Matthew James Taylor (born 30 March 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League Two club Cheltenham Town.

He moved on to North Leigh later in the year, where his scoring record in the Southern League earned him a return to the Conference Premier with Forest Green Rovers in September 2011.

A second-successive promotion was secured in the 2015–16 campaign, and he was named on the PFA Team of the Year after finishing as League Two's top scorer with 27 goals.

Taylor was born in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and attended Gosford Hill School and Oxford & Cherwell Valley College.

[8] In June 2009, he signed for newly promoted Southern League Premier Division club Didcot Town on a free transfer, following his release from Oxford days after helping the team lift the Oxfordshire Senior Cup.

[23] He failed to add to his goal tally from another 14 games for Forest Green as the club finished tenth for a third consecutive season.

He played the full 120 minutes of the play-off final and scored Rovers' second penalty of the shoot-out victory as they secured an immediate return to the Football League.

[42] In October 2017, as part of an interview for the BBC Points West programme, Bristol City manager Lee Johnson described how he received a death threat during the 2016–17 season after signing Taylor.

He scored his first goal for the club in the 14th minute, firing home from close range after teammate Aden Flint saw his header cleared off the line.

[45] Johnson looked to move Taylor on in the summer of 2019 after the acquisition of Benik Afobe and Antoine Semenyo's elevation to the first team.

[50] He made his debut the following day in a 4–2 defeat to Burton Albion,[51] and scored his first goal in a 6–0 win at Lincoln City on 21 September.

[52] On 25 September, he scored a goal and provided an assist in a 4–0 win over Premier League West Ham United at the Kassam Stadium in the third round of the EFL Cup.

[54] He was named as the EFL League One Player of the Month for February, having scored seven goals in as many games, helping Oxford to make a late push for the play-offs.

[57] He was again the club's top scorer in the 2020–21 season with a total of 19 goals in 52 appearances, including a strike against Blackpool in the play-off semi-final, which ended in a 6–3 aggregate defeat.

[60] He was deemed as surplus to requirements by head coach Karl Robinson after Ateef Konaté and Tyler Smith were signed in the January 2023 transfer window to compete with Gatlin O'Donkor, Kyle Joseph, Billy Bodin, Sam Baldock and Marcus Browne for a starting place.

[70] On 1 February 2024, Taylor returned to League One on a two-and-a-half-year contract with Cheltenham Town in a move that again reunited him with manager Darrell Clarke, who had reportedly made him his number one priority for the transfer window.

[75] On 21 May 2014, Taylor scored two goals for England C in a 2–2 draw with Sparta Prague B in a behind closed doors friendly match in which no caps were awarded.