If the early days of her Scotland career are anything to go by, Taylor has made rapid growth in a relatively short period of time. That sums up her story so far.
Like many, she started of by playing with the boys in Sunday little leagues, much to the disappointment of her mum.
“I absolutely loved it, but my mum was like: ‘Oh, I thought you were going to be a dancer’,” Taylor said. “But that was never on the cards for me!”
She joined local team Gillingham before spending a year at Charlton Athletic. Then, the big move to Chelsea – and “probably the best youth academy in the country” – came before she was a teenager.
“I got the chance to train with the first-team at like 16,17, which was an unbelievable experience with the likes of Katie Chapman, Millie Bright and Ji So-yun.
“Seeing their standards and professionalism day in, day out, I think really created a mould of what I wanted to be.”
Shaped by seven years at Chelsea, she granted her Arsenal-fanatic dad his wish of playing for the Gunners for one year before moving stateside for her scholarship at Hofstra University.
“My dad was like: ‘Go on, just for one year’. So I did and I played with strong females like Kim Little – she won’t remember me, but I definitely remember her – Alex Scott, strong leaders from a young age who shaped how I wanted to play.”
