Graham Taylor dies aged 72: Former Wolves, Aston Villa and England manager mourned by world of football

A family statement said: "With the greatest sadness, we have to announce that Graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack. The family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss."

Taylor managed England from 1990 until 1993. He was a club manager at Lincoln, Watford, Aston Villa and Wolves, and in recent years a pundit on the BBC and BT Sport.

Taylor's most successful period in management came at Watford, where he led the club from the Fourth Division to the top flight in the space of five seasons during the 1980s, and later Villa.

Appointed by then chairman Doug Ellis in the summer of 1987, Taylor inherited a club reeling from relegation but was able to undertake a rapid rebuild, winning promotion at the first time of asking.

He led Villa to second in the top flight during the 1989-90 season before being lured away by England.

Taylor helped England qualify for the 1992 European Championships but resigned after they failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals.

Early scepticism about Taylor's lack of major trophies eased when England lost just once in his first 21 games at the helm but things quickly turned sour at Euro 92 when a surprise 2-1 defeat to Sweden ensured the team failed to make it out of their group.

Taylor was heavily criticised for his decision to substitute Gary Lineker with the score at 1-1 and the Sun's reaction was particularly vicious, their headline 'Swedes 2 Turnips 1', accompanied by a picture of Taylor's head as a turnip. It became the enduring emblem of his tenure.

On the pitch, an ageing and injury-afflicted England then failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup following a miserable campaign that included crucial defeats to Norway and Holland.

Key absentees and unfortunate refereeing decisions certainly played their part but Taylor never extracted the maximum from his most talented players and later admitted the job came too soon in his coaching career.

A television documentary, granted behind-the-scenes access to Taylor's final months in charge, revealed in graphic detail the strain he had endured.

He returned to club management with Wolves and led them to the FA Cup quarter finals.

Sir Jack Hayward appointed Taylor as Wolves manager in March 1994, replacing Graham Turner.

Taylor brought in the likes of Tony Daley, John de Wolf, Dean Richards and Don Goodman to the club.

Taylor would later return to Villa in January 2001, becoming the first manager to be appointed at the club for a second time. He resigned in May 2002

He was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame 1000 club in 2001 when in charge of Watford.