Mel Machin

Melvyn Machin (born 16 April 1945) is an English former footballer and manager.

Mel Machin

Personal information
Full name	Melvyn Machin[1]
Date of birth	16 April 1945
Place of birth	Newcastle-under-Lyme, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Port Vale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1966	Port Vale	30	(6)
1966–1971	Gillingham	157	(11)
1971–1974	Bournemouth	110	(7)
1974–1978	Norwich City	96	(4)
1977	→ Seattle Sounders (loan)	19	(0)
Total		412	(28)
Teams managed
1987–1989	Manchester City
1989–1993	Barnsley
1994–2000	Bournemouth
2000–2002	Bournemouth (Director of football)
2003	Huddersfield Town (caretaker manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

A midfielder, he started his career at Port Vale in 1962, before he moved on to Gillingham four years later. He made his name at the club from 1966 to 1971, before he transferred to Bournemouth for a three-year spell. In 1974, he signed with Norwich City, also playing on loan at American club Seattle Sounders, before he retired in 1978 – he was later voted into Norwich City's Hall of Fame in 2002.

Appointed manager of Manchester City in 1987, he won them promotion out of the Second Division in 1988–89, before he left to take up the reins at Barnsley. In September 1994 he was appointed manager at Bournemouth, where he would remain for the next six years, managing them to a Football League Trophy final in 1998. He later served Bournemouth as Director of football between 2000 and 2002, before briefly managing Huddersfield Town in 2003.

Playing career

Despite being a Stoke City fan,[2] Machin started his playing career at nearby Port Vale, signing professional forms in July 1962. He made the odd appearance from October 1962 and 1964, after which point he started to appear rather more frequently. He was not a favourite with Stanley Matthews or trainer Lol Hamlett as he had a habit of talking back to the pair, so he put in a transfer request in 1966.[3] In all competitions he made 32 appearances, scoring 6 goals, being utilised mostly as an inside-forward.[4]

In July 1966 he joined Gillingham, where he attained regular first team football. After 156 league matches and 11 goals, Machin was signed in 1970 by Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, at the time managed by John Bond.[5]

His spell at Bournemouth ended after 110 appearances in December 1973, when he followed Bond to Norwich City, despite interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace.[5] Converted to a full-back role, Machin played 117 appearances and scored four times for the club. He conceded a penalty in the 1975 League Cup Final defeat to Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, handling on the line to prevent a headed goal from Chris Nicholl.[6][5] After problems with injuries he finished his career in 1978, following a brief spell in the NASL with Seattle Sounders.

Coaching and management career

After retiring as a player, Norwich then invited him to join their coaching set-up. He worked as youth team and reserve team coach, and then was promoted to chief coach before being appointed as assistant to manager Ken Brown. The partnership finished in May 1987, when he accepted an offer to manage Manchester City.[5]

After two seasons in charge, he got the club promoted to Division One with a young and promising squad. In the first season in the top-flight, his team beat local rivals Manchester United by 5–1 on 23 September 1989, in what Alex Ferguson described as the lowest point of his career.[7] Despite the victory, two months later, on 27 November, Machin was sacked by chairman Peter Swales as the club was bottom of the division. He became Barnsley manager on 29 December but resigned on 5 May 1993, as he was disillusioned with the club policy of selling their best players to make ends meet.[5]

Machin then worked as a scout for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool before he was appointed manager of Bournemouth in September 1994. In his first season at the helm he managed to keep the club in the Second Division despite a start with seven consecutive defeats and a serious financial crisis, this feat later became known as "The Great Escape".[8] In 1998, Bournemouth lost to Grimsby Town in the Football League Trophy final in their first ever Wembley appearance. In August 2000, he became director of football role[9] and later retired on 29 August 2002,[2] having had his testimonial match the previous month. It was in his testimonial – a 3–2 victory for Manchester United,[10] that United's £29.3 million signing Rio Ferdinand made his debut.[11] In October 2002 he was linked to the vacant management position at Swindon Town.[12]

On 28 January 2003, Machin came out of retirement to assist Mick Wadsworth at the helm of Huddersfield Town.[13] Two months later he was promoted to the manager role as Wadsworth was sacked.[14] Machin and Huddersfield parted ways at the end of the season as he failed to avoid relegation to the Third Division.[15]

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:[16]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Port Vale	1962–63	Third Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	1963–64	Third Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1964–65	Third Division	11	4	1	0	0	0	12	4
	1965–66	Fourth Division	18	2	1	0	0	0	19	2
	Total		30	6	2	0	0	0	32	6
Gillingham	1966–67	Third Division	42	4	2	0	5	0	49	4
	1967–68	Third Division	32	5	1	0	0	0	33	5
	1968–69	Third Division	31	1	2	0	2	0	35	1
	1969–70	Third Division	44	1	6	1	1	0	51	2
	1970–71	Third Division	8	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		157	11	12	1	8	0	177	12
Bournemouth	1970–71	Fourth Division	22	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
	1971–72	Third Division	34	1	3	1	1	0	38	2
	1972–73	Third Division	36	5	4	0	4	0	44	5
	1973–74	Third Division	18	1	1	0	3	0	22	1
	Total		110	7	8	1	8	0	126	8
Norwich City	1973–74	First Division	15	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
	1974–75	Second Division	24	3	1	0	11	0	36	3
	1975–76	First Division	28	0	4	0	6	0	38	0
	1976–77	First Division	26	1	1	0	4	0	31	1
	1977–78	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		96	4	6	0	21	0	123	4
Seattle Sounders (loan)	1977	NASL	19	0	–	–	–	–	19	0
Career total			412	28	28	2	37	0	477	30

Managerial statistics

Source:[16][17]

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Manchester City	31 May 1987	29 November 1989	130	59	27	44	045.38
Barnsley	1 December 1989	5 May 1993	192	66	51	75	034.38
Bournemouth	1 September 1994	18 August 2000	327	120	84	123	036.70
Huddersfield Town (caretaker)	26 March 2003	6 May 2003	7	2	2	3	028.57
Total			656	247	164	245	037.65

Honours

Playing career

Norwich City

• League Cup runner-up: 1975

Individual

• PFA Third Division Team of the Year: 1973–74

Managerial career

Manchester City

• Football League Second Division runner-up: 1988–89

Bournemouth

• Football League Trophy runner-up: 1998

References

1. "Mel Machin". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
2. Mitchener, Mark (30 August 2002). "Machin quits Cherries". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
3. Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection Of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. p. 31. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3.
4. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 180. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
5. "Flown the Nest". ex-canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
6. "Ray Graydon treasures his Aston Villa memories". Birmingham Mail. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
7. "Machin's magical derby memories". BBC Sport. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
8. "Five memorable Dean Court games". BBC Sport. 8 November 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
9. "Machin moves upstairs". BBC Sport. 19 August 2000. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
10. "Rio in Man Utd bow". BBC Sport. 27 July 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
11. "Rio raring to go". BBC Sport. 28 July 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
12. "Machin poised for Robins post". BBC Sport. 18 October 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
13. "Terriers snap up Machin". BBC Sport. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
14. "Huddersfield sack Wadsworth". BBC Sport. 26 March 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
15. "Machin leaves Huddersfield". BBC Sport. 6 May 2003. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
16. Mel Machin at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
17. Mel Machin management career statistics at Soccerbase