Mario Dino Patrick Melchiot (born 4 November 1976) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played both as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and also occasionally played in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

Early life

Melchiot was born and raised in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, living with his two brothers and two sisters. He enjoyed a close relationship with his eldest brother, Winston, who acted as Mario's mentor after their parents split up. When Winston died of a heart attack at the age of 25, Melchiot considered giving up football.

Club career

Ajax

Melchiot started his career in the youth system at

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

, and made his debut in the 1996–97 season. He scored his first goal for the club in the semi-final of the Champions League in a 4–1 defeat against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

. Melchiot spent three seasons at the club, winning the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. O ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

. In the summer of 1999, he signed a three-year contract with Chelsea under the

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of associatio ...

Chelsea

For most of his first season at the club, Melchiot did not feature in the first team due to injuries. However, on 22 April 2000, following an injury to Albert Ferrer, he finally made his debut in a 1–1 draw against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. A month later he played in the 2000 FA Cup Final against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

where he played a major role in helping Chelsea win the match. At the start of the 2000–01 season, Melchiot scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 2–0 win against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the

2000 FA Charity Shield The 2000 FA Charity Shield (also known as The One 2 One FA Charity Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match organised by the Football Association, and contested by the winners of the previous seaso ...

. His second goal was also against Manchester United, as he helped his team to a memorable 3–0 win at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

in the 2001–02 season. Under the management of Claudio Ranieri, He quickly established himself as the club's first-choice right-back, and was soon rewarded with a contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2004.

Birmingham City

Melchiot signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on a three-year contract in July 2004, and made his debut in a 1–1 draw against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

. In his second season, Birmingham found themselves in a relegation battle. He soon became a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designat ...

for the club's poor performances, and was booed by his own supporters in a match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. Birmingham were finally relegated in April 2006 after a 0–0 draw with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

. He played his last game for Birmingham in their 1–0 defeat to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

on 7 May 2006. He scored two league goals during his spell at Birmingham, against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

Rennes

In August 2006, Melchiot joined French outfit

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...

on a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for the club in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, w ...

Round of 16 tie against

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligu ...

club Libourne-Saint-Seurin. He endeared himself to the Rennes faithful when he scored his first league goal for the club in a 2–0 win over fierce rivals

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

. Melchiot's contract with Rennes lasted until the summer of 2007.

Wigan Athletic

Melchiot joined

on a free transfer on 15 June 2007. On 24 July 2007, he was given the Wigan captaincy, following the departure of his compatriot

Arjan de Zeeuw Adrianus Johannes "Arjan" de Zeeuw (born 16 April 1970) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), centre-back. Club career Born in Castricum, North Holland, De Zeeuw started ...

. He became a fan-favourite at the

JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

, and made ''Latics'' history when he became the first Wigan player to play in a major international tournament by coming on for the Netherlands against Romania at the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

tournament. He made over 100 appearances for Wigan during his three years at the club.

Umm Salal

In June 2010, Melchiot turned down a new contract from Wigan and agreed to join

Umm-Salal Sports Club Umm Salal Sport Club ( ar, نادي أم صلال الرياضي) is a Qatari professional football club based in Umm Salal, that competes in the Qatar Stars League, the highest tier of Qatari football. It used to be known as Al-Tadamun Sport ...

on a free transfer after his existing contract expired at the end of the month. He was signed by Umm Salal manager,

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

, as he was reportedly interested in an experienced defender after signing Spanish midfielder Gabri. He made his debut in a 2–2 draw against

Al-Arabi Al-Arabi may refer to: Companies *Al-Arabi Group, a holding company in the Kuwait Stock Exchange#Services *Al Arabi Investment Group (AB Invest), a subsidiary of Arab Bank *Al Arabi Investment Group Company, a subsidiary of Arab Bank Media *'' A ...

. At the end of the 2010–11 Qatar Stars League Season, he left Umm-Salal as they opted not to give him a new one-year contract.

International career

Melchiot was capped 22 times for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

since making his international debut on 11 October 2000 in a 2–0

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

defeat against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. His last international appearance was in the final group match of

against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

on 17 June 2008.

Outside football

In 1998, Melchiot and Ajax teammates

Benni McCarthy Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born 12 November 1977) is a South African coach and former footballer who is a first-team coach at Manchester United. He previously worked as head coach of South African Premier Division team AmaZulu. A former ...

and

Dean Gorre Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, calling themselves BMD, released a rap/

R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

track called "Midas Touch". He has also campaigned for the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

and has appeared on the quiz show ''

A Question of Sport ''Question of Sport'' (previously ''A Question of Sport'') is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast on ...

''.

Career statistics

Honours

Ajax *

: 1997–98 *

: 1997–98, 1999–99 Ajax talent of the year 1997 Chelsea *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

: 1999–2000; runner-up: 2001–02 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

Mario Melchiot's profile, stats & pics
*
Wereld van oranje.nl Profile

Netherlands youth
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Melchiot, Mario 1976 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Netherlands international footballers Association football defenders AFC Ajax players Chelsea F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Umm Salal SC players Eredivisie players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Qatar Stars League players UEFA Euro 2008 players Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Qatar Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent FA Cup Final players