Taylor picked to officiate at World Cup in Germany

Taylor is an assistant referee (linesman) and will share duties with Prendegast and Garwood whenever they are called upon during the June 9-July 9 competition.

The son of Caribbean Football Union (CFU) general secretary Harold Taylor and Lucille Taylor (both retired school teachers), Joseph Taylor is also an agriculture dean at the Mucurapo Junior Secondary School.

A former player with St Mary’s College and St Augustine Senior Comprehensive, Taylor also played for “Acres” in the UWI League and People for Praise in the now-defunct Catholic Football League before swapping the traditional football gear for a black outfit, whistle and flag.

Now he joins a quintet of local school teachers to officiate at a major FIFA World Cup/World Championships, following in the heels of Douglas James (1994 World Cup in the United States), Boni Bishop and Peter Kelly (1996 Women’s World Cup), Merere Gonzales (1998 World Cup in France) and Michael Ragoonath (2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea).

A referee since 1996 and a FIFA assistant referee for the past four years, Taylor has served in a number of regional competitions, including the CONCACAF World Cup semifinal round between Guatemala and Honduras (October 2004), the CFU Digicel Caribbean Cup Final Round series in Barbados (February 2005) and the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the US (July 2005).