Odisha FC's Steven Taylor - Scoring at St. James’ Park in front of 52,000 fans was an incredible feeling

Odisha FC’s newest recruit Steven Taylor has a vast experience of playing at the top level of English football with Newcastle United.

The experienced defender, who has spent 13 seasons with The Magpies, has several fond memories. From playing under top managers like Sir Bobby Robson and Rafael Benitez to sharing dressing rooms with legends like Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, Taylor has had a memorable journey in England.

The Brit reminisced fond memories from the St. James’ Park during a chat with Goal.

“Playing for my home town club Newcastle United, working under the likes of Sir Bobby Robson, Kevin Keegan and Rafael Benitez is some of my most memorable moments. I played with some incredible players like Alan Shearer and Michael Owen. So for a young player coming through, it was always great to learn from legends like them.”

Taylor had won just two trophies during his time at Newcastle United. In 2006, the club had won the now-defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup and in the 2009-10 season, they had won the Football League Championship and returned to the Premier League.

“Scoring at St. James’ Park in front of 52,000 fans is always an incredible feeling. It was nice to experience European nights with Newcastle and winning the championship with them,” suggested the 34-year-old.

Newcastle United were on the verge of a potential takeover in April by a Saudi Arabian consortium of investors which included Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, PCP Capital Partners and Reuben Brothers. They were supposed to pay £300m to buy the club from current owner Mike Ashley.

Unfortunately, the deal did not materialise and the Saudi investors decided to back out citing a delay in the process of selling the club from the owners’ side.

While several reasons have come up justifying in the delay of the process, Steven Taylor believes that leaking of the takeover news to the press has resulted in the collapse. But he is also positive that the takeover will eventually take place.

“I think if it’s going to happen it will happen before things get leaked out to the press like most club takeovers. When it’s played in the press a lot and dragging on a lot of the time, things like that collapse. Which is what happened with the last potential takeover bid,” said the former Newcastle defender.