Neil Mellor

Neil Andrew Mellor (born 4 November 1982) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

He began his career at Liverpool in the Premier League.

A strong, physical, centre forward, Mellor was top scorer in Liverpool's run to the FA Youth Cup semi-final during the 2000–01 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 2001–02 season and in total scored 46 goals (56 including friendlies).

Mellor progressed through the ranks at Liverpool 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 six games and scored in a League Cup semi-final match against Sheffield United.

Although the Reds lost the match 2–1, Mellor showed promise and was rewarded in March 2003 with a new three-year contract running to 2006.

Despite his goal he was left out of the squad for the victorious 2003 Football League Cup Final.

Manager Gérard Houllier sent Mellor on a year-long loan to West Ham United in August 2003.

He scored two goals in the 3–0 win over Crystal Palace at the end of September, but an injury hit spell at Upton Park, in addition to playing under three different managers and being forced to play out of position, proved unsettling.

Mellor was soon back at Anfield and hit 10 goals in just four games for the reserves.

He made his name in 2004 by scoring a stunning last-minute goal from long range to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory over Arsenal at Anfield.

Mellor also scored a vital goal and set up another 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.

He later played for Preston North End.

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.

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 Monaco.

After becoming a fixture in first team squad, Mellor burst into the starting team with some style.

With Liverpool and Arsenal level at 1–1 with 90 minutes gone at Anfield in November 2004, he cracked in a sensational 30-yard volley to win the game for Liverpool.

Things got better still for Mellor ten days later when Liverpool were being held 1–1 by Olympiacos in a game they had to win by two clear goals to progress to the Champions League knock out stages.

He was brought into the game to replace Milan Baroš and within two minutes, he scored with a typical goal poacher's finish.

Then, a cushioned header from Mellor set up Steven Gerrard to rifle in the third Liverpool goal and seal Liverpool's place in the last 16.

He scored his second and what proved to be his final league goal for Liverpool in December 2004 in the 3–1 win over Newcastle at Anfield.

In March 2005, Mellor was ruled out for the remainder of the 2004–05 season after undergoing surgery on both knees.

This robbed the young striker of his chance of European glory as his teammates 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.

Mellor returned to action for the Liverpool reserve side in the 2005–06 season coming on as a substitute in their 2–0 victory at Manchester United in December 2005.

He was back on the scoresheet in his first 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, further knee injuries that required more surgery ended his spell at Wigan after three games.

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 Mohamed Sissoko and Nigel Clough.

After his retirement from professional football, Mellor returned to Liverpool to do media and commentary work with their in-house television company LFC TV.

In August 2006, Mellor signed a three-year contract with Football League Championship club Preston North End for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £1.5m.

Manager Paul Simpson said, "Neil is a goalscorer and hopefully that will continue to be the case. He is a tremendous signing. He has had his injury problems but we are happy he is over those and it's just a case now of building up his fitness levels." Another knee injury suffered in a pre-season friendly against Bolton Wanderers required more surgery and delayed Mellor's debut for Preston.

Mellor finally got his first goal for Preston in the 3–1 victory over Southampton in March 2007.

Out of favour under the Paul Simpson managerial era, Mellor had to prove himself over again to new P.N.E boss Alan Irvine.

Under Irvine, Mellor finally got going and scored nine goals under him after Christmas 2007.

In December 2011, a knee injury sustained following a tackle by Milton Keynes striker Jabo Ibehre resulted in Mellor being forced into announcing his retirement on 9 May 2012.

Since his retirement, Mellor has been doing media work, including match updates for Sky Sports News and work for LFC TV.

The son of former Manchester City, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton and Hove Albion player Ian Mellor, Mellor was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.