Jon Mellish signs for Wigan Athletic ✍️
Wigan Athletic have signed Jon Mellish from Carlisle United on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
Wigan Athletic have signed Jon Mellish from Carlisle United on a three-and-a-half-year contract.
The 27-year-old joins the Latics with over 200 EFL appearances under his belt and the ability to play in midfield and defence. His versatility will be a great help in Shaun Maloney’s squad.
🗓️ Born: 19th September 1997 (Age: 27)
👕 Position: Defensive Midfielder/Centre Back
👟 Strong Foot: Right
Part One: An overview of Mellish’s career.
Part Two: Mellish’s role at Wigan.
An overview of Mellish’s career ⚽️
Born in South Shields, the North East youngster started his career at Gateshead in 2016.
Mellish made his debut for the Tynesiders in the final National League game of the 2016/17 season with a 6-minute appearance off the bench at home to Bromley.
Gateshead Manager, Neil Aspin, played Mellish at left back in five of the opening eight games of the 2017/18 National League campaign. Aspin departed in October and was replaced by Steve Watson who reintroduced Mellish into the squad in April after being out since September.
Watson utilised Mellish as more of a centre-back for the final four games of the campaign. In total, the defender made 10 appearances throughout the season with 9 starts. 📈
In the Summer of 2018, Mellish signed a new one-year contract with the football club and started in 45 of his 46 appearances throughout the 18/19 National League campaign 👏
Gateshead won 19, drew 9, and lost 18 of their 46 games and finished with a positive goal difference of 4. Mellish also netted his first senior goal for the club in April 2019 with a 4th-minute opener against Ebbsfleet. ⚽️
Mellish was named the National League’s Young Player of the Year 🏆
On May 15th 2019, Mellish made the move from the North East to Cumbria as he joined Carlisle United on a one-year deal ✍️
The Blues’ manager, Steven Pressley, handed Mellish his EFL debut in the opening game of the 2019/20 season with a start against Crawley Town. Playing at centre back, Mellish helped his new side to a 2-1 victory 👏
Pressley was sacked and replaced by Chris Beach in the November and he chose to integrate Mellish into the side on a staggered approach throughout the season, handing him 13 starts in just 15 appearances and remaining an unused sub for another 14 inclusions.
Beech also transitioned from central defence into central midfield towards the latter end of the campaign.
“With the way I can get up and down the pitch, it means I can offer more and bring something new to the squad.
I have to say that I’m not a ball-playing central midfielder, you won’t see me picking defences apart with a massive range of passes or anything like that, but I’ll cover the ground and I’ll always be available to help my teammates whether we’re in or out of possession”
Jon Mellish speaking to Carlisle United | June 2020
Carlisle United managed to secure Mellish down to his option year of the original contract for the 2020/21 season, but after just three starts in the new season, the club managed to tie the midfielder down to another two-year deal with the option of a third. ✍️
In the game after his new contract announcement, Mellish netted the winner against Barrow before scoring a brace against Sunderland (EFL Trophy), the winner against Port Vale, and a goal against Colchester United in consecutive games 👏
Throughout the 20/21 League Two campaign, Mellish started in 41 of his 44 appearances and scored 11 goals from the midfield. He also netted three goals in two FA Cup games.
Carlisle United finished 10th at the end of the season with 18 wins, 12 draws, and 16 losses, along with a positive goal difference of 9.
The 2021/22 League Two campaign was less successful for the Blues as they dropped from 10th to 20th in the division.
Mellish started in all 42 of his appearances but the versatile outfielder was asked to play in a variety of roles including centre back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield, wide midfielder, and striker, due to various injury issues in the squad.
Thankfully, the 2022/23 season was much more successful for Carlisle as they climbed to 5th to secure a spot in the Play-Offs 📈
Playing at centre back for the majority of the campaign, Mellish started in all 43 of his appearances, scoring 6 goals and providing 2 assists.
After missing out on the Play-Off Semi Finals, Melish started against Stockport County in the Final and played the full 120’ plus penalties - netting his attempt - to help the Blues achieve promotion back to League One 🏆
Last season in League One, Mellish started in each of the 46 games playing at left centre back, left back, and midfield on occasion.
The Blues struggled to find any good consistency throughout the campaign and ultimately were relegated after finishing 24th with 7 wins, 9 draws, and 30 losses. A -40 goal difference was the worst in the division.
Mellish netted 5 goals during the season, with one against Port Vale and Reading before a hattrick against Peterborough United on March 29th 🎩
Carlisle United have struggled so far in their return to League Two and currently sit bottom with just 4 wins, 6 draws, and 14 losses.
Mellish started in 21 of his 23 appearances, netting a goal on the opening day against Gillingham which was followed up with an assist at home to Barrow. A goal against Walsall and an assist against Arrington followed in the latter stages of 2024.
The defender started in both games against Wigan Athletic this season in the EFL Trophy and FA Cup.
📊 Jon Mellish Career Stats
🔵 Carlisle United | 246 Apps | 32 Goals | 5 Assists
⚪️ Gateshead | 58 Apps | 2 Goals | 0 Assists
Mellish’s role at Wigan 🤝
Shaun Maloney’s fourth arrival of the window is an interesting one, for sure. Mellish has been largely known to play as a left sided centre back, but has plenty of experience at left back and in the midfield.
Jason Kerr and Will Aimson have been our regular starters as the defensive duo, and both have contracts until the Summer of 2026. Their efforts have helped the Latics concede an average of just one goal a game with only six teams in League One conceding less at this stage.
With that in mind, I can’t see a situation where Jon Mellish will take a starting place from either Kerr or Aimson.
Wigan Athletic’s current centre-back options.
Will Aimson (Age: 31)
Jason Kerr (Age: 27)
Toby Sibbick (Age: 25)
James Carragher (Age: 22)
Maloney currently is dealing with a midfield injury crisis with Matt Smith, Baba Adeeko, and Tyrese Francois all ruled out for the next couple of months at least, with Smith out for even longer.
I would imagine that Mellish will be asked to play as a defensive-minded midfielder alongside either Scott Smith or Jensen Weir.
The versatile 27-year-old has a decent goalscoring record from the midfield for a player who doesn't have a wealth of technical ability. I believe we will see Mellish show his true qualities out of possession with his defensive work rate and in set-piece situations when he can get on the end of crosses into the box.
As Mellish has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, we may see him eventually drop to centre back over the next few seasons as other players naturally move on or in the case of an injury to a key starter.
This transfer was not one that I saw coming, but I look forward to seeing what Mellish can do in Maloney’s squad. 🫡
Welcome to Wigan Athletic, Jon Mellish!
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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I agree Charlie. It’s obviously as a midfielder that he‘s going to be used initially. After that, who knows? I can see him eventually partnering with Matt Smith for example but if we get injuries in defence he obviously can slot in there. I wonder how good a player he’s going to be in L1 but we’ll soon see. We’ve obviously paid good money for him and given him a long contract so he’s going to be here for a while!