Mellor kiss football

Players and officials from Mellor travelled to London in June 2001 to take part in the filming of an Adidas television commercial, featuring actor Shimane Lekoma, alias 'Sonny', whose catchphrase is 'I kiss football'. The invitation was arranged through first team manager Stuart Thorley's wife Joanne, who works for Adidas. The company later gave the club a full new kit plus boots for the players who took part. On the coach home the catchphrase appeared to change to 'I kiss Fosters. PIC1

Honours even against City

In September 2001 Mellor again played Manchester City Veterans X1 at Wood Lane, Marple. City asked us to field a predominently older team, so knee bandages and embrocation were de rigeur. The game ended 1-1 with Stuart Wright scoring for Mellor and Jim Melrose notching for City. The afternoon was enlivened by a display from the cheerleading troupe The Rising Stars, who were surprised at one point to find their number joined by a topless interloper....aka Danny Godfrey. PIC2

Youth Policy

In the summer of 2001 chairman George Dearsley made a round of calls to recruit new young players to the club. Fresh talent mainly from Signol and Rose Hill Rovers and aged 16 or 17 joined the pre-season training sessions at Wood Lane. Mellor committee officials were encouraged by the fitness and technical ability of the teenagers. Several eventually signed for the club and one, Matty Wyatt, immediately broke into the first team. PIC3