Profile

Neil Mellor will always be remembered by Liverpool fans for his dramatic stoppage time winner v Arsenal at the Kop end and his vital contribution from the bench against Olympiacos in the Champions League.

His father, Ian, made his name with Manchester City and his son dreamt about wearing the blue of Man City. However City felt his services were no longer needed and he moved to Liverpool's academy in the summer of 1999, but was struggling with injuries the first year.

He made rapid progress and has become a goalscoring phenomenon in the LFC reserves. Mellor was top scorer with eight goals in Liverpool's FA youth cup run in the 2000-2001 season. The following season he raced into the spotlight when he scored no less than 27 goals in 23 games for the Under-19 side and 18 goals in 18 games for the reserves. Mellor was rewarded with a new contract in 2003 after making his first team debut and keeping up his goal-a-game ratio for the reserves.

Gerard Houllier sent the 20-year old Mellor on loan to West Ham in 2003 but this loan spell with the Hammers was unsuccessful as he got few chances after boss Glen Roeder was sacked shortly after his arrival. Injuries also contributed to the fact that he only appeared in 16 league matches during what should have been a season-long loan. He returned to Liverpool's reserves before the end of the 2003-2004 season, not being allowed to play for the first team due to the FA's regulations, and scored 10 goals in four reserve games, bringing his tally to 45 goals in 44 reserve matches.

Few will forget his dramatic winner against Arsenal in the closing seconds and the part he played in the dramatic win over Olympiakos in the group stages of the Champions League. A knee injury sustained in the Carling Cup semi-final against Watford ruled him out of Liverpool's dramatic end to the season in Istanbul and he had two operations which kept him out of action for a year. 

Neil had a short spell with Wigan Athletic at the start of 2006 but his playing career was revived by a move to Championship club Preston North End in August, 2006. Although he continued to suffer from injuries, particularly to his knee, Mellor proved he had not lost the instinct in front of goal that had been so obvious in his younger days at Liverpool. By the end of the 2007-08 season he had scored a respectable 10 goals in 41 league games for Preston, despite the team struggling at the wrong end of the table for much of his second full season with the Lancashire club.

In 2008-09 he was top scorer again as Preston reached the Play-offs

Other clubs:

West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Preston North End