Ryan Taylor on his winner at Sunderland and his injury nightmare
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In the latest part of his exclusive interview with Ladbrokes, former Newcastle player Ryan Taylor discusses the high of scoring the winner at Sunderland and the lows of his injury problems.
One goal against Sunderland made me a cult hero
I spent a big chunk of my career up in Newcastle. Times were hard at first; we got relegated within the first few weeks of me being up there, so that wasn’t easy at all. They’re such a passionate group up there, the club just didn’t belong in the Championship. But it happened; there’s nothing you can do about it, no one wanted it to happen. But if you look back now, it might have been for the better, because it got rid of the players that didn’t want to be there.
I went through that Championship season in the team, then out the team, then back in again. In the end, I played quite a few games, but I never really felt like I settled.
But then we got back into the Premier League where I found it difficult under Chris Hughton to start with, and then when Alan Pardew came in, that changed everything for me, really.
How it all changed for me, though, was when Jose Enrique went to Liverpool. He made that move, the club didn’t have another left-back, and then I think it was a day before the game against Arsenal, the manager came to me and asked me to cover at left-back because he didn’t have any other options. For me, it wasn’t a problem. You know, he could have asked me to play anywhere and I’d have done it just to help the club.
Your journey in football is never smooth, it’s never easy, it’s never full of ups. It’s ups and downs, but I feel like that Arsenal game was the start of a turning point for me, personally. I had a good game at left-back, we drew 0-0 which was a decent result because they’d just brought in a load of new players.
And then the next game was Sunderland away. That’s where life for me changed in Newcastle. I scored the winner against Sunderland, and in that moment, you become a cult hero. I could post anything on social media, even after all these years, and fans will still reply, calling me a legend. It’s a word that gets thrown around far too much these days, but I did something for them which they could only dream of; going to Sunderland and scoring the winner in their back yard, with a free-kick… it’s quite iconic. You’ll always be remembered for it.
You’ve won something for those fans, and they love you for it. I have a really good connection with those supporters. Everywhere I went, after that game, everyone was offering me a beer. I couldn’t really take them up on it at the time, but I would now!
I felt my ACL snap like an elastic band… never did I think I’d be out for 26 months
We go through that season, and that year we finished fifth. I played the majority of the season at left-back, and off the back of that one campaign, I’d signed a new three-year deal. I felt really good, I enjoyed playing under Alan and, like I said, my life changed in that year.
Then the next season comes around, we’re playing in a Europa League qualifier against a Greek team called Atromitos… I score another free-kick against them and we take a 1-1 draw back to St James’. The season is just getting up and running, we’re going to beat this Greek team and qualify for the Europa League, under the lights at St James’.
And then 20 minutes into the game, I snap my ACL. And that’s it. My season’s over. Straight away, as soon as I stood up, I knew it, I felt a popping feeling in my knee. I remember sitting there on the sideline, and the doctor and physio came running over to me. When you snap an ACL, people always say it doesn’t half hurt. But I’ve broken my tib and fib… that hurts!
But with this, when I ruptured my ACL, I don’t really know how to describe it. If you get an elastic band, and you snap it, that’s it; it’s done. You can’t put it back together, there’s no afterpain. Obviously you get a bit of swelling in your knee, but there’s no constant pain there.
I can remember just being sat there, at first, just kind of rubbing my knee. I knew I’d hurt something, but my initial thinking was just to rub it for a minute, then go back on. And then, as the physio stood me up, I knew. No. No chance. I couldn’t even walk.
I didn’t play a game after that for 26 months.
Everyone at Newcastle – fans included – kept me going through injury
I think that what happened, was that the fans knew how desperate I was to get back, because I re-ruptured my ACL seven months after that first incident. That was the more serious one, because with that, I was told straight away that I wouldn’t be able to play again for a year-and-a-half. That next surgery had to work; it had to go well if I was still going to have a career.
It was a long time for me… a really, really long time. A lot of ups, a lot of downs. But I think that because the fans knew what I was going through, and how much I just loved being at the club and playing for the club, they were all just really supportive of me. Especially the manager and the players; you know, they really helped me.
I just built a really strong relationship with everyone associated with Newcastle. Look, no one really ever gets injured and has to spend more than two years out. It’s just unheard of, really.
I think I went through that many emotions during that period, I would say that being around me was probably more positive than not being around me.
After putting so much work into getting back to training after seven months out, you know, putting 110% into every single session, conscious of not overdoing it to make sure it never happened again… to have all of that just taken away from you because it’s gone again… when the doctor sat me down and broke the news to me, I just remember having a few tears. I was so heartbroken, with the fact that my ACL had gone again. There’s no better word to describe it than heartbreak. Anyone who has ever done it before, and then redone it, will understand. It’s one of the hardest rehabs to go through.
I broke down in front of the doctor… I didn’t want to go through it all again
You give so much, you lose so much. You’ve got to learn to run again, but you’ve got to try and manage yourself. It takes so long; it takes so much time and effort, and obviously a desire to get back. Some people just never come back from that kind of injury.
I just remember breaking down in front of the doctor. I went home that day and called my dad.
“I’m not doing it. I can’t go through it all again; that’s me done. I’m going to get it fixed, and then that’s it.”
He told me I was going to come back stronger, but you just can’t see the light, largely because it’s all so fresh. And then, obviously, as time goes by, you spend a lot of time around specialists.
The best person I saw was actually out in Denver, in Colorado. Me and the physio fly out to meet him, and after having a chat with him, he explains the plan…
He’s got to take the old, ruptured ACL back out again, and all of the little pins back out of my bone, and whatever else is in there. But you can’t just put another ACL back in there, because you’ve still got all of these holes inside of your bone. All of those holes need filling, for him to then be able to drill through them again.
Holes in my knee had to be filled with ‘donor bone’ before Denver doctor could drill back into it
He did the operation on my knee, cleaned it out, took all of the old ACL out, and all of those pins, and then he packed my bone with – if you like – donor bone. And then that’s basically got to gel into your bone, and then with the stuff that you’re eating and drinking, it’ll create the strength again in your bone for you to come back in six months to then redrill back through it.
So then I go back, six months later, and I have the ACL surgery. The next day, I wake up and because of this tissue that he’s put in my leg, it’s a full year I’m going to be out for. He was straight up and blunt with me.
“Get it in your head, right now, that you won’t be playing football for 12 more months.”
All I’m thinking is ‘that’s another season’. That’s another season gone. That’s two of the three years on my contract. I’ll be coming back over 30, and all of it just got on top of me.
All I could think about for the rest of my career was ‘when’s the next one?’ Some of us are just unlucky
If I was ever around people, I would always try and be upbeat about it all. But, listen, there were some dark days in there; some real dark days, where I’m just thinking ‘it’s over’. You know, everything I’d ever worked for, ever since I was a little kid walking the streets of Liverpool with a ball in my hand. Just constantly kicking a ball; all I ever dreamed about was playing football, and then it was just taken away from me.
Obviously I still got to go on and play after that, but I was always mindful of ‘when’s the next one?’
When I was a kid at Tranmere, I was just never injured. Then I went to Wigan, and I break my leg, and then I come back, and then I break my leg again. And then I go to Newcastle and Sol Campbell tackled me in training. Ruptured two ligaments in my ankle. From a tackle in training. And then I ruptured my ACL twice. So you’re just constantly waiting for the next one, because that’s just how it seemed to go.
There’s players who can go through their whole career without getting a big injury, but then there are players – like myself – who just never seem to get the rub of the green. It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong, either; you’re living the lifestyle of how a footballer should be living. Some of us are just unlucky.
Second ACL rehab got me out of night feeds!
Obviously, in the time I spent out of the game, I got to spend a lot more time with the kids, and watch them grow up. I was able to spend a little bit more time with them than most players could with their kids. When we were playing away, for example, I wouldn’t travel, so obviously I’d stay at home and be with them.
During the second ACL, I had a newborn, pretty much, and a three-year-old. I always remember with the first baby, night feeds were horrendous. You’re nudging each other to see who’s getting up to do them, neither of you want to… all of that stuff. But with the second born, I was in the middle of my second rehab with my ACL.
So I couldn’t afford to get up tired the next day. I was absolutely knackered from the work I’d been doing in the day, and I just couldn’t turn up to work tired, and then hurt my knee again in the process. It sounds bad, but I don’t remember ever doing one night feed for my second child! I just blagged it that I couldn’t go in tired!
But the kids and the wife played a massive part in that whole journey for me, for sure. I’d come home from training, and on the days where I just felt like things weren’t progressing, I’d go home and see the kids, and instantly they’d just put a smile on my face. You know, they’re so young, they haven’t got a clue what’s going on with you. They made those 26 months go pretty quickly, to be honest.
