With the EFL season starting before the Premier League, one Nottingham Forest departure was denied a debut with his new club in bizarre circumstances.
There have been a number of players in the Forest squad who have made their way down into the EFL this summer, both permanently and on loan.
Joe Gardner joined Mansfield Town on loan to work under Nigel Clough, where he has been joined by James McDonnell and Kyle McAdam of the Forest academy.
On the permanent side of things, Lewis O’Brien joined Wrexham in a £5m deal, where he has already made an impression after a positive competitive debut. Unfortunately for one departing star, though, he’s missed out on his chance to start for his new club after a bizarre error.
Dale Taylor denied Blackpool debut after ‘mistake’
In another seven-figure sale, Dale Taylor signed for Blackpool in a £1m deal, a significant investment for the seaside club on a striker who had already proved his worth in League One.
Taylor won Wigan Athletic’s Player of the Year award after 11 goals and seven assists, leading to plenty of interest in his services before Steve Bruce’s Blackpool secured the signing.
However, in a remarkable turn of events, Taylor has been denied the chance to make his debut for his new side after the League One side failed to register their new striker for Saturday’s clash with Exeter City.
A statement on Blackpool’s website said: “Blackpool Football Club can confirm that Dale Taylor will miss today’s fixture against Exeter City due to a minor registration issue.
“The Club takes full responsibility for this delay, and is as frustrated as everyone will be that the player will not be able to make his debut this afternoon. This mistake is not attributable to any one individual and the Club has adjusted its procedures to ensure that a mistake such as this will not happen again.”
Bruce especially must’ve been disappointed to miss out on having his new star striker, given how highly he has spoken of the former Forest man.
Steve Bruce is excited to work with Dale Taylor
Taylor rejected a move to Plymouth as plenty of League One’s promotion hopefuls took a look at the Northern Irish international, before experienced boss Bruce secured his man.
Speaking after the signing was made official, Bruce told Blackpool’s website: “Dale has shown his qualities at this level over the last few years, and we are delighted he has chosen to join us here at Blackpool for the foreseeable future.
“He is a real menace for opposition defenders and knows where the back of the net is. We are hopeful he can continue his upward trajectory here at Bloomfield Road.”
Blackpool’s registration error will hopefully be resolved in time for Tuesday’s EFL Cup clash with Port Vale so Taylor can truly kickstart his career away from the City Ground.
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