Why new-deal Jon Mellish is still Carlisle United's MVP

Lots of news articles containing Carlisle United injuries, of course. But the h-word is usually connected to other players. Where Mellish is mentioned, it’s either in passing, or about something else entirely.

Durability seems an increasingly fragile concept in today's football. A twang here, a tweak there, followed by a glut of them and then a brains trust of sports scientists summoned to try and figure it out.

Well, you don’t need to worry about that with Jon Mellish (and please burn this article, or whatever the equivalent of burning an online article is, and indeed burn the author too if his hammy goes against Stockport this weekend).

In the last four seasons, he has averaged 49 appearances, and the only reason he made fewer (22) in his first campaign is because he hadn’t yet fully found his place in the team…

…which is an amusing reflection now, given that, since then, there has barely been a position he hasn’t found. Since joining from Gateshead in 2019, the big Wearsider has played at left-back, left centre-half in a two, left centre-half in a three, central midfield in a two, central midfield in a three, and striker.

Not all in the same game, although sometimes it’s been close. Yet versatility is one thing. Giving what Mellish has given Carlisle is another in terms of commitment, consistency of effort, the application of the fittest player at the club (just watch him in training for a few minutes and you’ll see), the man whose heart is matched by the size of his engine, and his ability to last, and get up, and go again. And again.

This, we increasingly see, is someone very much wedded to Carlisle United. Again, a rare thing in football’s transient world. Modern reality means you can’t get too attached to a player.

Once more, then, Mellish is a throwback, someone who, given his track record of appearances, availability and impact could quite easily have played the exit card, got his agent to grease wheels, seen what might be out there and leaned towards the most favourable option.

Had United kept the door ajar when Wigan Athletic made a seemingly paltry offer early in this summer (and how that would have been entertained in past, less well-heeled Blues eras is one to ponder), he could have glimpsed the lights of League One and made a play for it.

Mellish, who's played in just about every position in his time at Carlisle, is now under contract until 2027 (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Even in the circumstances as they were, with the Blues saying a swift no, he could have worked the situation. His representative could have done what they often do, and briefed something here, dropped a line there. Before you know it Pete O’Rourke or someone similar would have been understanding that this or that might be happening concerning Jon James Alexander Mellish, according to sources.

Doubtless there would have been takers. Didn’t happen, though; didn’t even have a sniff of happening. Whether he’ll actually be here until 2027 – the terms of his new deal – depends, you'd think, on Carlisle flattening the curve of relegation and then moving up again.

Or maybe…it doesn’t. Maybe this is one player who genuinely loves it here, sees value in being part of something, not just associated with it by contract. Maybe, on the pitch, this is our Mr Carlisle United for the modern era.

Certainly, the thought of him somewhere else feels increasingly strange. Now and again on social media, supporters fish out images of players wearing the kits of other clubs, the result of transfers you may have forgotten. There’s Kevin Gray in a Chesterfield shirt. There’s Michael Bridges in an MK Dons top. WTF, etc etc.

The sight of Mellish doing what he does – getting the ball and galloping down the left in that still untamed, still somewhat innocent way of his, like a man who’s blissfully forgotten he’s left the oven on – in someone else’s colours…no, the brain won’t have it.

Mellish is rarely shy at letting an opponent know his thoughts... (Image: Richard Parkes)

Mellish in Wigan’s blue and white, Mellish in Burton Albion’s yellow, Mellish in Doncaster Rovers’ red and white hoops, Mellish in anything other than the blue, white and red, or whichever Jackson Pollock design United choose for their away kit - sorry. System malfunction. Total shutdown.

He’s Carlisle, more embedded than ever here, and in footballing terms it’s hard to think of anyone, for quite some time, who’s given the Blues greater value for money, who more deserves to be known as their MVP (Most Valuable Player) or who's contributed more frequent outbursts of rock-solid entertainment, be it politely instructing Stockport’s fans where to go after putting a penalty in their net at Wembley or, in a miserable relegation season, smacking a hat-trick past promotion-chasing Peterborough – or even, be it in a friendly or competitive game, telling an opposition player his thoughts if he’s got too close or been a little too brusque.

Three more years? Yes, minimum. Ideally, we’ll keep him for life.