Noud van Melis (10 February 1924 – 8 August 2001) was a Dutch footballer, who played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Club career

Van Melis was born in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, and started playing football at local third-level club RKVV Tongelre. In 1946, he moved to EVV Eindhoven. Over time, a team was built around the proficient goalscorer Van Melis. During the early 1950s, this team was among the best in the Netherlands, culminating in the 1953–54 season, in which they became national champions. After the 1953–54 season, professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, and Van Melis took the opportunity to get paid by moving to

Rapid JC Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

. In the 1955–56 season, he was an important part of the Rapid JC squad which became Dutch champions. In 1958, he returned to EVV Eindhoven, who by then had descended to the Eerste Divisie. After two seasons, he retired at the age of 36. A stand at the Jan Louwers Stadion, home stadium of

FC Eindhoven FC Eindhoven is a Dutch football club based in Eindhoven, North Brabant. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie (second tier of Dutch football), and are one of two professional clubs which are based in the city of Eindhoven, the other one bei ...

(as EVV Eindhoven is now known), is named after him.

International career

Van Melis earned 13 caps for the Netherlands between 1950 and 1957. He scored in each of his first eight international appearances, netting twelve goals. In total, he scored 15 times. In 1952, he was selected for the Dutch squad at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, but did not make an appearance.

Style of play

Van Melis was known as a very productive goalscorer who was adept at positioning. Despite being positioned on the pitch as a traditional

, he also possessed qualities associated with more modern forwards, due to his pace, technique, and insight.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first, score column indicates score after each van Melis goal.''

Honours

EVV Eindhoven *

Netherlands Football League Championship The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

: 1953–54 ;Rapid JC *

: 1955–56

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Melis, Noud van 1924 births 2001 deaths Footballers from Eindhoven Men's association football forwards Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Olympic footballers for the Netherlands Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Roda JC Kerkrade players FC Eindhoven players