Sir Elton John has selected former England football manager Graham Taylor to be given the unlikely title of "gay icon".

Ten people were asked to select six individuals each, gay or otherwise, for the National Portrait Gallery's photography display entitled Gay Icons.

The event is the gallery's first portrait exhibition to celebrate the contribution of gay people and gay icons to history and culture.

Explaining why he picked Taylor as one of his icons, Sir Elton said in a statement that Taylor came on board to manage his then newly-purchased football club - Watford, which was in the fourth division, in 1977.

He said: "I had been a lifelong Watford fan and Graham truly made whatever dreams I had for my team come true."

A photograph of Taylor joined pictures of the Village People, porn star Jeff Stryker, Lily Savage and Kenneth Williams.

Also among Sir Elton's selection were fashion designer Gianni Versace, "a dear, dear friend", and John Lennon, with whom Sir Elton collaborated in 1974 on the song Whatever Gets You Thru The Night.

Lord Alli, Lord Smith, Sir Ian McKellen, Billie Jean King, Sandi Toksvig, Sarah Waters, Alan Hollinghurst, Jackie Kay and chief executive of Stonewall Ben Summerskill were the other selectors.

Wed 1 Jul