Jacob Melling (born 4 April 1995) is an Australian professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Charlestown Azzurri.

Biography

Melling attended Saint Paul's College, Gilles Plains. He was raised through the South Australian youth football setups of

Modbury Jets Modbury SC, commonly known as Modbury Jets, is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. It's senior mens teams currently compete in the National Premier Leagues South Australia and senior womens team in the ...

and then the South Australian Sports Institute Football Program (SASI) before playing a key part in the South Australian side's championship win in the FFA State Institute Challenge in 2010. Melling was named Player of the Tournament, and was offered a scholarship to the

Australian Institute of Sport Football Program The FFA Centre of Excellence (formerly the Australian Institute of Sport Football Program) was a football talent identification and player development program run by Football Federation Australia (FFA) and was based at the Australian Institute o ...

where he then went on to form a mainstay in the heart of the

Joeys The Australia national under-17 soccer team represents Australia in men's international under-17 soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for Football in Australia, Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a membe ...

midfield.

Adelaide United

On 18 March 2011, it was announced that

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

had signed Melling on for his first professional club contract from the start of 2012. Melling made his first team debut as a 78th minute substitution in the Round 14 match against

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

. On 15 March 2013, Melling was granted permission to be listed with two clubs so until the end of the end of the 2012–13 season Melling was listed with both Adelaide United and Para Hills Knights. He recorded 8 appearances with Para Hills Knights.

Melbourne City

On 20 May 2014 it was announced that Melling joined Melbourne City alongside two other youth players,

Connor Chapman Connor Chapman (born 31 October 1994) is an Australian professional footballer who plays for Melbourne Victory. He has represented Australia at under-17, under-20, and under-23 level. Early years Chapman grew up in South Western Sydney and b ...

and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 12 August 2016, Melling joined

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

on a two-year deal together with teammate

Jack Clisby Jack Clisby is an Australian soccer player who plays as a centre back or left back, for A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers. Club career Clisby made his senior debut for Perth Glory on 26 January 2013, starting against Brisbane Roar. Cl ...

. On 2 January 2018, he was released by Western Sydney Wanderers.

Central Coast Mariners

One day after leaving

, Melling joined

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

on a half-year deal. Melling was released by the Mariners in September 2020 at the end of the

2019–20 A-League The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced o ...

Career statistics

References

External links

FIFA profile page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melling, Jacob 1995 births Living people Soccer players from Adelaide Men's association football midfielders Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Para Hills Knights SC players Adelaide United FC players Melbourne City FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players National Premier Leagues players A-League Men players Australian men's soccer players