Former England manager Graham Taylor dies

Graham Taylor, former manager of the England football team, died Thursday at the age of 72.

It is thought the former coach suffered a heart attack.

Taylor managed his country's national team between 1990 and 1993 but stepped down when England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup held in the United States.

In a statement, England's Football Association said: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former England manager Graham Taylor."

Taylor had been on the receiving end of some brutal British tabloid criticism after his side's failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, with The Sun newspaper launching a campaign to have the north of England native fired.

During his international managerial career Taylor's England actually just lost one match in 23 games. England, under Taylor, also recorded wins against Turkey during European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.

Taylor also managed Watford and Aston Villa during his club-level career.

“We are deeply saddened today by news of the death of our former manager Graham Taylor. RIP Graham," Aston Villa football club tweeted on Thursday.