Ellis Taylor’s loan move to Hartlepool United did not work out the way he would have hoped, but it may have helped the Sunderland academy star in the long run.
Sitting inside of Sunderland’s Academy of Light you get a sense of the potential and just what might be achieved. You have the first team, the academy squads and the women’s team all under the same roof integrating with one another during their downtime. There’s hope and optimism adjourned at every turn. Nobody is left out.
For Taylor, like many others, it is the perfect environment to develop and hopefully progress his career in football. And yet 18-months ago, following an impressive pre-season display, the 20-year-old received the call he, perhaps, had always been waiting for when boyhood club Hartlepool signalled their interest in his services.
It was a move which took very little convincing for Taylor; the opportunity to go out and get regular game time in senior football and prove his worth, all the while helping his team, his club. The months that would ensue, however, were a far cry from the environment he left behind on Wearside having been frozen out of the first team picture at Victoria Park after only a handful of appearances.
Despite being a move which should have worked out, it became something of a lonely environment for Taylor – a one which led to him questioning where he stood, even at such an early stage of his career, before being hit with absolute devastation and heartbreak away from football.
This is the story of Ellis Taylor.
“It was a dream,” Taylor tells We Are Sunderland, when reflecting on the moment he knew there was an opportunity to play for Hartlepool in the Football League. “It’s really hard to put into words, actually.
“It was after the pre-season friendly against Hartlepool that I’d played in [a 1-1 draw in July 2022]. The next day the club got word that they were interested and there was no looking around for anywhere else, it was just the perfect opportunity for me and I took it.”
Taylor has been on the periphery at the Stadium of Light for a number of years now. Whenever supporters look through the club’s ranks as to who the next emerging star could be, Taylor’s name was often the go-to as he progressed through the club’s development groups from the age of nine.
Having stood out at several youth levels, Taylor began to see his name included in and around the first team environment – particularly following the club’s relegation to League One – having made a number of League Cup and EFL Trophy appearances.
But it is Hartlepool where Taylor’s heart has always been in football having gone to watch the club since the age of five – something he continues to do to this day when he gets chance to stand on the terraces away from life in Sunderland's academy. The opportunity to represent the blue and white of his hometown was too good for the then 19-year-old to turn down – knowing the benefits it could stand him in when returning to Wearside should he have enjoyed a successful loan spell. And it was an opportunity he had carved out for himself.
"He really impressed us in the pre-season game playing as a 10 or a wide player,” former Hartlepool boss Paul Hartley explained upon Taylor's arrival. “It’s a good opportunity for him, as a Hartlepool fan, and we are looking forward to working with him."
Some 14-years in the making, and Taylor got what he had dreamed of as a young boy, and former player for nearby Seaton, when being given the nod to start Hartlepool’s League Two season opener at the Bescott Stadium against Walsall. Unfortunately for Taylor, it was a debut which would last just 55 minutes. He would go on to feature for just 31 minutes more in the league for Hartlepool as Hartley, followed by his replacement Keith Curle, overlooked the Sunderland youngster.
“It was tough,” Taylor says. “When I did sign it was all positive and you get told a lot of things and how you’re going to be this, you’re going to do that, and then I trained one day with the lads and I was put straight into the team at Walsall.
“At the start you think that’s exactly what you want, but for someone going into league experience for the first time against Walsall, who were a good side at that level that season, maybe I just needed to fill in at first and get to know the lads a little bit and fit in more.
“But it’s done now. It is what it is. I didn’t want it to go how it went but we kept on going.”
Would he have done anything differently?
“There were probably a few things I could have done differently,” he acknowledges. “But what you do in the moment is what matters, isn’t it?
“It’s no good me saying I could have done this or that now because that doesn’t matter anymore. But I think if I had the choice again I would do the same thing, I would still do what I did.”
Taylor did start in what was a sobering night for Hartlepool in the League Cup in a 4-0 defeat at Ewood Park against Championship side Blackburn Rovers – a Rovers side inspired by Bradley Dack, who Taylor now classes as a team-mate at the Academy of Light.
But if Taylor thought a change in management at Victoria Park would help his cause, with Hartley sacked having failed to win any of his first nine league games in charge, he was mistaken. Taylor started back-to-back EFL Trophy ties; a goalless draw with Morecambe before being part of a bruising 6-0 defeat to Everton under-21s – albeit the Sunderland loanee was perhaps the only player to have walked away from that tie with any credit, and was handed just four minutes of league action under former Manchester City defender Curle.
Taylor’s game time with Hartlepool was a concern, to both him and Sunderland, as he would return to feature for the under-21s side in a dramatic 1-1 draw with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park – a game highlighted by a stoppage time equaliser from Sunderland goalkeeper Alex Bass.
For Taylor it was a huge weight of relief. Familiar surroundings and a sense of being wanted once more after what was transpiring into a difficult loan spell.
"There are times in a footballer's life where he is not going to play or not going to be selected," Sunderland’s academy boss Graeme Murty explained on Taylor’s situation. “What are you going to do about it? It's not a manager's job to select you, it's your job to prove to the manager that he can trust you to do a job. Ellis is learning that lesson now and it's a tough lesson to learn, but hard lessons are brilliant because it sets you up for success later on.”
Murty, a former no-nonsense defender with Reading and manager with Rangers, quickly became someone Taylor respected and got along with at Sunderland. He struck the balance between tough love and knowing when to put an arm around the shoulder.
“He’s good on and off the pitch,” says Taylor. “He knows what he’s doing and what he wants on the pitch, but he can still have that bit of craic and banter with the lads in the dressing room as well at the right times. He knows what he expects of us and what he, and we, can do.”
With Taylor returning to feature for Sunderland’s under-21s whilst still being on loan with Hartlepool there was an acceptance of things not quite working out – a theory heightened by Curle’s surprise claims about not knowing where to play Taylor in his team.
Curle, also a former no-nonsense defender himself when part of the ‘crazy gang’ of Wimbledon, and a manger with vast experience in the Football League, was unsold on where Taylor was best utilised, with Hartlepool favouring a wing-back system in League Two. It caused confusion for all parties, with the writing on the wall as far as Taylor's loan spell was concerned.
It’s true, Taylor could be considered as one of the most versatile players within Sunderland’s ranks having featured anywhere from left-wing to right-wing, from full-back to attacking midfield. While Curle’s remarks were disenchanting for Taylor, they are considerations he has had to contend with himself.
“It’s not what you want to hear. You want to hear that ‘he’s your left-back’ or ‘he’s your right-winger’ or whatever, but for me it felt like an easy option,” he explains.
“He could have just said it's because I'm a young lad. I’m in and around the building every day, just come and ask me: ‘where do you want to play?’
“I was playing a lot on the wing, right-wing and left-wing, but Sunderland had the conversation with me and they saw left wing-back as my perfect position and I agreed with that, I was fine with that. I played there when I was younger so it wasn’t anything different that I’d done before. But in the Hartlepool situation, I think that’s all it would have taken - just a question to ask me.
“I was there and training well, but whether it was that he didn’t want me to play or he didn’t want me in the team, whatever it was, I know it definitely wasn’t because I wasn’t good enough. I know fine well I could have played in that team.”
What felt like a dream in the summer had turned into a bit of a nightmare for Taylor. His game time was limited, Hartlepool were barrelling towards relegation from the Football League and he felt lost in transition before both parties cut their losses and Taylor returned to the Stadium of Light for the second half of the season.
It’s easy to look back and reflect, time, after all, is a good healer. But there is no animosity from Taylor, he holds no grudges. On the table adjacent, Taylor can see the kind of opportunity to be had at Sunderland with their devotion to advancing young players with the likes of Jobe Bellingham, who arrived as a 17-year-old and is making huge strides in the first team, Chris Rigg – a player Taylor has teamed with in the academy set-up this season and has since gone on to make his first team debut, and even Jack Clarke, who can be a shining example for somebody like Taylor in that not all loan spells work out. Taylor, himself, has had first team experience having made up part of eight Championship squads this season, as well as being part of the club's pre-season tour in America.
“I think the experience has helped me,” Taylor admits. “But not in the way I thought it was going to help me.
“In terms of dealing with things off the pitch, like not playing every week, you have to deal with that and being around a manager who maybe doesn’t want to play you or think you can fit into the team. You have to deal with that and try and find ways around it to keep motivated and keep training well.”
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It’s indicative of Taylor’s character and mental resilience – something which was tested in unthinkable circumstances with the tragic passing of his father, Michael, soon after his return to Wearside. Both Sunderland and Hartlepool paid tribute to the Taylor family; Hartlepool supporters holding up a banner and serenading his name throughout a 2-2 draw with Sutton United last February whilst Sunderland’s first team squad wore t-shirts in a show of unity and support ahead of their 1-1 draw with Millwall in the Championship.
At that stage, Taylor's career had hit a major roadblock, both on and off the field. But the compassion shown by Sunderland in what, undoubtedly, is a defining moment in Taylor’s life has been significant in helping keep his career on track this season. In years gone by Sunderland’s academy has been overlooked with players sold off to help the funding of the club elsewhere. It felt like an area of the club neglected.
Since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman’s introduction across the end of 2020 and early 2021, those are principles which have changed. This was a club who looked after Taylor and offered him counsel. These four walls, these training pitches and state of the art facilities, this showing of togetherness, integration and belonging. It’s a support network which has vastly grown, both in terms of its management and development on the field, with the club more than holding their own in the restructured Premier League 2 table.
And for Taylor, it has allowed him to focus back on his career where, this season, he has produced a number of goals and assists having gone on to lead Sunderland’s under-21s with the responsibility of being named captain for Murty’s side.
“I was hoping for something like what I’ve had [this season],” says Taylor. “For me personally, being in and around the goals and getting assists and contributing has boosted my confidence massively. It’s no secret I was a bit down and dwelling on things last year, but I started off on the right foot and hopefully I can keep on going.
“There has been a lot of interest in the academy and the 21s [since Kyril and Kristjaan came in] and it’s helped. It’s miles better,” he says. “When I first started, I think I played for the 21s when I was 17 and there were about 50 people there, and yet now there’s hundreds of people there.
“That in itself shows how far we’re coming because people are looking and are thinking they’ll go and watch the 21s because they’re winning games and doing well, so it’s good for us.
“But the first team being involved as well has helped with the fans coming in. The first team have been doing well since getting promoted so when some of the first team squad are dropping down to play the fans are interested to see what they’re like and that’s brought a lot of people in.
“It’s a big boost,” he adds. “You get the full first team staff there sometimes; Kyril sometimes goes, Kristjaan is there, so it’s your chance to show the main people what you can do and hopefully if you catch their eye and they’re happy with that then you can go from there.
“They’re a massive help. There’s probably no better people to have around at this time. The staff and players around here are positive and the vibe around the place is always good.
“The coaches are positives as well which has a knock-on-effect for us as players and the lads, who are a good group of lads. We have got a good togetherness, so we’re trying to keep it as positive as we can - we know we’re good but sometimes it’s just getting it out of us and showing the maximum of what we can do.”
Sunderland’s development squad is by no means the finished product, but the progression has been clear to see this season throughout the age categories with the under-18s having narrowly missed out on an FA Youth Cup quarter-final in their recent defeat to Swindon Town. Rigg has been joined by the likes of Ben Crompton, Caden Kelly and Tom Watson in being included in first team squads this season whilst the highly rated Trey Ogunsuyi has signed his first professional contract at the Stadium of Light as the club continues its marriage of promoting from within.
Three of Sunderland’s remaining games come against teams in the top 10 of Premier League 2 but, following the reformatting of the league, 12th place remains a key goal for Murty’s side with the incentive of being invited to take part in next season’s international cup competition.
The decision to change the Premier League 2 system came following an extensive review of Professional Development Phase competitions in an attempt to enhance the transition of academy players into senior football. The single division format helps provide greater flexibility as well as access to additional development opportunities, including matches against senior teams and international opposition – something which Taylor and co have experienced twice in particular this season when giving table-toppers Tottenham Hotspur a run for their money.
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“For us, from where we’ve come, to be pushing a team like them right to the end is quite a good thing for us,” said Taylor. “But we don’t want to settle for that, we want to beat them. I imagine a few of their players are training with the first team as well which is Premier League standard and with some unbelievable players so they’ll probably learn off them. But a lot of them will be there or thereabouts.
“We’re enjoying it. We’re playing the likes of Man United and Tottenham and we’re competing - it makes it more enjoyable when you are competing and you are winning games and you’re not just there not picking up anything. So it is good to be competing and I think we can get up there in the top half of the table, maybe even more - obviously there’s a lot of teams, there’s 24 teams, but we want to get seventh or above. We’re aiming high because we know we’re good enough.
“[European football] is something I’ve never done with this club in terms of playing an international fixture - I’ve played abroad but not in a league or competition so that would be immense, not just for me but for the players coming through as well.”
A strong end to the season is, therefore, not only important to Sunderland for the possibility of being able to compete internationally next season, but it is also important to Taylor, who is out of contract at the Stadium of Light in the summer. Having spent over a decade with the club, the 20-year-old could be heading towards his final chapter on Wearside and yet he remains relaxed about the situation, owing to the environment he has found himself in – particularly over the course of the last 18 months throughout what has been a difficult period on and off the field.
“I can see where people are coming from with saying that [it’s a make or break period] but I try not to put that pressure on myself,” says Taylor. “I always have belief in myself that I will do well and I know the Sunderland fans have seen that as well because of what’s been going on with the 21s.
“I’ve been playing pretty well and scoring and getting a few assists here and there. With your contract running out it does play in the back of your mind, but I know I’m in a good place and I know the people around me rate me highly. They just need to see that in first team football.
“For me the goal is to hopefully get another contract at this club. I’ve been here a lot of years now and I feel like I’ve got more to offer and I can play for this club. I’ve got a lot of people backing me in the club but it’s down to me really and I’ve just got to keep going."
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