Help Is At Hand

- Richard Woodall

Taylor with the suggestion of assisting new players arriving from abroad. “Graham was really supportive and allowed me to create the role from scratch,” she said.

Several of the club’s new arrivals had struggled to settle, notably the then record signing Juan Pablo Ángel in 2001. The Colombia striker not only experienced problems settling into the team – waiting nine games for his first and only goal that season – he also had family illnesses to contend with. “When Juan came to the club neither he nor his wife spoke English,” McClelland said. “His wife became ill and so did their child, and whether it was fair or unfair they criticised the club for the initial lack of language support. I think Graham Taylor also recognised the club could have done better.”