"?To most people under the age of 30, Graham Taylor wouldn't overly stand out. He was the man whose face The Sun cruelly superimposed on a turnip when he was England manager; he was the man who got Watford into the Premier League but couldn't keep them up; he was the man who was in charge of Aston Villa when they finished 16th in 2003; and he was the very pleasant man who occasionally appeared on your television screen as a guest pundit.
Unfortunately for Taylor, who sadly passed away on Thursday, his failings while in charge of the national team and his subsequent lynching by the media somewhat tarnished a reputation that had been built on several outstanding managerial achievements in the 1970s and 1980s.
Having had a rather low-key 10-year playing career with Grimsby Town and Lincoln City, Taylor qualified as a coach at the age of 27. He then had his first management just a year later when he was handed the reins at Lincoln in 1972.
It was there with the Imps that he first tasted managerial success. Taylor's side narrowly missed out on promotion out of the Fourth Division, as it was then known, in 1974/75, but topped the league the very next season after winning 32 of their 46 games, while scoring an impressive 111 goals in the process.
Taylor was subsequently hired by Watford a year later in 1977, actually choosing the bottom division team, then owned by musician Elton John, over top flight West Bromwich Albion.
Everyone at #watfordfc is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our most successful manager. We love you, Graham Taylor. #thankyouGT
Having already won the Fourth Division with Lincoln, Taylor won it again with Watford - this time at the first attempt but in equally dominant fashion. His Hornets team, which featured young striker Luther Blissett, secured another promotion in 1978/79 and he had taken the club all the way to the promised land of the First Division by 1982.
Never before had Watford been so high. By that point Taylor also had another very talented attacking player by the name of John Barnes under his wing, and his team proceeded to challenge for honours at the very top of English football.
In Watford's first ever season of top flight football, Taylor oversaw a second place finish behind Liverpool in 1982/83 - a mere five years after taking over the club three divisions below. Blissett ended the campaign as the league's top scorer with 27 goals (33 in all competitions) and the Hornets qualified for the UEFA Cup.
An FA Cup final appearance followed in 1984, ending in defeat at the hands of Everton. Watford were only relegated after Taylor decided he was ready for a new challenge, opting to join Aston Villa in 1987, a club that had just dropped into the second tier.
Promotion, as you may now be expecting, was swift. Villa were back in the First Division within a year, while Taylor had the former European champions challenging for the title within another two. Once more, it was only Liverpool that prevented him from going all the way.
Taylor's decision to join both Watford and Villa is indicative of just how much he like to challenge himself, but England proved to be one test too far. Euro '92 was a disaster, with the Three Lions exiting the tournament early and win-less. Qualifying for the 1994 World Cup was even worse, leaving England players at home for the summer and Taylor out of a job.
The unflattering documentary 'An Impossible Job' had unfortunately captured him at his very worst during the failed campaign, ensuring that the wrong legacy was imprinted on the minds of a new generation of football fans as the 20th century drew to a close.
Taylor worked again in club management, taking over briefly at Wolves. He then returned to Watford in 1996 - the team hadn't been back to the top flight since his first spell and had even fallen into the third tier in his absence. Taylor guided the Hornets to two promotions to reach the what had become the Premier League, although it was only a brief stay.
An unsuccessful return to Villa Park in 2002 marked the final stop on Taylor's coaching career.
His legacy harshly tainted by his venture into international football - he was the first England boss crucified by his own media - Taylor stepped out of management. He worked in television, became vice-president at home-town club Scunthorpe United, and was later a board member at Watford, where a stand at Vicarage was named in his honour.
In the immediate aftermath of his passing, the outpouring of affection on social media has been nice to see. This was a man who achieved so much as a football manager but whose overall legacy on a wider national scale had somewhat faded in the latter years of his life after one unfairly particularly publicised failure.
Graham Taylor was as good as they come where English managers are concerned and he deserves to be remembered as a genuine hero and legend.
To continue the discussion on Twitter follow @jamiespencer155
Visit www.facebook.com/jamiespencer155