Stuart Taylor. What could have been.

My standard Saturday evening ritual of watching Match of the Day inspired me to write this latest blog post.

Everton v Reading wasn't a particulalrly stand out game - the hosts won 3-1 to maintain their hopes of Champions League football - except for one notable appearance, that of Stuart Taylor.

The former Man City, Aston Villa and Arsenal goalkeeper is now 32 years old, yet Saturday's run out at Goodison Park was his first competitive appearance since turning out for City in their 4-2 victory over Scunthorpe in an FA Cup Fourth round tie in January 2010.

That was his only appearance during his three years at City. His last league appearance came during a loan spell at Cardiff City in 2009, where he shipped six goals against Preston North End.

Taylor came through the Arsenal youth ranks and after injuries to David Seaman and Richard Wright during the 2001/02 season, where he played ten times and won a Premier League winner's medal, was touted as Seaman's successor.

So what has happened to Taylor? And why was Saturday's appearance just the 89th of his career?

Well the answer to the first question is not a lot. He spent time away from Highbury with loan spells at Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Peterborough and Leicester. I saw him in action a couple of times during his brief spell at the Walkers Stadium (as it was known then) and he impressed me. Indeed, he was probably Craig Levein's best signing! He was certainly a good shot stopper and kept four clean sheets in ten games and lost only three games during that period.

That was almost ten years ago and would have been 23 years old, with the best part of his career still ahead of him and remained held in high regard at Highbury.

Taylor in his "glory days" at Arsenal

After 18 appearances at Arsenal he was released in 2005 and snapped up by Aston Villa manager David O'Leary on a free transfer to compete with Thomas Sorensen. His words to the media after he signed on the dotted line were: "This is all about career progression. It was no good for me to stay at Arsenal. Thomas is a great goalkeeper. But it's up to me to push him all the way. This is a new start. I enjoyeed my time at Arsenal but it's time to move on" He made 17 appearances during four years at Villa Park in all competitions.

Taylor was released in 2009 but joined Manchester City's Mark Hughes as cover for Shay Given but made just that one appearance in the FA Cup at Glanford Park before being released at the end of last season before Reading snapped him up.

To be fair to Taylor, he has had to compete to be number one with some of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history: Seaman at Arsenal, Friedel at Villa, Given and Hart at Man City. The cynic in me says that Taylor has been happy to be second or third choice 'keeper at some big clubs, sitting on the bench every week, playing the odd reserve team game and picking up his pretty reasonable pay packet every month.

The potential he showed at Arsenal suggested he would be a good Premier League 'keeper and it's obvious he hasn't fulfilled that promise. But maybe instead of sitting on the bench, taking the easy option, he could've gone down a division and been a first choice 'keeper. He was certainly good enough for the Championship.

And who knows, with the lack of quality English goalkeepers we've had in recent years, maybe the odd international cap would've been to his name. Surely that would be more rewarding than a career as a backup.

You can show your grandchildren your medals, but you can't show them your payslip.