Jimmy Melia

Wolverhampton Wanderers His stay in the Midlands was a short one. While he had a good run in the first team, this came to an abrupt end when manager Stan Cullis was sacked and replaced by Andy Beattie. Beattie decided that Melia was not the type of player he wanted and quickly offloaded him to Southampton.

Southampton In December 1964, Melia was signed for a fee of £30,000 by Southampton's manager Ted Bates "who was keen to acquire his scheming visionary skills". Melia was reluctant to move to the south coast, but when he was eventually persuaded, "Saints' (then) record signing added finesse"

He continued to make a valuable contribution to the team but lost his place to Mick 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 at The Dell he made a total of 152 appearances, scoring 12 goals.

Management career

Aldershot and Crewe Alexandra Melia joined Aldershot 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 at Crewe Alexandra; after retiring as a player in May 1972, he took on the managerial role at Gresty 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.

United States Melia moved to the United States of America as an assistant to Laurie Calloway with the Southern California Lazers in 1978 and became head coach of the Cleveland Cobras in 1979. They shared the duties for three months with Aitken taking more of a background role. His greatest managerial feat occurred when he took Albion to the 1983 FA Cup Final. The run took Melia back to his old stomping ground of Anfield where a goal from another ex-Liverpool player Jimmy Case won the game. During the cup run Melia became famous for his 'disco' style of dress and his glamorous younger girlfriend, Val Lloyd. 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".

Honours

As a player Liverpool Football League First Division: 1963–64 Football League Second Division: 1961–62

Southampton Football League Second Division runner-up: 1965–66

As a manager Brighton & Hove Albion FA Cup runner-up: 1982–83