A family statement said: “With the greatest sadness, we have to announce that Graham passed away at his home early this morning of a suspected heart attack.
“The family are devastated by this sudden and totally unexpected loss.”
Sir Doug Ellis, former Villa owner and chairman, added that Taylor had apparently ‘died in his sleep’.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “I enjoyed working with him. We chased him for a long time before he finally conceded and agreed to work for me.
“We had five years working together very well. I am shocked, absolutely shocked.
“He died in his sleep, apparently. I wasn’t aware he had any illness.”
Taylor made his name with the Hornets leading them from the fourth division to the first in just five years.
It was one of the most rapid and remarkable surges English football has ever seen.
Inspired by the young winger John Barnes and a lethal striker in Luther Blissett, Watford beat Arsenal twice, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton.
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