Everyone at Nuthurst Cricket Club sends the deepest sympathies to Roy's family. He was universally liked and respected in the club - he will not be forgotten. He was a club legend.

Roy's funeral will be held at St Andrew's Church, Nuthurst, on 3rd May 2022 at 1pm. All Nutters, past and present, are welcome to attend.

Roy played for NCC from 1947 until 1979, a quite incredible career for The Nutters. He played 333 matches, scored over 3000 runs and collected 259 wickets. In 'The History of the Nutters', Dave Boorman provided a fulsome summary of Roy's career and impact. We provide that very narrative as a warm remembrance of this tremendous character below:

Known sometimes as ‘Spud’, a name he cordially disliked, Roy Taylor is another with strong claims to the name ‘Mr Nuthurst’. Born at Uckfield in June 1930, he grew up on the Sedgwick Park estate.

Roy made his senior debut for the club in May 1946 at the age of 15 and did his national service in the RAF in 1949. He missed some seasons in the 1960’s because of ill health. A recurring knee injury caused him to call a halt early in the 1979 season, though he did captain the President’s II on a number of occasions in the 1980s.

Roy was a weight lifter who won the council sponsored title of ‘Horsham’s Strongest Man’ in 1956. He won it again on five subsequent occasions and retired undefeated in 1962. A short, strongly built man, Roy was an explosive all rounder who, on his day, could give the ball an almighty thump. His top score of 76 came against Three Bridges in 1950 and characteristically contained ten fours and four sixes. His appearances at the crease often fell into the ‘brief but spectacular’ category and he recalled being ticked off by Mrs Mitchell (scorer) for not being more circumspect. On one occasion he launched a ball outside Horsham Trinity’s ground into Swindon Road, a staggering carry. In a letter to Dave Boorman, Peter Ford summarised him thus ‘strong boy, used to do weight lifting, useful’. He was also a brisk, bustly fast medium bowler, good enough to take over 250 wickets.

Roy Taylor had a distinguished record of service off the field, including Chairman between 1976 and 1979; fixture secretary in 1972 and 1973; and joint captain between 1971 and 1973.

He also ran the annual jumble sale for many years and penned the Club’s first written Constitution. Roy became estranged from the club in 1974 but returned following the depressing AGM of 1975 to play a central part in helping to revive the team’s fortunes.

As the rumbustious AGM of 1977 will testify, Roy was a man of strong views and the courage to maintain them if he believed he was in the right, whatever the odds. He was elected a Life Member in 1980.