I’ve taken a financial hit to come back to Ramsgate, less than what I was getting last year, so this move for me hasn’t been about money, says Joe Taylor

RAMSGATE have confirmed the return of talisman goal-machine Joe Taylor yesterday, after two moves to Essex clubs that just didn’t work out.

The 34-year-old scored an impressive 101 goals for Ramsgate during the past two seasons, helping the club win the Isthmian League South East Division title last season, which earnt him a lucrative move to National League South side Hornchurch in the summer.

However, Urchins’ manager Daryl McMahon, only gave the Ramsgate resident one substitute appearance, a 3-2 home win over Weston-Super-Mare on the opening day of the season.

Taylor departed Bridge Avenue ten days later on 19 August by ‘mutual consent’, following an agreement between both parties.

Taylor then opted to sign for Isthmian League Premier Division side Billericay Town, then managed by Gary McCann, making three appearances and scored against the Rams in a 2-2 home draw on Saturday 6 September.

Two days later, Danny Scopes was appointed manager and rather surprisingly, Taylor was left on the subs bench for their next two games.

Billericay Town said yesterday that they have ‘mutually agreed to terminate’ Taylor’s contract.

A club statement said: “Joe had conducted himself with professionalism and integrity throughout his time here.  While both parties had hoped for a longer-term contribution, circumstances have meant that things haven’t aligned as expected.

“Joe is at a stage in his career where regular first-team football is a priority and we fully respect his desire to pursue opportunities that offer more consistent game time.

“We thank Joe for his efforts and the respectful manner in which this decision was reached. He leaves with our best wishes and we’re confident he will be a success wherever his next chapter takes him.”

Ramsgate manager Ben Smith swooped to bring Taylor back to the Kent coast and the club put out a visual interview via social media with their main man, with the number 25 shirt hung up behind him inside the home dressing room.

“I sat down with James (Lawson, Ramsgate’s chairman) when we won the league after last season and he said to me ‘Joe, you’re never going to get a chance again to go to Step Two, to get the offers you’re going to get now after you’ve just won the national, top of the national goalscoring charts two seasons in a row,” said Taylor.

“Financially, Ramsgate couldn’t match what I could get elsewhere.  James was open and said that to me, so we both sort of agreed together that it was the right thing for me to do because I was never going to get that chance again.

“I went to Step Two (Hornchurch in National League South), thinking I was going to play. It didn’t happen. I was travelling a long way and I missed the boys.

“I missed Ramsgate. I know I’ve got a really good connection with the fans here, all the staff, the management, the players.  I missed that.

“I went in at Billericay and again it just didn’t work out. A new manager came in at Billericay and his playing styles is different to mine and we sort of agreed together that it wasn’t going to work, which is a shame but it happens.

“So leaving there, I’ve had a few offers. Well, look, I’ve taken a financial hit to come back to Ramsgate, less than what I was getting last year, so this move for me hasn’t been about money. This is about coming back and playing for my home-town team and getting that enjoyment of football back.

“I feel really valued at this club. I feel like I’m loved by not just the fans’ but the management and all of the staff and the players.  In a way, I wished I never left but I went because I wasn’t going to get those opportunities again but here we are, we’re here and I’m just really looking forward to getting amongst the boys.”

Smith brought in striker Mitchell May after helping Ryan Maxwell’s Sittingbourne reach the Isthmian League South East Division Play-Off Final last season, scoring 31 goals for the Brickies.

“I think what I’m going to add to the group this time around, maybe slightly different. I’m still a goalscorer driven by goals at the end of the day. I am and always will be, all the time I’m playing,” added Taylor.

“But I know we’ve got Mitch May in the building now and I actually helped Ben get him over the line a little bit. I had a lot of chats with Mitch and sold the club to him a little bit actually.

“I was saying to him at the time ‘I wished I was still here to play with you’.

“I think we can really work well together. As we speak he’s scoring in four league goals in a row, I believe, so he’s doing really well and he’s coming off the back of an injury earlier in the season as well.

“We all saw his attributes last year with Sittingbourne. I’ve seen it when I sat on Billericay’s bench two weeks ago watching him smash one in off the bar, so I’m looking forward to getting in with him and I think being an experienced player I can help him as well.

“Look, he’s got a lot of qualities that I haven’t got, so he’s going to help me.”

Taylor revealed that he is keen to help along the young talent that is coming through the ranks at the eighth-tier Isthmian League Premier Division outfit.

“I’ve noticed as well, that boys like Liam Tullis and Finley Waddell, they’ve been in and around the first-team, which is great to see.  I was watching the highlights of all their under 18s games last year, watching them score goals. I think I can help those boys as well.

“I want to bring a lot on the pitch in terms of goals, assists for the other boys and just link-up play, hold-up play as usual but I think I can help some of our local lads off the pitch as well, which is what I’d like to do.

“So the message to the fans is, well for the ones that travelled to Billericay and singing ‘there’s only one Joe Taylor’ for about 20 minutes, you sent shivers down my spine.”

The Rams are currently in fourteenth-place in the table, having picked up two wins and two draws from their opening seven games and are three points clear of the relegation zone and six points adrift of the play-offs.

Smith takes his side to play Bradley Pritchard’s Lewes on Saturday, a side that are in sixth-place in the table with 13 points from seven games and without a win in three games in all competitions.

Taylor left Cray Wanderers in 2021 and spent two seasons at The Dripping Pan before signing for Ramsgate, where he enjoyed his best goalscoring statistics of his non-league career.

“I can’t wait for Saturday. Lewes is a club I did really well at. It’s a club close to my heart, so it’s a good fixture for me to come into and someone I would call a friend is in charge there so I’ll be hoping to ruin his day on Saturday,” said Taylor.

“If you’re travelling to Lewes, I hope to see you there and if not I can’t wait to see you at a home game (Cray Wanderers, 27 September) because just to get playing in front of that crowd again, I’m so motivated to do that.”

Visit Ramsgate’s website: www.ramsgatefc.co.uk