league appearances, before subsequent spells with Bradford City and Luton Town. By the time City became interested in taking him permanently in the summer of 1996, though, his time at Luton had been much less productive. Injuries had played their part and Taylor had scored only three times in 37 league games for the Hatters. The Lincolnshire Echo reported on August 17, 1996, that Taylor had already undergone a medical at Sincil Bank and was poised to become the latest addition to Beck’s squad. The agreement with Luton appeared to be in place, but the City board still had to decide whether they could justify the financial commitment. Chairman John Reames made it clear that the player’s ability was not in question, but neither was he prepared to gamble with the club’s finances simply because Beck wanted another experienced striker. “This is something that will take a hell of a lot of thinking about over the weekend,” said Reames. “John Taylor is a class above the Third Division and consequently there is sizeable expense involved. John has also had back problems in the past so we would want to be absolutely convinced about his fitness. “Everything is agreed with Luton. Now we have to think long and hard about whether we can afford this. I am not prepared to put this club at financial risk.” Those comments rather neatly summed up the dilemma. Taylor was hardly an unknown quantity, and City were not being asked to take a chance on somebody whose ability was open to question. Beck had seen at close quarters what he could do during the most successful period of Cambridge’s history. The question was whether his body would allow him to justify the investment, and for a club operating with little financial room for error, that was clearly a much more serious consideration than it might have been elsewhere. Five days later, the answer had been reached, and Taylor was back at Luton. The Imps had decided against completing the permanent transfer after receiving specialist medical advice, with the Echo reporting that the “sizeable” investment required was considered too great a risk. Reames explained that City had even looked at extending Taylor’s stay on a temporary basis so that he could demonstrate his fitness before the club made a longer commitment, but the striker was looking for the security of a permanent move. “John Taylor’s fitness was just too much of a gamble,” he said. “We obtained specialist medical advice and decided to follow it. The possibility of a loan deal, during which Taylor could prove his fitness, was explored, but the player wanted a permanent move.” Instead, City signed Jae Martin on loan, but a couple of weeks later, Beck was back in for Taylor. He agreed to come in on loan, back in the days of short-term deals. He played five times for City, scoring on his debut as we beat Cardiff 2-0, and on his final game, when we drew 1-1 with Scarborough. However, once his loan was completed, a deal could not be struck, and he went to Colchester. He scored five times in eight league appearances at Layer Road, including one as they thrashed us 7-1, before returning to Cambridge permanently in January 1997. Far from being finished, he enjoyed another substantial spell at the Abbey Stadium, making 172 further league appearances and scoring another 40 goals. He helped Cambridge win promotion from the Third Division in 1998/99 and eventually finished his two spells with the club having scored 86 league goals, before continuing his professional career into his late thirties with Northampton Town and Dagenham & Redbridge. Taylor later moved into coaching and management, most notably taking charge of Cambridge United between 2001 and 2004, and his playing career ultimately stretched well beyond the point at which City had been concerned enough about his fitness to walk away from a permanent deal. That does not necessarily mean the Imps made the wrong decision, because Reames was making it clear that the issue was not simply whether Taylor could still play, but whether City could afford to risk a substantial part of their available budget on him. In the financial circumstances of the time, following specialist advice was probably the only responsible course available to the chairman.