 | This articlemay be written from afan's point of view, rather than aneutral point of view. Pleaseclean it up to conform to ahigher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone.(January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Melia | ||
| Date of birth | (1937-11-01)1 November 1937 (age 88) | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1952–1954 | Liverpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1954–1964 | Liverpool | 269 | (76) |
| 1964 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 24 | (4) |
| 1964–1968 | Southampton | 139 | (11) |
| 1968–1972 | Aldershot | 135 | (14) |
| 1972 | Crewe Alexandra | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 571 | (105) | |
| International career | |||
| 1963 | England | 2 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1969–1972 | Aldershot | ||
| 1972–1974 | Crewe Alexandra | ||
| 1975 | Southport | ||
| 1979 | Cleveland Cobras | ||
| 1982–1983 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| 1983–1986 | C.F. Os Belenenses | ||
| 1986 | Stockport County | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Melia (born 1 November 1937) is an English formerfootballer who spent most of his career playing forLiverpool and went on to become a manager.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jimmy Melia" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Melia joined the Reds straight from St. Anthony's School[2] as a 15-year-old, when managerDon Welsh saw the potential in the young schoolboy international's feet. Melia signed professional forms on his 17th birthday, 1 November 1954. After 23 appearances forLiverpool's reserve team, Melia made his début aged 18 on 17 December 1955 atAnfield in a2nd Division fixture againstNottingham Forest.[3] The visitors came up against an in-formBilly Liddell who scored ahat-trick in the 5–2 victory. Melia also scored his first goal for the club in the 48th minute,John Evans got the other.
It wasn't until the following season that he got a real run in the side starting 27 matches. Melia followed this up with a 36-match season scoring 10 goals.
Melia did well in thefirst Division and played 39 times as Liverpool finished in eighth place. Unfortunately for the red half ofMerseyside Everton won the league and were 17 points better.
During this spell Melia caught the eye ofEngland managerAlf Ramsey who gave him his debut on 6 April 1963 in the 2–1British Championship loss atWembley toScotland. Melia's one and only goal came in his second and final appearance for his country, on 5 June 1963 at St. Jakob Park,Basel as England beatSwitzerland 8–1.
The next season Liverpool won thechampionship by four points from Manchester United. Melia, now aged 27, could add a championship medal to the second division title medal he already owned. By this time, however, he had joinedWolves, moving in March 1964 for a club record transfer fee of £48,000,[4] but had played enough games for Liverpool to get the medal.
His stay in theMidlands was a short one. While he had a good run in the first team, this came to an abrupt end when managerStan Cullis was sacked and replaced byAndy Beattie. Beattie decided that Melia was not the type of player he wanted and quickly offloaded him toSouthampton.
In December 1964, Melia was signed for a fee of £30,000 bySouthampton's managerTed Bates "who was keen to acquire his scheming visionary skills".[1] Melia was reluctant to move to the south coast, but when he was eventually persuaded, "Saints' (then) record signing added finesse"[1] to the midfield. Although Saints missed out on promotion at the end of the 1964–65 season, Melia linked up well withTerry Paine andMartin Chivers in thefollowing season, helping them to promotion from Division 2, finishing five points behind championsManchester City.
He remained an ever-present for Southampton intheir first season in Division 1, as they narrowly hung on to their place in the top flight, with Melia's crosses helpingRon Davies and Chivers score 37 and 14 goals respectively, adding four for himself, the best being a header in a 2–1 victory overArsenal on 27 December 1966.[5]
He continued to make a valuable contribution to the team but lost his place toMick Channon and in November 1968 he moved on to Aldershot for a £10,000 fee and the player manager's job.
In his four years atThe Dell he made a total of 152 appearances, scoring 12 goals.
Melia joinedAldershot as player-coach in November 1968, taking the management position in April 1969. Melia moved on from Aldershot in February 1972 to take up a similar role atCrewe Alexandra; after retiring as a player in May 1972, he took on the managerial role atGresty Road full-time. While at Aldershot, Melia gained a reputation for his hard-hitting and occasionally controversial column in the club's match day programme.
Melia moved to the United States of America as an assistant toLaurie Calloway with theSouthern California Lazers in 1978 and became head coach of theCleveland Cobras in 1979.[6]
Melia becameBrighton & Hove Albion's chief scout. WhenMike Bailey left as manager in December 1982, Melia was promoted to jointly manage Albion with reserve team managerGeorge Aitken.[7] They shared the duties for three months with Aitken taking more of a background role.[6] His greatest managerial feat occurred when he took Albion to the1983 FA Cup Final. The run took Melia back to his old stomping ground of Anfield where a goal from another ex-Liverpool playerJimmy Case won the game.[8] During the cup run Melia became famous for his 'disco' style of dress and his glamorous younger girlfriend, Val Lloyd.[8] Melia was appointed permanently as manager in March 1983 after Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time, beatingNorwich City.[6] They beatSheffield Wednesday in the semi-final to faceManchester United in the final. Brighton drew the final, and then lost the replay. That season they were also relegated from the First Division, finishing bottom, ending their four-year spell in the top division.[6] During the summer, former Albion playerChris Cattlin was appointed as first-team coach by chairmanMike Bamber in an attempt to instil discipline into the side.[6] Melia resigned his post on 19 October 1983, reportedly due to his disdain of backroom meddling by Cattlin, who had started to have an influence on team selection.[9][10] The following home game, Melia attended as a supporter in the North Terrace and was lifted onto the shoulders of fans with the fans chanting "Melia In, Bamber Out".[6] Albion had won just 7 out of 35 League games with him in charge.[6]
Melia went on to take charge of Portuguese sideBelenenses, helping them get promoted to thePrimeira Liga.[6] In 1986, he was appointed as manager ofStockport County.[6]
In 1989 he had a stint in youth training when he travelled toSharjah in theUnited Arab Emirates where he set up an academy.[6] He currently coaches youth teams forLiverpool FC America inThe Colony, Texas, after joining them in 2008.[11]
Liverpool
Southampton
Brighton & Hove Albion