Reds legend Jimmy Melia spent 12 years at Anfield during the 1950s and 60s, and as he turned 80 earlier this month, he reflected on his time at Liverpool and his current coaching role with LFC International Academy America.

Jimmy Melia’s life has had a common theme running almost throughout; that theme is LFC. His history is entwined with that of the club, and even today, he is continuing to coach a new generation of players under the LFC name.

Melia signed his first professional contract with the Reds on his 17th birthday, 1st November 1954. He had already been with Liverpool for two years at this point, joining straight from school aged 15 and also working on the Anfield ground staff.

He didn’t have to wait too long before being handed his first team debut for the then-Second Division Liverpool. In an era when football was vastly different from the game we know today, Jimmy recalls the lead-up to his big day.

“In those days, the team would be picked by the Directors on the Tuesday or Wednesday night and would be announced in the Liverpool Echo, so most of the players would buy the Echo to see what team they were going to be playing for.” Jimmy said.

“In the Echo, I see that ‘young Melia is going to make his debut in the first team against Nottingham Forest’. I had just captained the youth team against Bolton, so to get the opportunity to play for the first team was just unbelievable.

“Lucky enough, on the Saturday, we beat Nottingham Forest 5-2 and I scored a goal in front of the Kop from a cross by Billy Liddell.”

While football was perhaps a lot different than it is now, there were still many challenges facing young players that were trying to break in to the first team at that time.

Jimmy recalls: “In those days, it was difficult to break in to the first team because you had players from England, Scotland and Wales all wanting to play in the first team. At that stage, we had about 40 professionals because we had the first team, reserve team and A-team.”

All of the teams would train together, helping to create a real unity among the squad with the likes of Don Welsh, Phil Taylor and Bob Paisely involved with coaching. It was the arrival of Bill Shankly that sticks in Melia’s mind as a huge turning point on how training was taken.

“He was unbelievable, for me particularly.” Jimmy says.

“We had three or four different coaches, one being Reuben Bennett who had arrived a year before Shankly. Stevie Williams, Chairman of LFC at the time, said of Reuben that we had got the best coach from Scotland. Reuben was a fitness fanatic and so we never saw much of the ball.

“When Shankly arrived, for the first practise he had a bag of balls on his back as he came out for training. My eyes just lit up. I was a ball player who just wanted to see the ball all of the time. So it was completely different when Shankly arrived, everything was done with the ball. Everything was so enjoyable. We’d be doing five-a-side, shooting practise, passing practise and so on. It was a completely different club and a different game completely for everybody.”

In Shankly’s second season in charge, Liverpool were promoted back to the First Division, and Melia was a key member of the team. The club’s first year back in the top flight was solid enough, with a mid-table finish.

Jimmy recalls: “We were right in there competing with most teams, but one of the games that I really remember and that stands out to me more than anything else was a game against Tottenham around Easter time. In those days, you would play against the same team on Good Friday and Easter Monday, and that year it was Tottenham.

“So on the Good Friday, we played them at Anfield – they were league champions and cup holders at this point. We were 2-1 down at Anfield at half-time and I scored two goals in the second half as we won 5-2. The crowd started to sing “London Bridge is falling down.”

“We then went to White Hart Lane on the Monday and lost 7-2 I think. I remember Shankly saying afterwards; ‘if Jimmy Greaves hadn’t scored those goals, we’d have got a draw’.”

Jimmy laughs as he enjoys reminiscing about his time as a Liverpool player. His fondness for Bill Shankly and his methods of coaching come across loud and clear as he recalls another story from Melwood during the Shankly era.

“One story I remember him telling is that he was at Melwood and all of these reporters turned up because Liverpool were trying to sign Alan Ball.

“He looked outside and saw them playing with a ball and thought they looked very ordinary. So he said; “Bob, get Reuben, get Ronnie Moran, get Joe Fagan – we will have five-a-side against these reporters.

“That was Shankly, he loved the game.

“He was a great motivator. I remember that we were playing Manchester United at Anfield during a time when they had Dennis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best. Shanks used to be out in the corridor watching every team arrive. He would come in the dressing room and say things like ‘Bobby Charlton has just arrived and he looks awful, he’s smoking a cigarette!’

“He’d go back out, and then come back in and say; ‘I’ve just seen Dennis Law. He’s struggling already, I don’t think he’s going to play.’

“Again, he’d go back out before returning and saying ‘I’ve just seen Georgie Best – he’s been out all night and they’ve just got him to the game now.’

“He’d say anything he needed to motivate us. He changed everything around at the club. We had been in the Second Division for about six years, and once he arrived he transformed everything. Some great signings; Ian St John was a big plus, a great player. Ron Yeats was another. The signings made a big difference.

“He had a lot of young players there as well; myself, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan, Gerry Byrne, Ronnie Moran was a young guy at that stage. He had the basis of a good team, and it was just a case of putting it all together and getting them to play together.”

Jimmy’s passion for all things LFC is unmistakable, and when asked what his career highlights were, scoring that debut goal in front of the Kop is the first to be mentioned. Second, is his England debut, a proud moment for a scouser that gave his all every time he went on to the pitch.

Speaking of his call-up to the England squad, Jimmy said: “I was always on the verge of being picked but never got in there because Johnny Haynes was such a great player. He played in the same position as me and, as you know, there were only 11 players being picked in those days – no substitutes. You had to be the best player in the country, in your position, to be picked for England.

“When I got picked for England against Scotland at Wembley, that’s one of the biggest things in my career. Plus, I got picked to play for England again against Switzerland in Basel and scored a goal in an 8-0 win.”

Melia’s playing career was impressive. He amassed almost 600 appearances throughout his time as a player, scoring over 100 goals. He left Liverpool to join Wolves for a club record £50,000, and went on to play for Southampton before joining Aldershot as a player-coach. He’d later manage the Shots before subsequently taking Brighton to the FA Cup Final as manager.

After leaving the English game, Jimmy spent time in Dubai before moving out to the US to work at an academy as a coach. Today, Jimmy continues to coach, and is back within the LFC family once more passing on his invaluable experience to the youngsters at LFC International Academy America.

“I love being able to get out on the field and work with the kids and talk to the teams and the coaches about the game. I love that part. That’s the best part about the job. I love going back and seeing what the International Academy is doing at Liverpool. The lads are doing a great job. It’s brilliant to see what’s going on.

Jimmy is used to football, or soccer as it’s known in the States, battling for attention alongside traditional US sports such as basketball, baseball and American football. His close involvement in coaching has though given him a valuable insight in to the game on the other side of the Atlantic. He’s also learned that the ultimate goal for many young US players is different to what we’d be used to in England.

Jimmy said: “Most kids in Europe want to play professionally, whereas in America parents want them to go to college, so if we can get them a scholarship by playing soccer, then that is going to help them. Liverpool are helping get these kids in to college.

“Soccer in the US has improved hugely in the last 20 years as the players are getting the opportunity to go and play in Europe, and they then return to USA and coach the kids from America.

“Plus, until 10 years ago, nobody was able to see the games live on the television like we can today. The standard has improved no end, they’re watching more and learning more. I’d expect to see a big improvement in the quality of players produced in America over the next 10 years.”

If you want to find out more about LFC International Academy, and the work it does around the world, visit our International Courses page for more information.