Stephen Melton (born 3 October 1978) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

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 ...

. He played as a professional in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

from 1996 until 2006, featuring for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. At Non-League level he has represented Tamworth and

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

before re-joining Boston United and then moving on to

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since th ...

, Lincoln Moorlands Railway and Grantham Town.

Career

Born in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, Melton started his career back in 1996 as a trainee with

. He made his debut for Forest in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

on the last day of the 1998-99 season against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Melton only appeared for Forest on three occasions in the league before moving on to

in February 2000. At Stoke, made seven appearances in 1999–2000 and was an unused substitute in the

2000 Football League Trophy Final The 2000 Football League Trophy Final (known as the Auto Windscreens Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Second and Third Division of the Football League. The match wa ...

. He joined

in the summer of 2000. Melton managed to find his way into the starting eleven and played 46 league games in which he scored three goals. In November 2002, he joined

after spending time on loan with the club. Although he never scored in a competitive game for Hull City, he was the first player to score at their

Kingston Communications Stadium The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

in a friendly against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

to commemorate the stadium's opening on 18 December 2002. Melton joined

in March 2004 on a contract until summer 2005. During his time with The Pilgrims, Melton was sent out on loan to

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Tamworth. He was released by Boston United in summer 2006. Melton joined

in 2006. He re-signed for Boston United in September 2008, but was released at the end of the season. Melton went on trial with

Retford United Retford United Football Club (also known as the Badgers) are an English football club based at Cannon Park in Retford, Nottinghamshire. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1987 by Retfordian Brian Jackson to give the ...

in July 2009, but subsequently joined

alongside former

and

teammate Matt O'Halloran. In February 2011 he signed with Lincoln Moorlands Railway. He joined Grantham Town in the summer.

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

, and

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melton, Steve 1978 births Living people English footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Lincoln United F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Association football midfielders Premier League players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Lincoln Moorlands Railway F.C. players