Melvin Bernard Blyth (born 28 July 1944) is an English former professional

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 ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. During his playing career, he joined Scunthorpe United in 1967. One year later, he signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

before joining

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

with whom he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

. He also spent time with

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

Houston Hurricane The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red. History The team was the last of six expansion t ...

Bulova SA Bulova was a Hong Kong football club which were dissolved after the 1984–85 season. In 1977, Bulova entered Hong Kong Third Division League and proposed a three-year plan to get promotion to First Division. In 1979–80 season, Bulova appeare ...

and

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andove ...

Club career

Norwich City and Scunthorpe United

Blyth started his football career with non-league Great Yarmouth. He then joined

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, 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. 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. Scunthorpe were relegated at the end of the 1967–68 season.

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. He scored another goal the following Saturday, against Everton. As Palace struggled in Division 1, regularly finishing just above the relegation zone, Blyth became a permanent fixture in the defence alongside John McCormick. He was deposed as centre back for a while by

Roger Hynd John Roger Shankly Hynd (2 February 194218 February 2017) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre half. He started his playing career at Rangers, for whom he played in the 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, before mov ...

, 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 Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

in 1973. On 2 September 1972, Blyth made a tackle on Newcastle United's

Tony Green Anthony John "Tony" Green (born 29 January 1939) is an English sports commentator and television presenter. Darts career A former amateur player, who played county darts for Lancashire, he was the BBC's lead commentator when they showed t ...

which ultimately ended his career, although Green later said that he felt any contact was accidental. Palace eventually lost their fight to avoid relegation at the end of the 1972–73 season, under manager Malcolm Allison. The following season, Palace were relegated into Division 3.

Southampton

Southampton paid £60,000 for Mel Blyth in September 1974 – he was one of

Lawrie McMenemy Lawrence McMenemy MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war Englis ...

'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. His effective partnership with Jim Steele was the mainstay of Saints' victorious FA Cup run of

, including beating his former club, Crystal Palace, in the semi-final. On 14 August 1976, Blyth was forced off with a hamstring injury during a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool in the FA Charity Shield. 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. The arrival of

Chris Nicholl Christopher John Nicholl (born 12 October 1946) is an English-born former Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland international Association football, footballer who later worked as a coach and manager. Playing career Nicholl ...

, in 1977, signalled the end of 33-year-old Blyth's time on the south coast. In total, he made 135 appearances for Southampton, scoring seven goals.

Crystal Palace (loan)

Blyth re-appeared in Palace's colours in November 1977 when

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

signed him on loan, after Ian Evans, who had replaced him in 1974, had broken his leg.

Cape Town City and Margate

In the 1978 close-season he played for

, then managed by former Palace coach,

Frank Lord Frank Lord (13 March 1936 – June 2005) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He made 354 appearances in the English Football League for Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra, Plymouth Argyle, Stockport County, Blackburn Rovers and ...

. At Cape Town, he played alongside

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...

and Kevin Keegan. In the summer of 1978, he returned to England and joined non-league

Millwall

In November 1978, he returned to the Football League and signed for

, where he made a further 75 appearances. During his spell at the club, they were relegated from the Second Division.

Later career

He later played for

, before a spell in 1981 in Hong Kong with

Bulova Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York ...

alongside

Charlie George Frederick Charles George (born 10 October 1950) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. George began his career as a youngster with Arsenal and was part of their 1970–71 League and FA Cup Double-winning team ...

and Barry Daines. After falling out with the manager,

Ron Wylie Ronald Maurice Wylie (6 August 1933 – 14 April 2020) was a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He played as a right half or inside forward for Notts County, Aston Villa and Birmingham City, making more than 550 appearances in the Foot ...

, Mel returned to England, ending his career at non-league

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. In 2003, he was a director of a building company and also a part-time coach in

's schoolboy academy. He later acquired a match-day role with the PFA.

Honours

As a player

Southampton *FA Cup winner 1975–76

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Mel 1944 births Living people Footballers from Norwich Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Great Yarmouth Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Cape Town City F.C. (NFL) players Margate F.C. players Millwall F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Houston Hurricane players Bulova SA players Andover F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa National Football League (South Africa) players