Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor may only managed 22 appearances during his injury-stricken Liverpool career, but he produced some truly memorable moments along the way (who can forget that winning goal against Arsenal?), and he played an integral part in the club's march to the Champions League final in 2005.
Steven Gerrard scored the vital third goal against Olympiakos that allowed Liverpool to progress to the CL group stages, but Mellor played his part by scoring, and then setting-up the Captain with a lovely cushioned-header:
“To have scored and then to have set up Gerrard for his screamer, and in the year that Liverpool won the European Cup again, that takes some beating.”
Liverpool fans showed their affection for Mellor's contribution by voting him into 90th place in the club website’s ‘100 People Who Shook The Kop’.
“To feel that Liverpool fans were touched by a moment of my career is incredible,” he says. To me, that is them thanking me for that moment, and it gives me a real lift to think that they enjoyed it as much as I did.”
However, amid the euphoria of the momentous win in Istanbul, Mellor remembers one particular moment that took the shine off a famous victory:
“I was on the pitch, and celebrating in the changing rooms afterwards, which was brilliant, but the lads who got changed for the final itself flew back on a separate plane the next day, so we missed the victory parade.
“That was a big upset to me and to a lot of the other lads as well. I watched it on telly and I admit I had a tear in my eye. I felt I should have been there celebrating with them, but couldn’t. It was really upsetting.”
I totally agree with Mellor; the simple fact is, without the vital contribution against Olympiakos of Mellor and Florent Sinama Pongolle, Liverpool would've gone of of the Champions League that night.
Still, Mellor can take heart in the fact that he's remembered with affection by Liverpool fans, especially for these goals:
Last-minute winner v Arsenal:
Goal vs. Olympiakos:
Assist for Gerrard's wonder-goal:
Gerrard's goal brings a tear to the eye even now...
Jaimie Kanwar
Steven Gerrard scored the vital third goal against Olympiakos that allowed Liverpool to progress to the CL group stages, but Mellor played his part by scoring, and then setting-up the Captain with a lovely cushioned-header:
“To have scored and then to have set up Gerrard for his screamer, and in the year that Liverpool won the European Cup again, that takes some beating.”
Liverpool fans showed their affection for Mellor's contribution by voting him into 90th place in the club website’s ‘100 People Who Shook The Kop’.
“To feel that Liverpool fans were touched by a moment of my career is incredible,” he says. To me, that is them thanking me for that moment, and it gives me a real lift to think that they enjoyed it as much as I did.”
However, amid the euphoria of the momentous win in Istanbul, Mellor remembers one particular moment that took the shine off a famous victory:
“I was on the pitch, and celebrating in the changing rooms afterwards, which was brilliant, but the lads who got changed for the final itself flew back on a separate plane the next day, so we missed the victory parade.
“That was a big upset to me and to a lot of the other lads as well. I watched it on telly and I admit I had a tear in my eye. I felt I should have been there celebrating with them, but couldn’t. It was really upsetting.”
I totally agree with Mellor; the simple fact is, without the vital contribution against Olympiakos of Mellor and Florent Sinama Pongolle, Liverpool would've gone of of the Champions League that night.
Still, Mellor can take heart in the fact that he's remembered with affection by Liverpool fans, especially for these goals:
Last-minute winner v Arsenal:
Goal vs. Olympiakos:
Assist for Gerrard's wonder-goal:
Gerrard's goal brings a tear to the eye even now...
Jaimie Kanwar
Wonder how among all the attention towards the players (even peripheral ones) we see on the official website, nobody in Istanbul realized Mellor was the one who contributed to winning the cup no less than most and flew him back on a separate flight.
ReplyDeleteThat goal is just EPIC!
ReplyDeletemellor was a big part of the ucl run...shame on rafa for not having him at the celebration
ReplyDelete