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17 Facts About Jimmy Melia

1.

James Melia was born on 1 November 1937 and is an English former footballer who spent most of his career playing for Liverpool and went on to become a manager.

2.

Jimmy Melia joined the Reds straight from St Anthony's School as a 15-year-old, when manager Don Welsh saw the potential in the young schoolboy international's feet.

3.

Jimmy Melia signed professional forms on his 17th birthday, 1 November 1954.

4.

Jimmy Melia scored his first goal for the club in the 48th minute, John Evans got the other.

5.

Jimmy Melia followed this up with a 36-match season scoring 10 goals.

6.

Jimmy Melia did well in the first Division and played 39 times as Liverpool finished in eighth place.

7.

Jimmy Melia's stay in the Midlands was a short one.

8.

Beattie decided that Jimmy Melia was not the type of player he wanted and quickly offloaded him to Southampton.

9.

Jimmy Melia was reluctant to move to the south coast, but when he was eventually persuaded, "Saints' record signing added finesse" to the midfield.

10.

Jimmy Melia joined Aldershot as player-coach in November 1968, taking the management position in April 1969.

11.

Jimmy 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.

12.

Jimmy 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.

13.

When Mike Bailey left as manager in December 1982, Jimmy Melia was promoted to jointly manage Albion with reserve team manager George Aitken.

14.

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.

15.

Jimmy Melia was appointed permanently as manager in March 1983 after Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time, beating Norwich City.

16.

Jimmy 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.

17.

Jimmy Melia went on to take charge of Portuguese side Belenenses, helping them get promoted to the Primeira Liga.