Mel Pejic

Mel Pejic

Personal information
Full name	Melvyn Pejic
Date of birth	27 April 1959 (1959-04-27) (age 52)
Place of birth	Chesterton, England
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Bolton Wanderers (Physio)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1977–1980	Stoke City[1]	1	(0)
1980–1992	Hereford United[2]	412	(14)
1992–1995	Wrexham[3]	106	(3)
Total		518	(17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Mel Pejic (born 27 April 1959 in Chesterton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, United Kingdom) is a former footballer and current physiotherapist of Bolton Wanderers and the Wales national football team. As a player, he played in the positions of full-back and centre-back for Stoke City, Hereford United and Wrexham.

Career

He made his first team debut for Stoke in January 1980 against Ipswich Town, however he was released by Stoke at the end of the season. He signed for Hereford United where he spent the majority of his footballing career. Unfortunately 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 Senior 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. 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.

Mel announced on the 21st August that he will be leaving Wrexham.

He is now a physiotherapist at Bolton Wanderers.

One of Mel's sons, Shaun, currently plays for Crystal Palace Baltimore, and his elder brother Mike was also a footballer.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]

Persondata
Name	Pejic, Mel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 April 1959
Place of birth	Chesterton, England
Date of death
Place of death

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