Mel Pejic
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Melvyn Pejic[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 27 April 1959||
Place of birth | Chesterton, England[1] | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1977–1980 | Stoke City | 1 | (0) |
1980–1992 | Hereford United | 412 | (14) |
1992–1995 | Wrexham | 106 | (3) |
Total | 518 | (17) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Melvyn Pejic (born 27 April 1959) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Hereford United, Stoke City and Wrexham.[1] His brother Mike was also a professional footballer as well as his son Shaun.
Playing career
[edit]Pejic was born in Chesterton and joined the youth teams of Stoke City in 1977 where his older brother Mike had just spent ten years. He made just one first team appearance for Stoke which came against Ipswich Town on 12 January 1980, he played at right back as Stoke lost 1–0.[1]
He signed for Hereford United where he spent the majority of his footballing career. A serious knee ligament injury hampered his first two seasons at Edgar Street. However, in the next four seasons he missed only five matches and was voted Player of the Year for three successive seasons in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He later became the only Hereford United Captain to lifted the Welsh Cup in 1990 when Hereford defeated Wrexham at Cardiff Arms Park.
In a 12-season stint, he made 523 competitive appearances, scoring 24 goals. Of these, 412 were in league matches, for which he holds the clubs Football League appearances record, where he also scored 14 goals, and puts him second in the all-time appearance list for the "Bulls", behind John Layton who played a total 549 times for the club during their non-league days. He moved to Wrexham midway through the 1991–92 season, and went on to make over 100 league appearances for the "Red Dragons" helping the Welsh side to gain promotion in 1992–93.
Post-retirement
[edit]Towards the end of his playing days he firstly completed his FA Diploma in the Treatment and Management of Injuries, before studying and gaining a Physiotherapy Degree from Salford University, later taking over first physio duties at Wrexham and then under the managership of John Toshack the Wales national football team senior physiotherapists position, being promoted from a similar position with the Under 21 team.
In August 2012, after three years as physiotherapist with Bolton Wanderers, Pejic joined Macclesfield Town. In November 2013 Pejic returned to Stoke City to work in the medical department at the club's academy.[3]
Personal life
[edit]One of Mel's sons, Shaun also played for Wrexham, and his elder brother Mike was also a footballer.
Career statistics
[edit]Source:[4]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Stoke City | 1979–80 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
Hereford United | 1980–81 | Fourth Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
1981–82 | Fourth Division | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
1982–83 | Fourth Division | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 2 | |
1983–84 | Fourth Division | 44 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 1 | |
1984–85 | Fourth Division | 46 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 2 | |
1985–86 | Fourth Division | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 56 | 1 | |
1986–87 | Fourth Division | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |
1987–88 | Fourth Division | 44 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 1 | |
1988–89 | Fourth Division | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 3 | |
1989–90 | Fourth Division | 38 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 7 | |
1990–91 | Fourth Division | 46 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 2 | |
1991–92 | Fourth Division | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
Total | 412 | 14 | 19 | 3 | 25 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 483 | 20 | ||
Wrexham | 1991–92 | Fourth Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
1992–93 | Third Division | 39 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 3 | |
1993–94 | Second Division | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 3 | |
1994–95 | Second Division | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
Total | 106 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 121 | 7 | ||
Career Total | 518 | 18 | 22 | 3 | 32 | 5 | 33 | 0 | 605 | 26 |
- A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy.
Honours
[edit]- Wrexham
- Third Division runner-up: 1992–93
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
- ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
- ^ "Mel Pejic rejoins the club as medical chief". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
- ^ Mel Pejic at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- 1959 births
- Living people
- English men's footballers
- Stoke City F.C. players
- Hereford United F.C. players
- Wrexham A.F.C. players
- English people of Serbian descent
- Association football physiotherapists
- Wales national football team non-playing staff
- Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff
- Alumni of the University of Salford
- People from Chesterton, Staffordshire
- English Football League players
- Macclesfield Town F.C. non-playing staff
- Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff
- Men's association football defenders
- Footballers from Staffordshire