Don't leave Rio to a lynch mob

'This has become a test case between the FA and the biggest club in the world.

'Rio is a human being but he has been treated like a villain. He has already suffered a massive amount. People expect too much of players these days. They expect them to have old heads on young shoulders.

'These are human beings with special talents. People think players are brash and confident. They are not. They are vulnerable. They are scared. Their whole life can go wrong with one injury.

'A teenager has to take on a 30-yearold on the field and believe that he is as good. You can have maturity in your feet but it doesn't mean you have maturity in your head.'

To many people, Taylor is wrong to speak up for his players. He is seen by some as a man trying to defend the indefensible, by others as a militant.

To his members, however, he is the first port of call when the storm breaks.

He will not apologise for his loyalty. As Ferdinand approaches his day of destiny at Bolton's Reebok Stadium, Taylor maintains that the defender has already been let down by the very Football Association he represented with such distinction in the last World Cup.

'There have been times when I have criticised my own members but when the attacks are so fierce, it's not my job to add to the public furore,' said Taylor.

'I will fight for my players as long as I have breath in my body because everybody is entitled to a voice. Everybody has a right to representation, mitigation and the chance to establish their innocence.

'I do tell players when I think they have a problem. But I also tell them I will do my best for them. If even I can't look for the light in the darkest of passages, then who can?'

After spending much of last season leading the fight to keep 92 League clubs afloat after the collapse of the ITV Digital deal, Taylor thought he had survived the hardest nine months of his career.

This year, however, has already brought the deaths of two of his members - Marc-Vivien Foe of Manchester City and young Manchester United player Jimmy Davies - and has also found him seemingly in constant opposition to the FA.

He admits his relationship with new FA chief executive Mark Palios could have begun on a better footing and is understandably frustrated that recent controversies have overshadowed the work his union does in the community tackling issues such as racism, hooliganism and drug abuse.

But on the subject of FA policy, he remains steadfast.

He added: 'I just don't want the FA to make policy on the hoof. They must be as consistent as possible and follow mutually agreed rules affecting players.

'The FA are in effect football's police, Crown Prosecution Service, judge and jury. And then they receive the fines they impose. That can cause conflicts of interest.

'They are the governing body but they cannot and should not live in an authoritarian vacuum.'

The most likely punishment awaiting Ferdinand is a threemonth ban and the defender is worried that if there is an appeal, the suspension would be delayed - taking it dangerously close to the start of Euro 2004 in June.

But Taylor is concerned by the prospect of Ferdinand serving any kind of ban.

The FA have much sterner punishments at their disposal than a three-month suspension but Taylor points to the precedent of Manchester City's Christian Negouai, who was given a fine by the FA for a similar offence in February.

At the time Negouai's case remained confidential, a privilege Taylor believes was not extended to Ferdinand when he was withdrawn from the England squad to face Turkey in October.

'We have 1,200 tests a year in this country and three or four positives for social drugs,' he said. 'It would be naive to think we didn't have any social drugs at all in the game. One in five youngsters across the country has tried them, so obviously that is going to be represented in sport.

'If a player is found to have used a performance-enhancing drug, he should be name and shamed. But with social drugs, players should have the benefit of confidentiality. We can help to rehabilitate them.

'Why didn't the FA follow the legal precedent of the February case? Rio Ferdinand's name should have remained private. Even WADA has accepted that a player should not be named until after an initial hearing. Yet the FA didn't set a hearing for Rio until the day after the Turkey match. That was wrong.'

A key element of Ferdinand's defence will centre on his claim that he called United's training ground and offered to return while the testing team from UK Sport were still present. According to the player, he was told to come back two days later to take a test that was clean but subsequently declared invalid.

Taylor said: 'Why were the testers not prepared to stay there, yet were apparently keen to come back two days later? Would it not have been easier to stay?

'It doesn't make sense and these are the questions that I genuinely hope will be answered this week.'