All week the Swindon Advertiser will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Swindon Town's promotion to the Premier League following their 4-3 play-off final victory over Leicester City at Wembley on May 31, 1993.

FORMER Swindon Town captain Shaun Taylor says his footballing dreams came true when he scored in the 1993 play-off final at Wembley.

Taylor, who had been prolific for the club all season, with 13 goals despite his position as a central defender, popped up with the third of Swindon’s four goals as they overcame a dramatic Leicester City comeback.

Player-manager Glenn Hoddle, Craig Maskell and Paul Bodin were also on target that day, as more than 70,000 people watched the Wiltshire side reach English football’s top table.

“I think when you start playing football, you want to play at Wembley, score at Wembley and go into the top league. I managed to do it all in one day,” said Taylor.

“Everyone still remembers little bits of the game and it is surreal, really. I hate to think what it would have been like if we had lost.

“I got 13 goals that season in the end and a lot of them came from set plays. At the time, I remember we had a lot of quality in the team. The delivery was always good.

“We were such an attacking team, it was never going to be a 0-0, so to be three up and think we’d won the game was wrong.

“Everyone talks about the penalty. Steve White won it, Paul Bodin scored it, and the rest is history.

“Being 3-0 up, you think it was going to be the perfect day and it is easy for me to be brash about it and say we won 4-3, but Leicester could have won a penalty too.

“It was a fantastic day for Swindon Town and not so much for Leicester City, but someone has to win and someone has to lose.”

The central defender arrived at the County Ground in 1991 after making the switch from Exeter City. He stayed at the club for five years, which also saw him named player of the year a record three times.

However, after more than 200 appearances, he left the club to sign for local rivals Bristol City for £50,000 in the summer of 1996.

Taylor also reckoned that under the tutelage of Hoddle, who won 53 England caps and subsequently managed the national side, the whole squad benefitted from training alongside the former Tottenham Hotspur man.

Hoddle’s view of the game made Swindon an offensive side, Taylor recalls, and as a team, they all stuck to that philosophy, which is what made them so successful.

“The system worked a treat for the players that we had in our team. Glenn always said that we had three midfield players who could use their left and right foot,” added Taylor.

“Glenn was still an exceptional footballer at the time and he always said he relied on the likes of myself and Colin Calderwood to do bits.

“We kept some clean sheets but we were a team who liked to go forward, so we had to accept we were going to concede goals.

“John (Gorman, assistant boss) would take training and Glenn would join in. You can only learn from a player like him, I like to think we all improved because we were in a team with him, really.”

DON'T MISS THE SWINDON ADVERTISER'S 16-PAGE SPECIAL CELEBRATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF TOWN'S PROMOTION TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE. OUT WITH YOUR SWINDON ADVERTISER ON THURSDAY