Richard Alan Naylor (born 28 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Naylor started his career at Ipswich Town, where he played as a striker up until he was moved to centre-back by Joe Royle in 2002; he continued to play as a centre-back ever since. After his retirement from professional football he was Under 18's manager of Leeds United, he also included a brief spell as Leeds' caretaker assistant manager after the sacking of Neil Warnock in 2013.
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Playing career
Ipswich Town
Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Naylor graduated through the Ipswich Town youth academy and played for Ipswich for 14 years. He started out his Ipswich career as a robust centre forward making an instant impact in the mid-1990s for the club. However a number of recurring injuries held Naylor back from achieving his full potential as a striker and he soon found himself behind Alex Mathie, James Scowcroft, David Johnson and later Marcus Stewart in the pecking order at Portman Road.
In 1999–2000, Naylor started in fine form but was once again forced onto the bench, however he would play a key role in Ipswich's decisive play-off final against Barnsley (a club he would later join). Naylor came on as a first-half substitute for the injured David Johnson, and was widely credited at the time for changing the shape of the match in Ipswich's favour, scoring one and setting up another sending Ipswich back into the Premier League for the first time since 1995.
While Ipswich where riding high in the Premiership, Naylor once again found himself out of favour with then manager George Burley. Naylor continued to make sporadic appearances for Ipswich during 2000–01 which saw Ipswich qualify for a place in the UEFA Cup. Naylor would score Ipswich's last goal of the season against Derby County.
In 2001–2002 Naylor was out of Ipswich's plans, despite having the opportunity to play against Italian giants Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup. He was loaned out to Barnsley and Millwall in 2002 in what seemed to many as the end of his Ipswich career.
However Ipswich were relegated in 2001–02 by a point and as the promotion push in 2002–03 started to fizzle out, Burley was replaced by Joe Royle as Ipswich manager and with the departure of many players from the Club due to administration, Naylor was back in the picture. Royle decided to switch Naylor back to play as a centre half, a move that saw Naylor improve his performances and ironically increase his goal scoring tally for the club.
Naylor played a key role in Ipswich's promotion pushes in 2003–04 and 2004–05 where the club would lose in the semi-finals to West Ham United and went on to become a staple for club in the less successful 2005–06. In 2006, Joe Royle left Ipswich and Naylor's former teammate Jim Magilton took over as manager. On 1 September 2006, he was given a testimonial at Ipswich for 10 years as a professional at the club in which 10,000 fans attended the game at Portman Road to see the current Ipswich team play against the Wembley 2000 XI. It finished 3–3 with Naylor fittingly scoring a last minute penalty. Naylor remained in the first team at Ipswich playing at the back alongside team captain Jason DeVos in 2006–07 and 2007–08. In 2008–09 his last season with the club, he was made club captain.
Leeds United
On 14 January 2009, Naylor joined his boyhood team Leeds United on loan from Ipswich. The move was made permanent on 2 February when he joined on a free transfer. Naylor was appointed vice-captain of the club and scored his first goal for the club in the 2–0 win over Southend United. Naylor helped rejuvenate Leeds' form after signing for his boyhood club, who had previously conceded several goals from set pieces. Leeds' defence considerably improved, and when Sam Sodje also signed for Leeds on loan they made a formidable centre back partnership at the back, after Leeds had previously had some defence problems. The performances of Naylor and Sodje helped Leeds reach the playoff semi-finals, but they eventually lost out to Millwall after losing 2–1 on aggregate over two legs.
Ian Westlake had revealed in the October/November 2006 issue of the Leeds, Leeds, Leeds magazine about Naylor that "Bam-Bam's a massive Leeds fan – he's got the white rose tattooed on his arm and sings 'Marching On Together' in the shower after training".
In July 2009, he signed for Leeds permanently from Ipswich Town and Naylor was appointed the new permanent captain of Leeds United following former captain Frazer Richardson's departure in the summer. Naylor had an operation on his back and missed all of the 2009–10 pre season and several of Leeds games in League One. During his absence the captain's armband was temporarily passed to Jonny Howson.
Naylor made his comeback from injury playing 61 minutes in Leeds United's Reserves 2–1 win over Middlesbrough Reserves. After recovering from injury Naylor has found himself on Leeds' bench due to the impressive form of Leeds central defensive partnership.
Naylor made his return to first team action on 29 September, by starting in the game at home to Carlisle United. Naylor retained his place in the side against Charlton Athletic. Naylor missed the game against Brighton with an injury. The injury kept Naylor out of a few games. Naylor returned to the Leeds side against Accrington Stanley in the Football League Trophy. Naylor suffered an injury late on in the match against Hartlepool but was fit enough to start against Stockport County. Naylor captained Leeds to victory in the FA Cup third round against Manchester United. After the game he said "It is unbelievable, a tremendous result that has been a long time coming. I am really proud of the lads. I thought we had a few chances to make it 2–0 late on. We dug in when we needed to but we also played some good football."
Doncaster Rovers
On 11 July 2011, Naylor joined Doncaster Rovers on a short-term contract from Leeds United on a free transfer. He made his debut for Doncaster against Brighton & Hove Albion on 6 August 2011. He made 15 appearances for Doncaster before leaving the club in January 2012.
Rotherham United
On 13 January 2012, Naylor signed with Rotherham United on a deal until the end of the 2011–12 season. He made his debut for Rotherham in a 3–2 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge on 28 January, having prior been an unused substitute twice in home losses to Swindon Town and Port Vale. He made 5 appearances for Rotherham during the second-half of the 2011–12 season. He was released by Rotherham in May 2012.
Coaching career
After leaving Leeds, Naylor revealed that he was doing his UEFA B Coaching badges during the summer of 2011.
On 12 July 2012, Naylor retired from playing football and re-joined Leeds United as a coach working with the youth team alongside Neil Redfearn.
In his first season in management during the 2012/13 season Naylor won the Under 18's league with Leeds Under 18's team. Naylor's side were crowned Champions on 30 March after beating nearest rivals Nottingham Forest 7–2 to be declared league champions.
After the sacking of Neil Warnock on 1 April, Naylor moved up to be Leeds United's caretaker assistant manager to assist caretaker manager Neil Redfearn in the role.
On 11 July 2014, Naylor was made redundant as Leeds Under 18's Manager by Owner Massimo Cellino.
Honours
As player
Ipswich Town
Football League First Division play-offs: 2000
Leeds United
League One runner-up: 2009–10
As manager
Leeds United U18
Under 18 League Champions: 2012/13 Season
