Ian Mellor

Ian Mellor (19 February 1950 – 1 May 2024) was an English professional footballer who played as a left winger.

Career
Mellor was born in Sale, England. He began his career with Manchester City. He played as a substitute as City won the 1972 FA Charity Shield. He then moved to Norwich City in 1973 for a fee of £65,000. The Canaries were struggling against relegation in their first season in English football's top division when Mellor joined. He played in the last eleven league games of the season and played his part in helping the club stay up. He went on to score nine goals in 43 games for Norwich. He the joined Brighton where he was known as "Spider” thanks to his very long legs Spider played 122 times for Brighton and scored 31 goals. His partnership up top with Peter Ward has now become legendary. On one historic wet and windy night at the Goldstone in 1977 the match Vs Walsall was goalless at half time. A second half that has gone down in folklore then occurred with Mellor scoring a hat trick & Ward 4 for a 7-0 demolition. Only 17 days apart from another 7 goal feat in a 7-2 win Vs York City. One of the greatest strike force the club has ever seen. In February 1978 he moved for £25,000 to Chester, He helped Chester finish fifth in Division Three in his first season and was on target in a Football League Cup giantkilling against First Division side Coventry City early in 1978–79.

At the end of the season Mellor moved to Sheffield Wednesday, securing a place in Wednesday history by scoring in the 4–0 defeat of Sheffield United, in the famous 'Boxing Day Massacre', here he remained until joining Bradford City in June 1982. He also played briefly in Hong Kong for Tung Sing. He spent two seasons with City before ending his professional career.

Personal life and death
Mellor was the father of former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor. He died following a battle against amyloidosis on 1 May 2024, at the age of 74.