Background
Amy Taylor was born in Canberra, Australia and grew up in Tuggeranong.
Amy Taylor was born in Canberra, Australia and grew up in Tuggeranong.
She started playing soccer at Tuggeranong United Football Club. At club level, she played nearly 100 games for the Canberra Eclipse in the now defunct Australian Women"s National Soccer League, and played professionally for Hampton Roads Piranhas in the USL West-League. She was first selected to the Australian women"s national team in 1997, at the age of 17—just six years after she began playing the sport. That same year she was called up for the 1997 Women"s United States. Cup to replace injured defender Bridgette Starr, scoring her first international goal as the Matildas lost 9-1 to the United States.
Taylor was an unused substitute during both the 1999 Fédération internationale de football association Women"s World Cup, and that same year she appeared on the cover of nude calendar featuring current Matilda"s players, designed to lift the profile of the women"s game and raise funds to support the national team"s activities.
She wound up cut out of the Australian team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. After one year away from international soccer, Taylor returned to the Matildas in 2004 to take part in the Olympic qualifiers.
She was again an alternate player for the 2004 Olympics tournament. Known as a tenacious defender and aggressive tackler, Taylor"s style of play contributed to a number of injuries which ultimately ended her football career.
After two reconstructive surgeries on her ankles following the Matildas" 2004 season, she retired from competitive football.
Her appearance on the Matilda"s calendar led to appearances in various magazines and print ads as a model. She joined WIN Television in Australia as a presenter on a fishing program called Fishing Australia. In 2008, Duggan co-hosted the first series of football-reality television program Football Superstar on pay television channel FOX8.
Foreign the second series in 2009, she was replaced by Lee Furlong.
While continuing her role on WIN News, she is also currently a sideline commentator for American Broadcasting Company"s telecast of the West-League national women"s competition.
She was a member of the Australia women"s national soccer team, known as "The Matildas", playing as a defender in over twenty international matches.
