Mel Rees
| Mel Rees | ||
| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Melvyn John Rees | |
| birthday | January 25, 1967 | |
| place of birth | Cardiff , Wales | |
| date of death | May 30, 1993 | |
| Place of death | Derby , England | |
| position | goal | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| 1983-1984 | Cardiff City | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1984-1987 | Cardiff City | 31 (0) |
| 1987-1990 | Watford FC | 3 (0) |
| 1989 | → Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 6 (0) |
| 1989 | → Southampton FC (loan) | 0 (0) |
| 1990 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 9 (0) |
| 1990-1992 | West Bromwich Albion | 18 (0) |
| 1992 | → Norwich City (loan) | 0 (0) |
| 1992-1993 | Sheffield United | 8 (0) |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| Wales youth | ||
| 1 Only league games are given. | ||
Melvyn John "Mel" Rees (born January 25, 1967 in Cardiff , † May 30, 1993 in Derby ) was a Welsh football player . The goalkeeper had been a professional since 1984 and became the youngest player to appear in all four English professional classes. In 1993 he died of cancer at the age of 26.
Career
Rees was a substitute goalkeeper for the Fitzalan School in 1982 , which became the first Welsh team to win the English Schools FA Cup . In 1983, the talented goalkeeper joined Cardiff City as one of the first up-and-coming players under the newly introduced Youth Training Scheme and received his first professional contract a year later. Rees' competitive debut in the Football League Second Division followed only a short time later on September 9, Rees made in the 2-4 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion a "traumatic experience" and had to wait a year for his next appearances.
Early in the 1985/86 season Rees came to nine more missions, including eight defeats for a total of 22 goals conceded, before a wrist injury put him out of action for a year. The team rose to the end of the season in the fourth division , in which the newly signed Graham Moseley was the goalkeeper. Rees returned on the last 14 matchdays of the 1986/87 season in the goal of the Welsh and impressed the people in charge of the first division club Watford FC , who signed Rees at the end of the season for a transfer of £ 60,000 as a substitute keeper behind Tony Coton .
Rees came to Watford in three years to as many league appearances, all at the turn of the year 1987/1988. With his debut in the First Division, Rees became the youngest player to appear in all four English professional games. Since working times at Watford were rare, he was subsequently awarded several times and played on loan at Crewe Alexandra (1989, including a goal conceded by Fulham goalkeeper Jim Stannard ), Southampton (1989) and Leyton Orient (1990). In September 1990, the second division West Bromwich Albion , who was looking for a substitute goalkeeper behind Stuart Taylor , interested in Rees. The goalkeeper accepted the offer and moved to the Second Division for a transfer fee of £ 55,000. When Taylor injured himself in early January 1991, Rees moved into the starting line-up. His competitive debut for West Brom turned into a debacle when he and his team lost 4-2 at home in the FA Cup against the amateurs of Woking FC . The cup game was followed by 18 more missions, including only four victorious games and the Albions had to go to the third division at the end of the season. After relegation, he was demoted to "number 3" by coach Bobby Gould and had no chance of deployments. In February 1992 he went on loan to Norwich City and remained there as a substitute for Bryan Gunn behind Mark Walton without use.
In late March 1992 followed a surprising move back to the top division to Sheffield United , who were desperately looking for a goalkeeper for the rest of the season after the failures of Simon Tracey and Phil Kite and paid a transfer fee of £ 25,000 for Rees. He made his debut for the "Blades" on March 28 against Liverpool in a 2-0 win without first having met his new team-mates. The team remained unbeaten in the following six more games, not least because of outstanding performances by Rees, which the Welsh national coach Terry Yorath did not go unnoticed. Rees received his first appointment to the Welsh national team for an upcoming World Cup qualifier but was canceled due to a leg injury sustained in the penultimate league game against Leeds United .
In the summer of 1992, Rees was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent an operation that initially appeared successful. After the disease reappeared in March 1993, he had to have another operation. His last public appearance had Rees on April 3, 1993 before the semi-finals of the FA Cup between Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United at London's Wembley Stadium . At the end of May 1993, at the age of 26, he succumbed to cancer.
literature
- John Crooks: The Bluebirds - A Who's Who of Cardiff City Football League Players . Seargeant Brothers Printers Ltd, Pontypool 1987, ISBN 0-9511984-1-6 , p. 113 .
- Barry J. Hugman, Alan Platt: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publications, North Curry 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 283 f .
Individual evidence
- ↑ barryhugmansfootballers.com: Profile Mel Rees , accessed June 25, 2020
- ↑ a b fitzalan.cardiff.sch.uk: Fitzalan did city proud in beating best of England ( Memento from October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Crooks, p. 113
- ↑ ex-canaries.co.uk: Profile - Mel Rees
- ↑ independent.co.uk: Football: Leeds ready to sign Kerslake (March 10, 1993)
- ↑ thestar.co.uk: Memories of Mel Rees: 15th anniversary of Blades keeper's death (May 30, 2008)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rees, Mel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rees, Melvyn John (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | welsh football player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1967 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cardiff |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 30, 1993 |
| Place of death | Derby (Derbyshire) |