12 November 2023 , 12:44
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The late Graham Taylor was renowned for his straight talking and now his great friend Sir Elton John has revealed the rant that saved his life.
The world-famous musician was chairman of Watford when Taylor was hired as manager in 1977. In a decade to linger long in the memory of club fans, Taylor led the club back to the top flight and reached the 1984 FA Cup final, losing to Everton.
John would later buy the Hertfordshire club a second time, and rehired Taylor in 1996 for a second stint that lasted five seasons. And in a his new book titled Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other, John has candidly admitted how a row from his friend forced him to alter his ways.
“I’ve no doubt that Graham saved my life. Without him, I would have been lost," he said, before recalling an incident from Boxing Day in 1981, where John had poured himself a whisky in Taylor's presence. “That’s what you have for breakfast, isn’t it?” said the former England boss.
“What the f*** do you think you’re doing? You’re letting yourself down and you’re letting the club down. If you ever turn up looking like this again, that’s f***ing it, as far as I’m concerned.”
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The 76-year-old admitted those words left him reeling. “It shook me to the core,” he said, via . “It was one of those moments when all the delusions that I’d surrounded myself with, all the lies I’d told myself, fell away. I was just left there, stunned and mortified.”
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Graham Taylor with Sir Elton JohnHe added that no-one in the music industry had ever dared confront him so candidly. And from that day on, he was inspired to quit cocaine and alcohol, a pledge he'd previously made but failed to stick to.
“Something took root inside me that day which had quietly been growing all this time,” John said. “It launched me on the road to recovery. Although there were plenty of false dawns along the way, lots of setbacks and broken promises, it gave me the kick-start I needed. In effect, Graham saved my life; I’ve never had the slightest doubt about that.”
Taylor died in January 2017, aged 72. Following his death, an emotional John stated: “I am deeply saddened. He was like a brother to me. We went on an incredible journey together."