Neil Mellor

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Neil Mellor
Personal information
Full name	Neil Andrew Mellor
Date of birth	November 4, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	Sheffield, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nickname	Gerd
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Preston North End
Number	33
Youth clubs
	Liverpool
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2006 2003-2004 2006 2006-	Liverpool → West Ham United (loan) → Wigan Athletic (loan) Preston North End	12 (2) 16 (2) 03 (1) 04 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:15, 6 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Neil Andrew Mellor (born November 4, 1982 in Sheffield, England) is a professional football player with Preston North End FC.

He made his name in 2004 by scoring a last-minute goal to give Liverpool a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Anfield. Mellor also scored a goal during Liverpool's match with Olympiacos at Anfield during the group stage of the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League, which Liverpool went on to win.

[edit] Player profile

Neil Mellor is the son of former Manchester City player Ian Mellor. A strong, physical, centre forward, Mellor was top scorer in Liverpool's run to the FA Youth Cup semi-final during the 2000-2001 season scoring eight goals in four games.

He was also the top scorer for the under-19 team and Joe Corrigan's reserves during the 2001-2002 season and in total scored 46 goals (56 including friendlies).

Mellor has progressed through the ranks at Anfield and in the 2002-03 season he scored 20 goals for the reserve team. He made his first team debut in the same season and played a total of three games and scored in a Worthington Cup semi-final match against Sheffield United. Although the Reds lost the match 2-1, Mellor had shown everybody what he could do and was rewarded with a new three-year contract, till 2006.

Boasting a solid all-round game he initially broke into the first-team in the 2003-04 season. But after scoring two goals for the first team in a pre-season match, manager Gérard Houllier sent him on loan to West Ham United.He has been linked with moves to Scottish club Hearts and Sheffield United F.C.

An injury hit spell at Upton Park plus playing under three different managers and being forced to play out of position didn't help matters. Mellor was soon back at Anfield and hit 10 goals in just four games for the reserves.

Before the start of the 2004-05 season Mellor suffered a knee injury, but regained fitness and a return to the first team in the 3-0 League Cup victory at Millwall F.C. In the next round he scored two goals to knock out holders Middlesbrough and in late November he started a UEFA Champions League game at AS Monaco FC.

After becoming a fixture in first team squads Young Mellor was about to burst into the starting team with some style. With Liverpool and Arsenal level at 1-1 with 90 minutes gone at Anfield on 28th November 2004 Neil Mellor cracked in a sensational 30 yard volley to send the Kop wild and clinch the game for Liverpool. Things got better still for Mellor 10 days later. Liverpool were being held 1-1 by Olympiacos in a game they had to win by 2 clear goals to progress to the Champions league knock out stages. Mellor was brought into the game to replace Milan Baros, within 2 minutes he had repaid the managers faith with a typical poachers finish. Mellor's strike reinvigorated Liverpool and he was not finished there. A fantastic cushioned header set up Steven Gerrard to rifle in the third Liverpool goal and seal Liverpool's place in the last 16. Mellor's contribution from the bench was sensational and without him Liverpool would have crashed out and the magic of Istanbul 2005 would never have materialised.

Unfortunately Neil Mellor was ruled out for the remainder of the 2004-05 season after undergoing surgery on both knees in March 2005. This robbed the young striker of his chance of European glory as his team mate’s succeeded in bringing a fifth European cup back to Anfield. Although Mellor played no part in the Knock out stages his contribution to that year’s success was massive.

Neil returned action for the Liverpool reserve side in the 2005-06 season coming on as a substitute in their 2-0 victory at Manchester United . He was back on the scoresheet in his start in a year as Liverpool cruised into the quarter-finals of the Liverpool Senior Cup after a 3-0 win over Runcorn.

In January 2006, Mellor joined Wigan Athletic on loan for the remainder of the season. In his first match against Middlesbrough, he scored the winner during injury time in a 3-2 victory. However, he suffered injury problems, causing him to miss the League Cup final, and he returned to Liverpool early.

In 2006, despite a relative lack of first-team football at Liverpool, Mellor was voted into 90th position in a poll to find 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, ahead of such players as Momo Sissoko and Nigel Clough.

On August 30, 2006, Mellor signed a 3-year contract with the Football League Championship club Preston North End, a deal worth about £500.000. A knee injury delayed Mellors debut and indeed his first season at the club has been plagued with injuries. As of March 13th Mellor has made only 7 appearances for the Deepdale club s of which were as a substitute. Mellor finally got his first Preston goal in the 3-1 victory ove Southamton on March 5th.

Neil was held in high regard at Anfield as his nickname proves. His goal scoring record for Liverpool Reserves was so good he was called Gerd after legendary German striker Gerd Müller.

[edit] Career stats

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Wigan Athletic Loan	2005-06	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Liverpool	2005-06	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2004-05	9	2	1	0	4	2	2	1	0	0	16	5
West Ham Loan	2003-04	16	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	21	2
Liverpool	2003-04	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2002-03	3	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
Total		31	5	6	0	9	3	2	1	0	0	48	9

[edit] External links

• Neil Mellor career stats at Soccerbase

Preston North End F.C. - Current Squad
1 Lonergan | 2 Alexander | 3 Davidson | 4 Pugh | 5 Mawene | 7 Sedgwick | 8 Ricketts | 9 Agyemang | 10 Nugent | 11 Dichio | 12 St Ledger | 13 Henderson | 14 Chilvers | 15 Whaley | 16 McKenna | 17 Ormerod | 18 Hill | 20 Pergl | 23 L. Neal | 24 Anyinsah | 25 Nowland | 27 Soley | 28 Wilson | 30 C. Neal | 32 Parillon | 33 Mellor | 34 McGrail | Manager: Simpson