Born on this day is former Sunderland defender Andy Melville. Melville, born in Swansea in 1968, was one of Sunderland's players involved in the infamous car crash in pre-season.
The Welshman, who started out as midfielder, but soon became known for his defensive attributes, would go on to make 213 appearances for Swansea. He was a key member of the team that gained promotion from the old Fourth Division (now League Two) in the 1987-88 season. The season after, Melville would captain Swansea to a famous Welsh Cup final victory against Kidderminster Harriers – a win which secure the Swans a place in the following season’s European Cup Winners’ Cup.
In Summer of 1990, Melville was sold to Oxford United for a fee of £275k and would go on to make 135 appearances for Oxford over three seasons, scoring 13 goals. The Swansea native would also go on to be a first team coach at Oxford after his playing days had finished.
After three years at Oxford the defender was signed by Terry Butcher’s Sunderland, in a deal worth £500k with full-back Anton Rogan departing the lads to join Oxford.
The 6ft centre-back joined Sunderland at a turbulent time in the club’s history, playing under three managers in his first two seasons on Wearside. However, one thing that was consistent about the lads was Melville’s place in the match-day squad- being a regular in our starting line-up during his first two seasons at the club.
After a pre-season friendly at Boro, new teammate Derek Ferguson offered to give a few players a lift home. In the car were Ferguson and Melville, as well as fellow new signings Phil Gray and Ian Rodgerson. Ferguson allegedly went the wrong way around a roundabout, writing off his own car and the other car involved.
Gray was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation (glass from the windshield had to be removed from his eye) and Rodgerson dislocated his shoulder. Meanwhile, Melville suffered whiplash from the crash. He probably came out of the accident with the least damage - while his teammates were out of action for a while, Melville was able to make his debut in August as we were battered 5-0 by Derby County.
Melville was a decent central defender and at 6ft, had the physical attributes to be a regular starter in our defence and was also good with the ball at his feet, with good distribution from the back to our midfield and forwards.
The centre back remained a permanent starter for Sunderland up until the 97/98 season when Peter Reid decided to shake-up the starting eleven due to a poor start to the season. First-team action became limited and the Welshman joined Bradford on loan to get some regular first-team football. Melville did well in West Yorkshire and had The Bantams of matched the clubs £1m valuation of the defender, it could’ve been the end of Melville’s chances of any sort of future at Sunderland.
However, Bradford failed to match the valuation and the Welsh international returned to Wearside determined to win back his place in the Sunderland backline. After some hard work in pre-season, Melville would get the chance to be part of the first team once again after Jody Craddock picked up an injury. He ended up forming a formidable partnership with Paul Butler. However, Sunderland’s most capped Welsh international would turn down the opportunity to extend his contract at the SoL for another year, instead opting to join Fulham where he would play alongside former Sunderland player Paul Bracewell, as well as future lads boss Chris Coleman and Kit Symons in a very Welsh Fulham defence.
From 1993-1999 Melville made a total of 204 league appearances for the lads scoring 14 times. On the international front, Melville made 65 appearances for the Welsh national side – scoring six goals. The standout moment for Melville in a Wales shirt would probably be a 2-1 victory over Italy in a Euro 2004 qualifier at the Millennium Stadium.
