England Hockey Lead Andy Taylor says his 13-year coaching success wouldn’t be possible without wife Andrea
“I couldn’t do this without her being behind me all the way.”
Whenever there’s success to be celebrated in sport, all the key front-facing figures are lauded for their hard work, and their names are long praised and associated with the triumph.
Of course, it takes so many impressive individuals to keep a team’s cogs turning, including those who don’t often receive their flowers.
Andy Taylor is the England Hockey Lead and team manager for the men’s 50s. He will be heading out to Rotterdam this summer for the Masters Hockey World Cup – the eighth of his career – and gunning for gold.
Outside of the international stage, Andy was recently appointed the men’s Club Captain at Belper Hockey Club. His playing career started at Mansfield when he was 14, and he played until 40 years of age, also representing North Notts, Chesterfield and Belper along the way.
Since leaving the playing field, Andy has coached Mansfield men’s first 11, North Notts ladies first 11, and he currently coaches the men’s second 11 and manages the men’s first 11 at Belper.
Since he stepped into the world of England Hockey 13 years ago, Andy has medalled at every major tournament he has competed in, both indoor and outdoor. His impressive pedigree keeps him tied strongly to the sport but he stresses his success would not be possible without his wife, Andrea.
While Andrea has ensured her husband’s dream has blossomed over all these years, Andy is giving her more than her flowers in return – he’s planting a whole garden.
“My wife is not a hockey fan but she has been so supportive over the last 13 years of me doing this,” Andy Taylor told the Chad.
“We are a self-funded organisation. We don’t get help from England Hockey financially, we pay for ourselves. So when you’re travelling to the likes of Australia and South Africa for two weeks, it’s not cheap. When money has been tight, my wife has found the money and sent me on my way, because she knows how much it means to me. I couldn’t do this without her being behind me all the way.”
Despite his hard work and success over the years, Andy stresses he is still just ‘a very ordinary guy from a working class background who has lived in Sutton and Mansfield all his life’. He is now looking to keep his impressive medal run alive when his team compete in Rotterdam this summer.
He is confident they will be challenging for a high medal and admitted there is the ‘expectation’ that this England team will be battling it out right at the top.
“There are more people involved in sport at this level than a lot of people realise. If you haven’t got that support network behind you, it can be a very difficult and very lonely life,” Andy said.
“Without Andrea, this doesn’t happen. Over the next six weeks before we go to Rotterdam, I’m away in London for four weekends on training camps and the likes. I couldn’t do that without her support at home.
“And I do miss her. It hit home with me the first time we went to Australia. I was coaching the men’s 55s and managing the men’s 40s. It was World Cup final day on the Saturday, so I had two World Cup finals that day. I won a gold and a silver and I sat in my room that night, went online and contacted Andrea and just spent half an hour crying. The emotion of it all. Her support is everything to me.
“She really is my rock. We had a training game a couple of weeks ago over at Rugby, where we played the 45s’ second team, the group below us, and we beat them 8-2. I came back home and was really tired, and by the time I’d had a bath, the washing line was full of the teams’ bibs and shirts. She’d also been in and stripped the car back down to an ordinary family car, all the balls were back in the house. She just gets it done without me asking her.
“Without her, my job would be so much harder. The support she gives me when I’m away at tournaments as well is the big one. Because it can be quite a lonely life. She just likes me to be happy.”