Jim Melrose - The Times today

[JohnnieFoxWalker]

Liverpool can set a club record of 64 league games unbeaten at home should they avoid defeat by Leicester City. Jim Melrose, who scored the winner in a 2-1 victory in 1981, remembers how Leicester ended Liverpool’s previous home-record run of 63 matches.

 

We never had any problem getting motivated for the big teams. We had beaten Liverpool 2-0 at Filbert Street earlier in the season — Andy Peake scored one hell of a goal. Our issue was always the likes of Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion, with all due respect to them.

Before we went to Anfield, we had played Exeter City in an FA Cup fourth-round replay and lost 3-1. They were in the old Division Three, but beat us. So in a way, we went into the Liverpool game with nothing to fear. Jock Wallace, our manager, got us together in the dressing room before the game and it was a case of “bayonets fixed.” He was great at that sort of motivational stuff.

Liverpool had all the greats — Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott, Ray Kennedy and Ray Clemence. But it is funny when you look at their injury problems now because Alan Hansen was missing through injury [Kenny Dalglish was also absent].

We scored all three goals. Alan Young scored an own goal, Pat Byrne equalised and then I scuffed one in from 25 yards. The ball was played to me in the inside-left position. Souness was probably the closest player and he let me run free. I took aim and hit the back of the net.

We saw the game out and we sort of looked at each other, as if to say ‘Has this really happened?’ It was Liverpool’s first defeat in 85 matches at Anfield and 63 in the league.

 

What I always remember was the reaction of the Liverpool fans. They applauded us off the park. That is my abiding memory. It was absolutely amazing. I scored a goal after nine seconds later in my career for Charlton Athletic against West Ham United. But that day at Anfield stands out for me.

I always felt that Leicester were my club. They were my first English club coming down from Partick Thistle and I had a great relationship with the fans. I was only there for a couple of seasons — Gary Lineker was coming through — but I will always have a place in my heart for them.

 

 

● Jim Melrose was talking to Paul Joyce

[Bourbon Fox]

It's written in the stars I tell ya, we can't lose

[shailen]

So we ended their current longest unbeaten home run and we can be the team to stop them from beating that record on Sunday should we beat them. Written in the stars? 😂

[jammie82uk]

11 minutes ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

We never had any problem getting motivated for the big teams. We had beaten Liverpool 2-0 at Filbert Street earlier in the season — Andy Peake scored one hell of a goal. Our issue was always the likes of Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion, with all due respect to them.

Still the same 30 years down the line 

[Vacamion]

 

Partick Thistle and Leicester City.  My two teams.  

 

I found some drawings of the the players I did when I was 10 and there was one of Jim Melrose after scoring the goal he describes.

 

 

[jammie82uk]

5 minutes ago, Bourbon Fox said:

It's written in the stars I tell ya, we can't lose

They have injuries so it won’t count 

[ALC Fox]

23 minutes ago, jammie82uk said:

They have injuries so it won’t count 

A win's a win and if it means we'll continue to be underestimated then that works for me.

 

We still have to do it, though. There's quality throughout their squad.

[Izzy]

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

[Trav Le Bleu]

38 minutes ago, Vacamion said:

 

Partick Thistle and Leicester City.  My two teams.  

 

I found some drawings of the the players I did when I was 10 and there was one of Jim Melrose after scoring the goal he describes.

 

 

Post it. We could all do with a laugh.

[SexyGammonFox]

9 minutes ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

I suppose it's easier to be magnanimous when you have gone three and a half years and 85 games without losing.

[Izzy]

2 minutes ago, SexyGammonFox said:

I suppose it's easier to be magnanimous when you have gone three and a half years and 85 games without losing.

Maybe. Would we do the same I wonder?

[Spudulike]

16 minutes ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

 

5 minutes ago, SexyGammonFox said:

I suppose it's easier to be magnanimous when you have gone three and a half years and 85 games without losing.

 

3 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Maybe. Would we do the same I wonder?

I don't know as I wasn't there on either occasion to witness it. However, the media love to play up the knowledgeable scouser thing so take it with a pinch of salt. I do remember the papers emphasing the point when Liverpool fans applaud an opposition goal but that was mostly, if not always, when they were already well ahead with no danger of losing. 

 

My encounters with Liverpool fans in those decades were of a nasty, filthy mob that caused some of the worst trouble I've ever witnessed. 

[SexyGammonFox]

3 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Maybe. Would we do the same I wonder?

Depending on who we were playing, and with the level of success Liverpool had just had, I honestly think we would.

 

When you think about it, the Liverpool fans were really saying 'look at the state of you, we're amazing and you beat us.' In a sense,

they were kind of applauding themselves.

[Izzy]

2 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

 

My encounters with Liverpool fans in those decades were of a nasty, filthy mob that caused some of the worst trouble I've ever witnessed. 

Leicester fans were no angels in the 80’s either tbf

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

1 hour ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

Liverpool can set a club record of 64 league games unbeaten at home should they avoid defeat by Leicester City. Jim Melrose, who scored the winner in a 2-1 victory in 1981, remembers how Leicester ended Liverpool’s previous home-record run of 63 matches.

 

We never had any problem getting motivated for the big teams. We had beaten Liverpool 2-0 at Filbert Street earlier in the season — Andy Peake scored one hell of a goal. Our issue was always the likes of Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion, with all due respect to them.

Before we went to Anfield, we had played Exeter City in an FA Cup fourth-round replay and lost 3-1. They were in the old Division Three, but beat us. So in a way, we went into the Liverpool game with nothing to fear. Jock Wallace, our manager, got us together in the dressing room before the game and it was a case of “bayonets fixed.” He was great at that sort of motivational stuff.

Liverpool had all the greats — Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott, Ray Kennedy and Ray Clemence. But it is funny when you look at their injury problems now because Alan Hansen was missing through injury [Kenny Dalglish was also absent].

We scored all three goals. Alan Young scored an own goal, Pat Byrne equalised and then I scuffed one in from 25 yards. The ball was played to me in the inside-left position. Souness was probably the closest player and he let me run free. I took aim and hit the back of the net.

We saw the game out and we sort of looked at each other, as if to say ‘Has this really happened?’ It was Liverpool’s first defeat in 85 matches at Anfield and 63 in the league.

 

What I always remember was the reaction of the Liverpool fans. They applauded us off the park. That is my abiding memory. It was absolutely amazing. I scored a goal after nine seconds later in my career for Charlton Athletic against West Ham United. But that day at Anfield stands out for me.

I always felt that Leicester were my club. They were my first English club coming down from Partick Thistle and I had a great relationship with the fans. I was only there for a couple of seasons — Gary Lineker was coming through — but I will always have a place in my heart for them.

 

 

● Jim Melrose was talking to Paul Joyce

Was at the earlier Filbert Street 2-0 win. Jock Wallace era was enjoyable at that time. 

[Spudulike]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

Leicester fans were no angels in the 80’s either tbf

You're right, Leicester fans could, and usually did, give as good as they got. I've witnessed that as well. 

 

All clubs in that era had bad 'uns, it was just the culture. However, the lauding of Liverpool fans by the media (especially the BBC) was galling and just plain wrong. 

[Hammo]

32 minutes ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

True enough but it was a different world back then.

 

If we beat them tomorrow, I’d be very surprised if that goon Klopp has even one kind word to say about us. And where he leads, the Liverpool fans  - and the media - tend to slavishly follow...

[Sol thewall Bamba]

41 minutes ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

40 years ago

[Kingleicester]

1 hour ago, JohnnieFoxWalker said:

Liverpool can set a club record of 64 league games unbeaten at home should they avoid defeat by Leicester City. Jim Melrose, who scored the winner in a 2-1 victory in 1981, remembers how Leicester ended Liverpool’s previous home-record run of 63 matches.

 

We never had any problem getting motivated for the big teams. We had beaten Liverpool 2-0 at Filbert Street earlier in the season — Andy Peake scored one hell of a goal. Our issue was always the likes of Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion, with all due respect to them.

Before we went to Anfield, we had played Exeter City in an FA Cup fourth-round replay and lost 3-1. They were in the old Division Three, but beat us. So in a way, we went into the Liverpool game with nothing to fear. Jock Wallace, our manager, got us together in the dressing room before the game and it was a case of “bayonets fixed.” He was great at that sort of motivational stuff.

Liverpool had all the greats — Graeme Souness, Terry McDermott, Ray Kennedy and Ray Clemence. But it is funny when you look at their injury problems now because Alan Hansen was missing through injury [Kenny Dalglish was also absent].

We scored all three goals. Alan Young scored an own goal, Pat Byrne equalised and then I scuffed one in from 25 yards. The ball was played to me in the inside-left position. Souness was probably the closest player and he let me run free. I took aim and hit the back of the net.

We saw the game out and we sort of looked at each other, as if to say ‘Has this really happened?’ It was Liverpool’s first defeat in 85 matches at Anfield and 63 in the league.

 

What I always remember was the reaction of the Liverpool fans. They applauded us off the park. That is my abiding memory. It was absolutely amazing. I scored a goal after nine seconds later in my career for Charlton Athletic against West Ham United. But that day at Anfield stands out for me.

I always felt that Leicester were my club. They were my first English club coming down from Partick Thistle and I had a great relationship with the fans. I was only there for a couple of seasons — Gary Lineker was coming through — but I will always have a place in my heart for them.

 

 

● Jim Melrose was talking to Paul Joyce

Dam brother 

[SkidsFox]

51 minutes ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

I was lucky to be part of the away section that day, and it's true, the Liverpool fans (seemed to be more the older lot in the stands) applauded us at the end - quite a few applauding our supporters too.

[SkidsFox]

21 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

You're right, Leicester fans could, and usually did, give as good as they got. I've witnessed that as well. 

 

All clubs in that era had bad 'uns, it was just the culture. However, the lauding of Liverpool fans by the media (especially the BBC) was galling and just plain wrong. 

We all knew that the well-supported clubs had a bad element. Not sure that Liverpool were the worst in Liverpool though...Everton had a lot of crazies.

[boots60]

23 minutes ago, SkidsFox said:

I was lucky to be part of the away section that day, and it's true, the Liverpool fans (seemed to be more the older lot in the stands) applauded us at the end - quite a few applauding our supporters too.

The cnut that sliced a stanley through my levi jacket that day wasn't doing too much applauding.

Somewhat spoiled the euphoria of the moment.

 

[davieG]

The opposition were often applauded back when i started going in the early 60s especially a spectacular goal, but then fans weren't segregated although there was still plenty exchanges of no aggressive banter.

 

Certainly remember standing in the East (Popular) Stand mixed in with Liverpool supporters.

[FoyleFox]

2 hours ago, Izzy said:

People often have a dig at Liverpool fans but notice how they applauded us off the pitch that day.
They also did the same in 89 when Arsenal won the league with the last kick.

They maybe a lot of things but they appreciate good football and give credit where it’s due.

To be fair to them, a big group of Liverpool fans did applaud me & my shirt at Belfast airport after we won the league. They were all waiting on a flight for a European match and I was coming to see Wes lift the trophy. The whole of the departure area was a sea of red shirts and me   Most of them went out of there way to offer congratulations and have a chat.

 

The Spurs fan I sat next to on the flight back was less enthusiastic....

[Guest StevieLynex]

1 hour ago, SkidsFox said:

I was lucky to be part of the away section that day, and it's true, the Liverpool fans (seemed to be more the older lot in the stands) applauded us at the end - quite a few applauding our supporters too.

Liverpool had a reputation in that era for appreciating opposing players who had played well - tended to be the goalkeeper because they were so dominant!