Neil Andrew Mellor (born 4 November 1982) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career at Liverpool in the Premier League. He made his name in 2004 by scoring a stunning last-minute goal from long range to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory over Arsenal at Anfield. Mellor also scored a vital goal and set up another during Liverpool's match with Olympiacos at Anfield during the group stage of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, which Liverpool went on to win. He later played for Preston North End. In December 2011, a knee injury sustained following a tackle by Milton Keynes striker Jabo Ibehre resulted in Mellor being forced into announcing his retirement on 9 May 2012. Since his retirement, Mellor has been doing media work, including match updates for Sky Sports News and work for LFC TV. Career Liverpool The son of former Manchester City, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton and Hove Albion player Ian Mellor, Mellor was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. A strong, physical, centre forward, Mellor was top scorer in Liverpool's run to the FA Youth Cup semi-final during the 2000–01 season scoring eight goals in four games. He was also the top scorer for the under-19 team and Joe Corrigan's reserves during the 2001–02 season and in total scored 46 goals (56 including friendlies). Mellor progressed through the ranks at Liverpool and in the 2002–03 season he scored 20 goals for the reserve team. He made his first team debut in the same season and played a total of six games and scored in a League Cup semi-final match against Sheffield United. Although the Reds lost the match 2–1, Mellor showed promise and was rewarded in March 2003 with a new three-year contract running to 2006. Despite his goal he was left out of the squad for the victorious 2003 Football League Cup Final. Manager Gérard Houllier sent Mellor on a year-long loan to West Ham United in August 2003. He scored two goals in the 3–0 win over Crystal Palace at the end of September, but an injury hit spell at Upton Park, in addition to playing under three different managers and being forced to play out of position, proved unsettling. Mellor was soon back at Anfield and hit 10 goals in just four games for the reserves. Before the start of the 2004–05 season, Mellor suffered a