Following Griffiths Departure, club captain Paul Lodge stood in briefly before Micky Taylor was appointed in mid November 1987. Taylor had been the youth team trainer at Preston and was also a Southport reserve player in the sixties. Taylor lasted stayed until the end of the 1988/89 season a season which saw the club finish in 14th place. Charlie Clapham describes Taylor as a “colourful character” whose language was at best “industrial”. The undoubted highlight of Taylor’s reign was the run to the first round of the FA Cup which saw the club featured on BBC’s Match Of The Day a match described by Clapham as the turning point in the life of Southport Football Club. Taylor left to take over at Fleetwood and the club took some time in choosing a successor but that successor was to bring about the stability the club had sought for many years it was Brian Kettle.