Noud van Melis (10 February 1924 – 8 August 2001) was a Dutch

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 forward.

Club career

Van Melis was born in Eindhoven and started playing football at local third-level club RKVV Tongelre. In 1946, he moved to

EVV 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 b ...

. 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. 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 The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as t ...

. After two seasons, he retired at the age of 36. A stand at the

Jan Louwers Stadion Jan Louwers Stadion () is a multi-use stadium in the Eindhoven borough of Stratum, Netherlands. Previously the stadium had a cinder track, with curved, earthen and walled standing grandstands on the north and south sides, so that attendances co ...

, home stadium of FC Eindhoven (as EVV Eindhoven is now known), is named after him.

International career

Van Melis earned 13 caps for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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, 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 centre forward, 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: 1953–54 ;Rapid JC * Netherlands Football League Championship: 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