He had moved through the ranks at Highbury to be rated as a highly-promising goalkeeper. But he was never given the chance to make the number one position his own and in his last two seasons with the club struggled to make an appearance.
With Arsene Wenger constantly looking for new options between the sticks, Taylor agreed to move to Villa Park for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. He would provide competition for Danish international Thomas Sorensen.
Taylor spent ten years with Arsenal, helping the Gunners youth team to a championship, but largely had to rely on loan spells with Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Peterborough and Leicester to gain first team experience.
The 2001/02 season saw him really come to the fore at Highbury. Injuries to both Seaman and Richard Wright pushed Taylor into the team, and he was in fine form. When Wright returned to fitness he initially could not get back into the side.
Taylor earned his championship medal when coming on as a late substitute for Wright in the final game of the season, but was relegated to the bench again with David Seaman's return to fitness.
He continued to play second fiddle, but Arsene Wenger's search for a new goalkeeper did not bode well for Taylor and his hopes were dashed by the signing of Manuel Almunia.
Taylor ultimately opted to leave Arsenal in the summer of 2005 having not featured for the Arsenal first team for two years.
But despite making the switch to Villa, Taylor was unable to shift Thomas Sorensen and then the on-loan Scott Carson from the #1 jersey and remains a reserve for the club.
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