Heard about the footballer who plays in goal for one team and centre half for another?

It might happen quite frequently on the parks pitches but you don’t expect it further up the ladder.

But that’s exactly what used to happen with Matt Taylor, the former Charlton defender who joined City a fortnight ago.

Taylor, who played only his second game for the club in last night’s friendly with Avenue, is very much just a defender now. The goalkeeping gloves have been put away for good.

But local non-league watchers will recall him performing between the sticks in Guiseley’s colours.

Taylor made 33 appearances for the Whites in the 2005-2006 campaign under Neil Parsley and the late Trevor Storton.

The 31-year-old said: “Ever since my school days, I’d played in two positions. I’d be in goal for my age group and in the next year up as an outfield player, doing it every Saturday and Sunday.

“I carried on playing centre half for my college and the county but was still in nets for Burscough under-18s.

“It was a bit strange but I was lucky because the college I went to had a big emphasis on football. I was playing a good standard in the week as well as for Burscough on a Saturday.

“Then the first-team keeper there got injured and I was given the chance as an 18-year-old. I took it and for the next four or five years played semi-professional as a goalkeeper.

“So I got my first chance in that environment in goal.”

Taylor’s double life came to an end during his spell at Nethermoor, which he was combining with his studies at Sheffield Hallam university.

Still playing in the middle of defence for the students, he got called up for England universities – coached by current Exeter boss Paul Tisdale. It was to launch his career.

“Paul was the Team Bath manager and he invited me down on a scholarship after I’d done well for them. He didn’t even know I played in nets for Guiseley.

“I went down there as a centre half and played in the Southern Premier League. But I didn’t get to work with him at the start because he got the Exeter job that summer.

“He obviously kept tabs on me that first season and had scouts coming to watch games because I signed the season after for Exeter in the Conference. I just kicked on from there, went on to Charlton and enjoyed some great success.

“It is strange because in the non-league scene up north, I made my name as a goalkeeper. I’m sure there are still a few forwards wondering about it!

“But it’s almost like a different lifetime now. The last time I played in goal would have been my last game for Guiseley – I’ve done it once in training since but that was just for a bit of banter with the lads.”

Two hundred league games later, Taylor turned up at Valley Parade on a two-year deal in place of Michael Nelson. There were other offers but the chance to get back to his northern roots with an upwardly-mobile club was irresistible.

Taylor, who had been ticking over by training with Saturday’s opponents Port Vale, said: “There had been interest (from Bradford) for quite a while but we knew the situation of players coming in and going out.

“There were a lot of free agents in the summer but I was lucky because I didn’t have any ties.

“I’m a single man so I could stay at my parents for a bit. I could wait as long as I did and was delighted when Bradford came along.

“Without sounding big- headed, I had a lot of offers so it was good to know there was always something to fall back on.

“We were just waiting for a northern club, and someone like Bradford are going in the right direction. That’s one of the key things, that I was joining an ambitious club who want to go places.

“You saw that from what they achieved last season. You don’t do that with a poor team and poor players.

“I watched the Arsenal game when they played so well. You never got the feeling they were lucky in that cup run.

“You play football for moments like that and I can’t imagine what it must have been like.

“We’re in a new league now and it’s going to be a lot tougher but we’ve got that team togetherness and hopefully I can play my part.”

But that will be with his head and feet; certainly not his hands.