| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Melvyn Sage [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 24 March 1964 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Gillingham, [1] England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Full back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1980–1982 | Gillingham | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1986 | Gillingham | 132 | (5) |
| 1986–1992 | Derby County | 140 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Melvyn Sage (born 24 March 1964) is an English former footballer. He played as a full back for Gillingham and Derby County in a ten-year career which was ultimately cut short by injury. [3]
Sage began his career as an apprentice professional with his hometown club, Gillingham, turning professional in 1982. [4] He soon forced his way into the first team and became a regular in the defence, as well as attracting attention from larger clubs. In the 1985-86 season he was an ever-present in the team and named the club's Player of the Year, [5] after which he was snapped up by Derby County, who had just clinched promotion to Division Two, for a fee of £60,000. The following season he helped the Rams gain promotion to Division One and in all made over 140 league appearances for Derby before a succession of injuries, most notably a knee injury sustained in November 1991, forced him into retirement in 1992.
After retiring from football, Sage returned to his hometown of Gillingham and became a taxi driver. [4]
Derby County
Individual
Melvyn Machin is an English former football player and manager.
Thomas Johnson is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
Andrew Garner is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Derby County and Blackpool. He is a first-team coach at Mansfield Town.
James David Stannard is an English retired football goalkeeper. Whilst playing for Gillingham he set a record for the lowest number of goals conceded in a 46-match season in the Football League, when he let in just 20 goals in the 1995–96 season. Until 18 January 2013, he was first-team goalkeeping coach at Southampton. Stannard is currently the first team goalkeeper coach for Dartford.
John Stuart McMillan was a Scottish football player and manager. He made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League in the 1890s and 1900s, playing at inside left or centre forward.
Mark Patterson is an English former professional footballer. He played over 300 Football League matches for Carlisle United, Derby County, Plymouth Argyle and Gillingham between 1986 and 2002.
Stephen Lovell is a Welsh former professional footballer and manager. He is currently manager of Herne Bay.
Andrew John Kennedy is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre forward.
William Wright is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre half. He played 370 games in the Football League, appearing in all four divisions, and was capped six times at under-21 level and twice for England B.
Jeffrey David Johnson is a Welsh former footballer. In addition to his club career – playing over 400 games in the Football League, he also represented his country at youth and under-23 level.
Kevin Johnston Bremner is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made nearly 450 appearances in the English and Scottish Football Leagues, representing ten different clubs.
The 1986–87 season was the 88th completed season of The Football League.
Ian Russell Chapman is an English former professional footballer. Born in Brighton, he spent most of his career with hometown club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Alan Dodd is an English former professional footballer who played in England for Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Port Vale; he also played in Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.
Timothy John Parkin is an English former footballer. A defender, he made 422 league appearances in a 14-year career in the English Football League, and also spent two years playing in Sweden.
Paul Atkinson is an English former footballer who played on the left-side of midfield. He appeared three times for England Youth in a tournament in 1983, and played another five games the following year. He began his career at Sunderland, and helped the "Black Cats" to the Third Division title in 1987–88. He joined Port Vale for a £20,000 fee in June 1988, but soon became blighted by injury. He was loaned out to Stafford Rangers and Hartlepool United to help to regain his fitness, but was forced to retire from professional football on medical advice in January 1991.
George Walter Foster is an English former footballer and manager, who now works as assistant manager to James Rowe at National League club Chesterfield.
During the 1986–87 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division. It was the 55th season in which the club competed in the Football League, and the 37th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham began the season strongly and were top of the Third Division table shortly before the mid-point of the season. The team's form declined in the second half of the season; to qualify for the play-offs for promotion to the Football League Second Division, the team needed to win their final game and both Bristol City and Notts County had to fail to win theirs. A victory over Bolton Wanderers, combined with both the other teams being held to draws, meant that Gillingham finished in fifth place and qualified for the play-offs. After beating Sunderland in the semi-finals, Gillingham faced Swindon Town in the final. The two teams drew 2–2 on aggregate, necessitating a replay at a neutral venue, which Swindon won 2–0 to claim a place in the Second Division.
Christopher Andrew Sander is a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career, he made 38 appearances in the Football League during spells with Swansea City, Wrexham and Cardiff City. He also played for Welsh clubs Haverfordwest County, Barry Town and Aberystwyth Town.
During the 1985–86 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 54th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 36th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. After an unbeaten run of seven games, Gillingham were fourth in the league table in late September, just outside the top three places which would result in promotion to the Second Division. After slipping to ninth in October, the team climbed to third, but at the close of 1985 had fallen again to eighth. Although Gillingham continued to challenge for promotion in the second half of the season and were in second place at the end of January, their form continued to fluctuate. As the end of the season approached, the team were still in with a chance of finishing in a promotion position, however three defeats in the last six games meant that they ultimately fell short, finishing in fifth place.