He went on to play for Southampton, Fulham, Birmingham City, where he spent eight years before his release at the end of the 2010–11 season, Leeds United and Millwall.

Taylor was born in Hildesheim, West Germany, to a German mother and an English father who was serving as a staff sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) regiment of the British Army.

[5] Fulham's manager Kevin Keegan rated him as the "best taker of a cross I've ever seen"[7] and he proved to be a good signing for the Cottagers, helping them win the Second Division title in 1999.

Whilst at Craven Cottage, Taylor earned his first international cap for Northern Ireland in a 3–0 defeat by Germany on 27 March 1999.

[4] He was the first-choice goalkeeper at Craven Cottage until Fulham reached the Premier League, when manager Jean Tigana signed Edwin van der Sar, thus relegating Taylor to the bench.

[12] Taylor was replaced as Birmingham's first choice goalkeeper in February 2007 by Colin Doyle, but regained his place after the first three matches of the 2007–08 Premier League season.

[19][20] Taylor made his debut for the Northern Ireland U21 team in April 1998 at the age of 27, as an over-age player in a 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland.

[21] He became a regular in the Northern Ireland national team, and played 88 matches, including the famous 1–0 victory over England in September 2005.

Taylor was replaced by Lee Camp as first choice goalkeeper, but was recalled to the Northern Ireland squad in August 2011 despite not being registered with a club since leaving Birmingham City.

[26] In June 2019 he left Bradford to take up a similar role at Walsall,[27] and in July 2022, returned to Birmingham City as part of newly appointed head coach John Eustace's backroom staff.