Bon Bons are Back

Sweet dreams are made of goals for Taylor

Brum's the word by Malcolm Boyden

JAMES ROBERTS, West Bromwich?s very own Willy Wonka, grimaces as he tugs up his jacket to avoid a severe soaking. ?This,? he says, pointing to the heavens as torrential rain batters the Black Country, ?is the sugar boiler?s worst nightmare.?

The downpour has come at the worst possible time. Today they?re gearing up for a ?royal visitor? at the Sela Traditional Sweet Company Limited, a firm that has been in the Roberts family since 1882, when James?s great-grandparents, Arthur and Elizabeth, took over a small kitchen at the back of a shop in Alfred Street. Even the copper sugar boilers that have been with the Roberts clan for more than a century have been given a special rinse. But the damp atmosphere is a curse. It gets into the machines and makes the sweet mixture too sticky.

The visitor isn?t really a royal. To fans of West Bromwich Albion, he?s far more important than that. It?s Bob Taylor, the club?s favourite son.

Taylor is celebrating his testimonial this season and the sweet people at Sela have been asked to turn out a new product ? Super Bobby?s Bon Bons ? in time for the derby with Birmingham City today. By this morning, 800 bags will have been dispatched to The Hawthorns. They?ll be snapped up in next to no time.

?They?re in the four club colours: blue, white, yellow and green,? Roberts says as he welcomes Taylor to the factory, now in Thynne Street. The Albion man is on time. He always is. He?s as polite and unassuming as ever as he squeezes into the factory uniform of white coat, hat and light blue over-shoes. He hasn?t come to watch the sweets being made ? he fully intends to make them himself.

Taylor, who joined the club in 1992, has become an Albion legend. You only have to surf his testimonial website ? www.super-bob.co.uk ? to appreciate the depth of feeling for the man whose 131 goals have taken Albion up, kept them up, and taken them up again. Ally Ayres summed it up beautifully. ?You were the first man I ever called my hero,? he wrote on the message board. ?My Dad had Jeff Astle, my grandad had Ronnie Allen . . . but I had you.? Another Baggies fan has added: ?Thank you Super Bob. You?re a true legend.?

Taylor, 35, will always be grateful for their support. ?I?ve lived a dream for the last ten years,? he says while spreading sterilised talc on his grey gloves. An almost overwhelming smell of neat syrup fills the nostrils as John Wilkinson, the chief sugar boiler, keeps his eye on the mixture of sugar and glucose that is simmering away at more than 150C. ?It?s lovely to know that I?ve touched people in a certain way,? Taylor says, ?but the feeling is mutual. I will always be in debt to the fans for the way they?ve accepted me. They?ve taken me to their hearts and that means everything.?

Under Wilkinson?s watchful eye, the company produces thousands of humbugs, bonbons, fizzballs, bull?s-eyes and Sela Cough Sweets ? probably their most famous line. Thankfully, the mixture that Taylor is working on turns out ?true Baggie blue?, giving him time to turn his attention back to football. ?It?s my one remaining wish to score a Premiership goal for Albion,? he says. ?It?s a dream if you like. I just love the club.?

It might come true today if he can shake off an irritating Achilles injury. ?I?ve got a good record against Blues,? he said. ?I?ve scored in nearly every game I?ve played against them. But it?s a funny fixture. The rivalry between the fans is not as intense as an Albion versus Wolves game, or Blues versus Villa. It?s the gentle derby. I think the supporters have a sort of admiration for each other ? probably because they?ve had their fair share of suffering.?

Under instruction, Taylor has started to fold the soft centre into his sweet mixture. ?I used to watch my Mum do this when she was making pies,? he says, remembering his youth in the North East town of Horden. He began his football life as a centre half until the games master at his school moved him up front. The goals soon started to flow.

After a spell at Horden Colliery Welfare, Billy Bremner gave Taylor his first professional contract, at Leeds United. Before long he moved to Bristol City and then came the first of two Albion spells, interrupted briefly by a season or two in the Premiership with Bolton Wanderers.

?Like most of the fans,? he says, carefully avoiding two crushed humbugs on the factory floor, ?I didn?t think Albion would ever be back in the top flight. I?ve lived for this. It?s unreal. But we?ve seen nothing we?re frightened of yet. I honestly think Albion and Blues will stay up. If you?ve got the right spirit you?re halfway there ? and team spirit is our greatest strength.?

Before long the sweets are ready and packed. The label shows Taylor celebrating his goal against Crystal Palace, the one that secured Albion promotion last season. He asks if he can have a copy of the picture blown up for his wall. ?It?s another golden memory. I?ve got them all stored up in here,? he says, pointing to his forehead.

If it can head home just one more goal, Taylor?s Albion story will be complete.