Matt Taylor: My penalty kept Portsmouth in the Premier League - then I discovered my fiancee was in a Newquay hospital

Matt Taylor scored the goal which sealed the Great Escape – and Pompey’s improbable Premier League survival.
Matt Taylor celebrates Benjani's equaliser at Wigan in the April 2006 match which would keep Pompey in the Premier League. Picture: Steve Reid.Matt Taylor celebrates Benjani's equaliser at Wigan in the April 2006 match which would keep Pompey in the Premier League. Picture: Steve Reid.
Matt Taylor celebrates Benjani's equaliser at Wigan in the April 2006 match which would keep Pompey in the Premier League. Picture: Steve Reid.

However, DW Stadium celebrations were cut short after he found out his fiancee was in a Newquay hospital following an accident during her hen do.

Thankfully Hannah was fine, yet Taylor still associates that Wigan occasion in April 2006 with off-the-field matters.

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He had earlier netted a penalty to give Harry Redknapp’s side a 2-1 success and secure their top-flight status with a game to spare.

Matt Taylor's second-half penalty at Wigan retained Pompey's Premier League status in April 2006. Picture: Jonathan BradyMatt Taylor's second-half penalty at Wigan retained Pompey's Premier League status in April 2006. Picture: Jonathan Brady
Matt Taylor's second-half penalty at Wigan retained Pompey's Premier League status in April 2006. Picture: Jonathan Brady

And in a 2015 interview for Played Up Pompey, the popular left-sided player reflected on day rendered memorable for many reasons.

‘As the lads celebrated like crazy inside the away dressing room at the DW Stadium, I had serious family matters to attend to,’ he told Played Up Pompey.

‘It was an incredible day, we had just stayed up in the Premier League and I had scored the winning penalty to defeat Wigan 2-1, running 70 yards to celebrate in front of our fans.

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‘I was on cloud nine – but what I remember most is the phone conversation with Hannah, my wife to be, who was in a Cornish hospital at the time.

Matt Taylor (far right) and his Pompey team-mates celebrate completing the Great Escape at Wigan. Picture: Steve ReidMatt Taylor (far right) and his Pompey team-mates celebrate completing the Great Escape at Wigan. Picture: Steve Reid
Matt Taylor (far right) and his Pompey team-mates celebrate completing the Great Escape at Wigan. Picture: Steve Reid

‘There were several missed calls on my mobile from her when I picked it up after the match, but I didn’t think too much of it until listening to a voice message she had left.

‘Hannah was on her hen do in Newquay and her sister – Deborah – had dislocated her finger while surfing, prompting an ambulance to be called to the beach.

‘So there I stood in the stadium corridor, speaking to my wife about her sister, when I should have been celebrating with the rest of the lads.

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‘Not that it could possibly overshadow the result and an occasion which, for me, stands out more than anything else during my 203 games for Pompey. People labelled it as the Great Escape and it pretty much was.

‘I firmly believe we deserved to stay up and it was good to do it with one game to go after everybody had written us off having been cast adrift.

‘It was even more satisfying to achieve away from home because we had sold out at Wigan, which is no mean feat, especially with a 500-mile round trip for the fans, but they were there cheering us on.

‘At the final whistle we had to wait for the Birmingham result to come in, we had beaten Wigan and they had to fail to defeat Newcastle United to ensure we stayed in the Premier League with a match to spare.

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‘I remember Harry Redknapp being unsure whether we were saved or not and the relief was immense when it came through the St Andrew's club had drawn 0-0 - then we ran over to the North stand to celebrate with more than 5,000 away followers.

‘It is all a kind of a blur, but watching it back on YouTube there are things I remember, while also noticing aspects I probably didn’t appreciate at the time. I certainly didn’t realise how much of an achievement it was to stay up considering where we were at Christmas.

‘During the match we had the lion’s share of possession, dominating the game, but couldn’t seem to score, then Wigan went up the other end against the run of play and netted through Henri Camara in the 34th minute.

‘It was a bit of an anti-climax, all the noise was coming from our fans, everybody was only interested in whether Pompey won or not, they didn't really care about Wigan as they were safe and didn’t have a huge amount of fans at the ground anyway.

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‘As ever, though, our fans got behind us and in the 63rd minute, having been pushed up from left-back by the gaffer, the ball came to me, I hit it and it took a slight deflection off the keeper.

‘It then struck the inside of the far post and bounced back to where Benjani Mwaruwari was to head home from three yards for the equaliser and his first goal for Pompey after 15 appearances.

‘We were on level terms and then, in the 71st minute Gary Teale used his left hand to block Benji’s far-post header from Svetoslav Todorov's cross, earning him a red card and us a penalty.

‘We had beaten Sunderland the previous week when I scored an 88th minute spot kick – and I put it in exactly the same place, in the bottom right, to beat the keeper.

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‘At the final whistle we couldn’t get down the tunnel and then some fans came onto the pitch, carrying me off, it was a wonderful moment not only in my career but my life, those memories stay with you forever.’

Matt Taylor made 203 Pompey appearances and scored 29 goals from June 2002 until January 2008.

Played Up Pompey Too, released in 2017, is still available from Amazon. While Played Up Pompey Three, which contains more of your favourite Blues players, is out later this year.

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