Blues’ latest recruit reviewed
In profile: Taylor Gardner-Hickman
Taylor Gardner-Hickman joined Blues on Friday morning
Taylor Gardner-Hickman was born on Sunday 30 December in the West Midlands market town of Stourbridge, 15 miles west of St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park. It was, though, slightly closer to B9 but still outside of central Birmingham where he would take the first significant steps to becoming a professional footballer.
At Under-9s level, he joined the academy of West Bromwich Albion, making a family of Baggies fans burst with pride. These feelings would continue as he completed a scholarship at the club, competing in the same scholar cohort as former Birmingham City Under-21s player Finley Thorndike between 2018 and 2020. He made 25 Under-18s Premier League 2 outings and reached the Semi-Finals of the FA Youth Cup.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman faces Lincoln City in December 2018 FA Youth Cup action.
The conclusion of this period coincided with Albion’s return to the Premier League and re-entry into the EFL Trophy, allowing Gardner-Hickman, as a first-year professional, to play against senior sides. Notably, he scored the winning goal in a 2-3 win away to Swindon Town.
Further steps towards first-team football saw him named in four top-flight matchday squads in the spring of 2021 and on the other side of summer he made his full debut versus Arsenal in the Carabao Cup as a left-winger, earning his first Sky Bet Championship starts later that year in a right-back berth.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman holds off Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard in an August 2021 Carabao Cup tie.
By the end of 2021/22, there were more than 20 appearances on his CV and a new long-term contract to his name as his versatility became increasingly more valued at The Hawthorns. The midfielder then started to repay this faith in goals, scoring his first couple in 0-2 wins at Reading and Blackpool the following season.
After playing 60 times for West Brom, Bristol City acquired his services on loan, with an option to buy. Just 24 games later, with one goal to his name and a 49% landslide in his favour to win the Robins’ November Player of the Month crown, they made permanent his switch to Ashton Gate on a deal until June 2027. To date, Gardner-Hickman has played 40 times for the Cider Army.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman was named Man of the Match as West Bromwich Albion beat Coventry City away in December 2021.
The Englishman has two youth caps for his country, with both of these earned in March 2022 when the Young Lions played Poland and Germany in the Under-20s Elite Youth League competition.
