Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
Do you remember him for the Cup Final or relegation?
Hicks is no Anfield threat
Feb 16 2007
by James Pearce, Liverpool Echo
THE white disco shoes don’t get much of an airing these days, but Jimmy Melia is still living life in the fast lane.
The 69-year-old former Liverpool star is academy director at Texas Longhorns Soccer Club in Dallas.
At an age when most men are getting out the pipe and slippers, he’s out on the training ground every day spotting, coaching and nurturing the stars of the future.
Living in the same city as new Liverpool joint owner Tom Hicks, ‘soccer’ inevitably plays second fiddle to the US tycoon’s major interests, Texas Rangers baseball club and Dallas Stars ice hockey team.
But Melia, who grew up in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool, has seen interest in the sport blossom during his 17 years in America.
“I work with kids aged 10 to 18 and as well as being in charge of the Longhorns’ academy, I coach the under-11s and also work for Solar Soccer Club,” he said. “It’s a seven days a week job and I love it. I’m not slowing down, in fact I feel like I’ve got a second wind.
“Things have changed so much. When I first came over the kids would train once a week, now it’s three or four times.
“Things are so much more professional and the standard has improved massively. That’s down to having a great set-up of full-time coaches.
“Clubs have select soccer sides and you have to be a really good player to play at that level, particularly in Dallas, where they’ve got the best youth programme in the country.
“In England kids set their sights on signing for a top club as a teenager but the aim here is to play select football up to under-18s and then earn a college scholarship. A lot of youngsters have progressed and gone on to play in Europe.”
While Dallas is now home for Melia, Liverpool remains close to his heart. The inside forward arrived at Anfield as a 15-year-old in 1953 and over the next 11 years scored 78 goals in 287 appearances.
Under Bill Shankly he won a Second Division championship medal in 1962 and two years later helped Liverpool clinch the league title for the first time since 1947. His talents were recognised as he won two England caps under Alf Ramsey.
“We got it all started under Shankly and getting the club back into the First Division was the highlight,” he said.
“Shanks was terrific. His enthusiasm and love for the game. His passion and knowledge. The signings of Ron Yeats and Ian St John were master strokes and he turned the club around.
“I was very lucky to play under some great people like Shanks and Bob Paisley, Stan Cullis at Wolves, Ted Bates at Southampton – I learned so much.
“Liverpool are still my team and the great thing is I get to see all the games on cable TV. I’ll be watching the Barcelona game next week and I think we’ve got a decent chance. There have been a couple of disappointing results recently, but Liverpool always raise their game against the better sides.”
Melia’s passion for the Reds is clear and he has taken a keen interest in the takeover by Texan Tom Hicks and business partner George Gillett.
“It’s been big in the news over here and all the talk is that Americans are taking over the Premiership,” he said.
“Tom Hicks is well known around here for his work with the baseball and ice hockey clubs. I think it’s a great move because he’s regarded as a very professional and successful businessmen. A friend of mine who’s a crazy Liverpool fan delivers wine to Tom Hicks and we’re hoping to sort out a meeting with him.
"Of course he wants to make a profit, but he has a proven track record of making things work. Who knows what his plans are for 10 or 15 years time? He might sell it on, but as long as he puts money in and builds up the club I don’t mind that.
“The big thing is the commitment to the new stadium which is something Liverpool really needs. It also looks like there will be significant money for new players and that’s terrific.
“It’s a great club with a great tradition. I think three new signings would put them right up there with Man United and Chelsea.”
Melia was sold by Shankly to Wolves for £50,000 in March 1964 and his playing career ended with spells at Southampton, Aldershot and Crewe, where he started out in management.
He also managed Southport before[ he shot to national fame when in charge at Brighton. In 1983 he led the Seagulls to Wembley in the FA Cup, with his eye-catching white shoes getting as much attention as his side’s performances. Melia’s men inflicted a shock fifth round defeat on Bob Paisley’s Reds at Anfield but they lost the final to Manchester United after a replay.
“Going back to my old club and beating Liverpool was very special because I was brought up just two miles from the ground and played for the club for 12 years,” he said.
“My mum, Mary, still lives just off Scotty Road in the house I grew up in.
“I’ve still got those white shoes everyone talked about. They’re put away but maybe I should put them up for sale! I guess it was a fashion statement at the time.”
Melia managed Portuguese club Belenenses and Stockport County and also coached in Dubai and Kuwait before being tempted to the States.
“When the First Gulf War broke out I had to move on and was invited over to run a soccer camp in San Francisco,” he said. “Then they said they wanted me to start up a new club in Dallas and I’m still in Texas 17 years later.
“I’ll stay here for the rest of my life. The climate is great and there are exciting times ahead.
“There are now more kids over here playing soccer than any other sport.
“US international Clinton Dempsey played his football in Dallas and is now doing very well at Fulham, while Reading have a number of Americans on their books. The goalkeepers, especially, are exceptional because US kids are very good with their hands.
"There’s real excitement about David Beckham coming over and the interest is just going to grow and grow.”
Melia would love to see one of his youngsters pull on a red shirt one day.
“I actually recommended a kid to Liverpool and he was due to go over last summer but then went and broke his ankle,” he said. “He’s a refugee from Africa called Alfred and is the best kid I’ve seen in the country.
“He’s only 13 but is in the national under-16 team. He’s an unbelievable talent – even better than I was! Hopefully when he gets back to the level he was at we can arrange another trial.”
Later this year Melia turns 70, but retirement is not on the agenda.
“When will I take it easy? When I get old that’s when,” he added.
Hicks is no Anfield threat
Feb 16 2007
by James Pearce, Liverpool Echo
THE white disco shoes don’t get much of an airing these days, but Jimmy Melia is still living life in the fast lane.
The 69-year-old former Liverpool star is academy director at Texas Longhorns Soccer Club in Dallas.
At an age when most men are getting out the pipe and slippers, he’s out on the training ground every day spotting, coaching and nurturing the stars of the future.
Living in the same city as new Liverpool joint owner Tom Hicks, ‘soccer’ inevitably plays second fiddle to the US tycoon’s major interests, Texas Rangers baseball club and Dallas Stars ice hockey team.
But Melia, who grew up in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool, has seen interest in the sport blossom during his 17 years in America.
“I work with kids aged 10 to 18 and as well as being in charge of the Longhorns’ academy, I coach the under-11s and also work for Solar Soccer Club,” he said. “It’s a seven days a week job and I love it. I’m not slowing down, in fact I feel like I’ve got a second wind.
“Things have changed so much. When I first came over the kids would train once a week, now it’s three or four times.
“Things are so much more professional and the standard has improved massively. That’s down to having a great set-up of full-time coaches.
“Clubs have select soccer sides and you have to be a really good player to play at that level, particularly in Dallas, where they’ve got the best youth programme in the country.
“In England kids set their sights on signing for a top club as a teenager but the aim here is to play select football up to under-18s and then earn a college scholarship. A lot of youngsters have progressed and gone on to play in Europe.”
While Dallas is now home for Melia, Liverpool remains close to his heart. The inside forward arrived at Anfield as a 15-year-old in 1953 and over the next 11 years scored 78 goals in 287 appearances.
Under Bill Shankly he won a Second Division championship medal in 1962 and two years later helped Liverpool clinch the league title for the first time since 1947. His talents were recognised as he won two England caps under Alf Ramsey.
“We got it all started under Shankly and getting the club back into the First Division was the highlight,” he said.
“Shanks was terrific. His enthusiasm and love for the game. His passion and knowledge. The signings of Ron Yeats and Ian St John were master strokes and he turned the club around.
“I was very lucky to play under some great people like Shanks and Bob Paisley, Stan Cullis at Wolves, Ted Bates at Southampton – I learned so much.
“Liverpool are still my team and the great thing is I get to see all the games on cable TV. I’ll be watching the Barcelona game next week and I think we’ve got a decent chance. There have been a couple of disappointing results recently, but Liverpool always raise their game against the better sides.”
Melia’s passion for the Reds is clear and he has taken a keen interest in the takeover by Texan Tom Hicks and business partner George Gillett.
“It’s been big in the news over here and all the talk is that Americans are taking over the Premiership,” he said.
“Tom Hicks is well known around here for his work with the baseball and ice hockey clubs. I think it’s a great move because he’s regarded as a very professional and successful businessmen. A friend of mine who’s a crazy Liverpool fan delivers wine to Tom Hicks and we’re hoping to sort out a meeting with him.
"Of course he wants to make a profit, but he has a proven track record of making things work. Who knows what his plans are for 10 or 15 years time? He might sell it on, but as long as he puts money in and builds up the club I don’t mind that.
“The big thing is the commitment to the new stadium which is something Liverpool really needs. It also looks like there will be significant money for new players and that’s terrific.
“It’s a great club with a great tradition. I think three new signings would put them right up there with Man United and Chelsea.”
Melia was sold by Shankly to Wolves for £50,000 in March 1964 and his playing career ended with spells at Southampton, Aldershot and Crewe, where he started out in management.
He also managed Southport before[ he shot to national fame when in charge at Brighton. In 1983 he led the Seagulls to Wembley in the FA Cup, with his eye-catching white shoes getting as much attention as his side’s performances. Melia’s men inflicted a shock fifth round defeat on Bob Paisley’s Reds at Anfield but they lost the final to Manchester United after a replay.
“Going back to my old club and beating Liverpool was very special because I was brought up just two miles from the ground and played for the club for 12 years,” he said.
“My mum, Mary, still lives just off Scotty Road in the house I grew up in.
“I’ve still got those white shoes everyone talked about. They’re put away but maybe I should put them up for sale! I guess it was a fashion statement at the time.”
Melia managed Portuguese club Belenenses and Stockport County and also coached in Dubai and Kuwait before being tempted to the States.
“When the First Gulf War broke out I had to move on and was invited over to run a soccer camp in San Francisco,” he said. “Then they said they wanted me to start up a new club in Dallas and I’m still in Texas 17 years later.
“I’ll stay here for the rest of my life. The climate is great and there are exciting times ahead.
“There are now more kids over here playing soccer than any other sport.
“US international Clinton Dempsey played his football in Dallas and is now doing very well at Fulham, while Reading have a number of Americans on their books. The goalkeepers, especially, are exceptional because US kids are very good with their hands.
"There’s real excitement about David Beckham coming over and the interest is just going to grow and grow.”
Melia would love to see one of his youngsters pull on a red shirt one day.
“I actually recommended a kid to Liverpool and he was due to go over last summer but then went and broke his ankle,” he said. “He’s a refugee from Africa called Alfred and is the best kid I’ve seen in the country.
“He’s only 13 but is in the national under-16 team. He’s an unbelievable talent – even better than I was! Hopefully when he gets back to the level he was at we can arrange another trial.”
Later this year Melia turns 70, but retirement is not on the agenda.
“When will I take it easy? When I get old that’s when,” he added.
