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Terry Melling

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Terry Melling
Personal information
Full name Terence Melling[1]
Date of birth (1940-01-24)24 January 1940[1]
Place of birth Haverton Hill,[2] England
Date of death 21 March 2021(2021-03-21) (aged 81)[3]
Place of death Northampton,[3] England
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1960 Slough Town 30 (21)
1962 Slough Town 4 (1)
1962 Tooting & Mitcham United 1 (0)
– Maidstone United
196?–1965 Tow Law Town
1965–1966 Newcastle United 0 (0)
1966–1967 Watford 24 (5)
1967 Newport County 34 (14)
1967–1968 Mansfield Town 33 (7)
1968–1969 Rochdale 20 (8)
1969 Darlington 21 (6)
1969–19?? Scarborough
– Tow Law Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Terence Melling (24 January 1940 – 21 March 2021) was an English footballer who scored 40 goals from 129 appearances in the Football League playing as a forward for Watford, Newport County, Mansfield Town, Rochdale and Darlington.[4] He also played non-league football for clubs including Slough Town, Maidstone United, Tooting & Mitcham United, Tow Law Town and Scarborough, and was on Newcastle United's books, but never played for them in the League.

Life and career

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Melling was born in Haverton Hill, County Durham,[2] and attended St Thomas' School in nearby Port Clarence, where he played for the school football team.[5] He joined the army, serving with the Coldstream Guards in which he reached the rank of sergeant.[6] He played representative football for the Army against civilian opponents[6][7] as well as other service teams. He was a member of the British team that won the 1964 Kentish Cup, a triangular tournament for the Belgian, British and French Army teams,[8][9] and also played against the Navy for an Amateur XI selected by the Football Association.[10] While a serving soldier, Melling also played for amateur clubs in the south-east of England including Slough Town, whose website describes him as a "brave, bustling centre forward", Maidstone United and Tooting & Mitcham United.[11][12]

He returned to his native north-east of England, where he worked in a shipyard and played non-league football for Tow Law Town before turning professional with Newcastle United in December 1965. Unable to force his way into Newcastle's first team, he moved on to Third Division club Watford on a free transfer in May 1966, and made his debut in the Football League in the last match of the 1965–66 season, a 1–1 draw away to Scunthorpe United, at the unusually late age of 26.[2] This was the first of several short spells with clubs in the lower divisions of the Football League – nine months with Watford, nine months in the Fourth Division with Newport County, ten months in Division Three with Mansfield Town, six months with Rochdale, where he contributed to their third-place finish and consequent first ever promotion from Division Four, and finally six months with Darlington. He played regularly with each of those clubs,[2] and averaged a goal every three games.[4] In October 1969, Melling signed for Northern Premier League club Scarborough, and he later rejoined Tow Law.[2]

After football, Melling worked in the building trade. Head injuries suffered in an accident in 1986 left him deaf and with other disabilities.[13] Melling lived in Andover, Hampshire and then in a care home in Northampton. He had dementia in later life, and died in March 2021 at the age of 81.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1998). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–1998. Queen Anne Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-85291-585-8.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Players: M" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2014. Trefor Jones. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Amos, Mike (23 March 2021). "March 22 2021: death of a hard man". Grass Routes. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Terry Melling". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  5. ^ "St Thomas' School Football team 1951–52". Port Clarence changes. Marsha Mulloy. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Oxford miss their opportunity". The Times. London. 22 November 1963. p. 5.
  7. ^ "Army overwhelmed by F.A. side". The Times. London. 18 October 1962. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Dashing football victory for the Army". The Times. London. 30 April 1964. p. 4.
  9. ^ "History". Army FA. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  10. ^ "F.A. victory marred by negative tactics". The Times. London. 5 December 1963. p. 4.
  11. ^ "Terry Melling". Slough Town F.C. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  12. ^ "Isthmian League Division 1: Season 1962–63". Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  13. ^ Fissler, Neil (5 October 2014). "Where are they now? We trace Rochdale's 1968–69 Division Four promotion winners". The Football League Paper. Retrieved 24 March 2021 – via PressReader.com.
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