Background
Melling was born in Haverton Hill, County Durham, and attended Street Thomas" School in nearby Portuguese Clarence, where he played for the school football team
Melling was born in Haverton Hill, County Durham, and attended Street Thomas" School in nearby Portuguese Clarence, where he played for the school football team
He also played non-league football for clubs including Slough Town, Maidstone United, Tooting & Mitcham United, Tow Law Town and Scarborough, and was on Newcastle United"s books, but never played for them in the League. He joined the army, serving with the Coldstream Guards in which he reached the rank of sergeant. He played representative football for the Army against civilian opponents as well as other service teams.
While a serving soldier, Melling also played for amateur clubs in the south-east of England including Slough Town, whose website describes him as a "brave, bustling centre forward", Maidstone United and Tooting & Mitcham United.
He returned to his native north-east of England, where he worked in a shipyard and played non-league football for Tow Law Town before turning professional with Newcastle United in December 1965. Unable to force his way into Newcastle"s first team, he moved on to Third Division club Watford on a free transfer in May 1966, and made his debut in the Football League in the last match of the 1965-1966 season, a 1–1 draw away to Scunthorpe United, at the unusually late age of 26.
This was the first of several short spells with clubs in the lower divisions of the Football League – nine months with Watford, nine months in the Fourth Division with Newport County, ten months in Division Three with Mansfield Town, six months with Rochdale, where he contributed to their third-place finish and consequent first ever promotion from Division Four, and finally six months with Darlington. He played regularly with each of those clubs, and averaged a goal every three games.
In October 1969, Melling signed for Northern Premier League club Scarborough, and later rejoined Tow Law.