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A supporter's affection for a player is not always about ability. Often it is far simpler than that: a tireless hunger and enthusiasm for the game can win over a crowd just as surely as a box of tricks, and Ian Taylor was the embodiment of it at Aston Villa.
That is not to suggest Taylor lacked talent. Nothing could be further from the truth. His positional awareness and eye for goal made him a vital part of the Villa midfield during nine years at the club, from 1994 to 2003, but he was much more than just another capable Premier League player.
A Villa fan in a Villa shirt
A lifelong Villa supporter, he seemed to carry an extra sense of responsibility and pride whenever he pulled on the claret and blue, and it showed in every performance. Supporters recognise that sort of thing instantly. They forgave the occasional misplaced pass because they knew the man making it felt the same about the result as they did.
He came to Villa Park via Port Vale and Sheffield Wednesday, arriving in the middle of the 1990s just as Brian Little was building a side that would play some of the most attractive football the club had produced in years. Alongside the likes of Dwight Yorke, Savo Milošević and Andy Townsend, Taylor provided the legs.
The radar in the box and the 1996 League Cup final
Taylor seemed to have a built-in radar for where a loose ball would drop in the penalty area. He would arrive late, latch onto it and, more often than not, smash it into the net. Villa fans of that era carry countless memories of exactly that, and the most cherished came at Wembley in March 1996, when Villa beat Leeds United 3–0 in the League Cup final. Milošević scored a spectacular opener, Taylor added the second and Yorke wrapped it up.
His heading owed a good deal to his 6ft 2in frame. Against opponents of similar height he would still be favourite to win the ball, propelled into the air by sheer enthusiasm. He tracked back too, chasing the ball like an energetic Border Collie. Whether he won it cleanly was open to debate. The effort was never in doubt.
His greatest asset, though, was something far simpler: long legs. They never seemed to tire, helped by a stride that let him glide across the surface while others worked like a steam engine to reach the same spot.
Port Vale, Wednesday, Derby and Northampton
Supporters of Port Vale, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and Northampton Town hold fond memories of Taylor for many of the same reasons. But it is Villa fans who keep him in the highest regard, because his passion for the club matched their own. The Aston Villa hub collects more stories from Villa Park, and fellow 1990s Villa figure Saša Ćurčić makes for a very different kind of cult hero.
Still in the away end
Some former players take on ambassadorial roles after retirement and appear now and then as an after-dinner speaker, fixed grin and club tie included. Taylor has worked as a Villa ambassador, but not purely for the pay. He does it because he is a fan.
A regular at home and away games, he turns down the warmth of the executive boxes and the canapés that come with them, and can often be found watching from the cold of the stands. A good example came at the Birmingham derby in the League Cup quarter-finals in December 2010, when he chose to sit with the travelling support at St Andrew's and found himself penned in when home fans spilled onto the pitch. He could easily have watched from a far more comfortable seat had he wanted to. The wider story of that rivalry is told in a piece on why the Villa–Birmingham derby matters to both clubs.
His willingness to be an ordinary supporter, rather than an untouchable hero, is a rare treat in modern football, where enormous wages have pushed players' status far beyond that of the people on the terraces. Taylor has no such airs and graces. Beneath the money and the customised cars, there are still footballers who love the game exactly as much as the people paying to watch it.
There is truly only one Ian Taylor.