Mel Blyth
Personal information
Full name Melvin Bernard Blyth
Date of birth (1944-07-28)28 July 1944
Place of birth Norwich, England
Date of death 11 January 2024(2024-01-11) (aged 79)
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Norwich City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1967–1968 Scunthorpe United 27 (3)
1968–1974 Crystal Palace 216 (9)
1974–1978 Southampton 105 (6)
1977–1978 → Crystal Palace (loan) 6 (0)
1978 Cape Town City
1978 Margate
1978–1981 Millwall 75 (0)
1980 Houston Hurricane (summer)
1981 Bulova SA
1982 Andover
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Melvin Bernard Blyth (28 July 1944 – 11 January 2024)[1] was an English professional footballer who played as a centre back.

During his playing career, he joined Scunthorpe United in 1967. One year later, he signed for Crystal Palace before joining Southampton with whom he won the FA Cup in 1976. He also spent time with Cape Town City, Margate, Millwall, Houston Hurricane, Bulova SA and Andover.

Club career

Norwich City and Scunthorpe United

Blyth started his football career with non-league Great Yarmouth.[2] He then joined Norwich City, although he never made an appearance in the first team. In October 1967, former Norwich manager, Ron Ashman, took up the reins at Scunthorpe United, then struggling at the foot of Division 3.[3] He returned to his old club to sign several players, including Steve Deere, Geoff Barnard and Blyth to shore up the holes in the defence.[3] Scunthorpe were relegated at the end of the 1967–68 season.[4][5]

Crystal Palace

Blyth joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 1968 as an old-style wing-half, but he developed into a centre-back and immediately became a regular member of Palace's 1968–69 Division 2 promotion side – in their first ever match in Division 1, he scored Palace's first goal in the top flight with a looping header against Manchester United.[6][2] He scored another goal the following Saturday, against Everton.[7]

As Palace struggled in Division 1, regularly finishing just above the relegation zone, Blyth became a permanent fixture in the defence alongside John McCormick.[8] He was deposed as centre back for a while by Roger Hynd, but after playing in midfield for much of the 1969–70 season he won his place back when Hynd was temporarily switched to the forward line – the contrasting styles of Blyth and McCormick made for a good mix, and the two of them stayed together until McCormick moved to Wealdstone in 1973.[9]

On 2 September 1972, Blyth made a tackle on Newcastle United's Tony Green which ultimately ended his career, although Green later said that he felt any contact was accidental.[10]

Palace eventually lost their fight to avoid relegation at the end of the 1972–73 season, under manager Malcolm Allison.[11] The following season, Palace were relegated into Division 3.[12]

Southampton

Southampton paid £60,000 for Mel Blyth in September 1974 – he was one of Lawrie McMenemy's first over-30 signings. Blyth's impact in his first season at The Dell was such that he was voted the supporters' player of the year.[12]

His effective partnership with Jim Steele was the mainstay of Saints' victorious FA Cup run of 1976, including beating his former club, Crystal Palace, in the semi-final.[12][13][14] On 14 August 1976, Blyth was forced off with a hamstring injury during a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Charity Shield.[12]

By the end of the 1976–77 season, six of the twelve players from Saints Cup-winning side had left the club; Blyth was the seventh after he had argued with McMenemy about breaking up the cup-winning team too quickly.[12] The arrival of Chris Nicholl, in 1977, signalled the end of 33-year-old Blyth's time on the south coast.[12] In total, he made 135 appearances for Southampton, scoring seven goals.[12]

Crystal Palace (loan)

Blyth re-appeared in Palace's colours in November 1977 when Terry Venables signed him on loan, after Ian Evans, who had replaced him in 1974, had broken his leg.[12][15]

Cape Town City and Margate

In the 1978 close-season he played for Cape Town City, then managed by former Palace coach, Frank Lord.[12] At Cape Town, he played alongside Mick Channon and Kevin Keegan.[12] In the summer of 1978, he returned to England and joined non-league Margate.[12]

Millwall

In November 1978, he returned to the Football League and signed for Millwall, where he made a further 75 appearances.[12][16] During his spell at the club, they were relegated from the Second Division.[12]

Later career

He later played for Houston Hurricane, before a spell in 1981 in Hong Kong with Bulova alongside Charlie George and Barry Daines.[16] After falling out with the manager, Ron Wylie, Mel returned to England, ending his career at non-league Andover.[16]

After football

Although he was an electrician by trade, Blyth later became a driving instructor but, by November 1990, he was running his own building firm in south London.[12][13] In 2003, he was a director of a building company and also a part-time coach in Crystal Palace's schoolboy academy.[12] He later acquired a match-day role with the PFA.[12]

On 13 January 2024, it was announced Blyth had died at the age of 79.[17]

Honours

Southampton

References

  1. ↑ Manns, Tim (16 January 2024). "Mel Blyth: An appreciation". Southampton FC. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Mel Blyth". www.margatefootballclubhistory.com. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 "The Iron dugout". Scunthorpe United FC. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Murray, Scott; Ingle, Sean; Rookwood, Dan (10 May 2001). "A tale of three Cities". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "The Iron's league record". Scunthorpe United FC. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "On this day: Palace seal first top-flight promotion (1969)". Crystal Palace FC. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 232. ISBN 0907969542.
  8. ↑ Daly, Jim (2 July 2017). "'What a terrific centre-back he was' - Palace fans pay tribute to star of 1969 team John McCormick after passing away". Football London. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 332. ISBN 0907969542.
  10. ↑ "Newcastle United legend Tony Green predicts top-10 finish for the Magpies". chroniclelive.co.uk. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Fredrik Jensen, Neil (8 September 2021). "Great Reputations: Crystal Palace 1975–76 – in a broken dream". Game of the People. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-9926864-0-6.
  13. 1 2 Bevan, Chris (2 January 2009). "When Saints shocked Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Moore, Glen (23 January 2015). "Southampton vs Crystal Palace: Tie between Saints and Palace stirs memories of a very different era". The Independent. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Keane's anger doesn't bother me - Ian Evans". Irish Independent. 29 September 2002. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 Whitney, Steve (3 April 2021). "Whatever happened to…Andover". Southern Football League. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "Saints mourn passing of Mel Blyth". Southampton FC. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.

Bibliography

  • Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  • Tim Manns (2006). Tie a Yellow Ribbon: How the Saints Won the Cup. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-6-4.
  • Mel Blyth at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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