Southampton
Saints paid £60,000 for Mel Blyth in September 1974 – he was one of Lawrie McMenemy’s first over-30 signings. His move to The Dell renewed his enthusiasm and there he played the best football of his career. Blyth’s impact in his first season at The Dell was such that he was voted the supporters’ player of the year.
His effective partnership with Jim Steele was the mainstay of Saints’ victorious FA Cup run of 1976, including beating his former club, Crystal Palace, in the semi-final.
By the end of the 1976-77 season, six of the twelve players from Saints Cup-winning side had left the club; Mel was the seventh after he had argued with McMenemy about breaking up the cup-winning team too quickly. The arrival of Chris Nicholl, in 1977, signalled the end of 33-year-old Mel’s sojourn on the South coast and, after a brief return to Palace, he completed his League career with Millwall.
In total he made 136 appearances for the Saints, scoring 7 goals.
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