Melvyn Charles Sutton (born 13 February 1946) is an English former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
.
Career
Born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, Sutton was an amateur at
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional Association football, football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English foot ...
when
Jimmy Scoular
James Scoular (11 January 1925 – 19 March 1998) was a Scottish football player and manager. Known as a tough, combative player with precise passing skills, Scoular made over 600 appearances in the Football League with Portsmouth, Newcastle Un ...
brought him to
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
in December 1967. He made hus debut in August of the 1968–69 season during a 1–0 defeat against
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, London, Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Thei ...
He missed very few matches over the following years at
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...
. He left Cardiff in 1972 to join
Wrexham A.F.C.
Wrexham Association Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The club compe ...
for £15,000, a record fee for the club at the time.
He made his debut for Wrexham against
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League (English football), National League, the fifth English football league system, level of En ...
, where he scored the only goal of the game. He became one of the club's all-time greats during a spell of nine years. He took over the role of assistant manager to
Arfon Griffiths
Arfon Trevor Griffiths MBE (born 23 August 1941) is a Welsh former football player and manager. During his playing career which lasted from 1959 to 1979, Griffiths played at both professional and international levels, before becoming a football ...
while still playing for the side and, following Grifiiths departure, he took over as manager. The side was relegated and he was sacked on 14 May 1982. He joined up with Griffiths again shortly thereafter, this time at
Crewe Alexandra F.C.
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
where he retired after a short time with the club.
References
1946 births
Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands
English men's footballers
Cardiff City F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
Wrexham A.F.C. managers
Living people
Men's association football midfielders
English Football League players
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