Obituary: Former Fife Flyers star George Taylor 1944-2020

George had been suffering from ill-health for some time. He was 76.

Born in 1944, he was raised on Cook Street with elder brothers Hugh and John, younger brother Jim, and attended Dysart Primary School, then Viewforth High.

Jim says all the brothers began skating when they were around 10 years old.

“I was the youngest, so when I started, they were already ahead of me. George, in his younger days, was also a very good athlete.

“He took part in the Scottish Schools competition at Pitreavie. He was a good sprinter and also a very good footballer.

“He had a trial lined up for a professional side but he suffered an injury and that put paid to that.”

Football’s loss was ice hockey’s gain, however, and George began to ice for Fife Flyers’ junior side in the early 1960s.

“At that time, people didn’t really travel,” Jim says. “Most people didn’t have a car, so you went to your local rink.”

January 18, 1969 was the historic day when all four brothers made their initial outing together for the Fife Flyers first team at the family’s home from home, Fife Ice Arena, in a 6-5 win over Glasgow Dynamo. Hugh and John were forwards, Jim was netminder, with George taking his place in defence.

George split his time between the ice and working as a miner at the Frances Colliery.

“We weren’t professional in those days so we all had jobs and my three brothers all worked there, as we were right beside it,” Jim says.

George retired from ice hockey, having played for the Flyers for his whole career, in 1974 and continued to work in the mines until their closure in the late 1980s.

“Because George had qualified to work with explosives, he moved to work in the quarrying industry near Perth and lived just north of there after that,” Jim says. “He was very much loved as a brother.”

George is survived by wife Janice and sons Richard and Malcolm.