English footballer (1940?2021)
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]