Melville George "Mel" Holden (25 August 1954 – 1981) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 professional footballer who played as a forward. Active in both England and the Netherlands, Holden made nearly 150 career League appearances, scoring nearly 50 goals.

Career

Born in Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

, Holden played for the youth team of Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, and made his senior debut in 1972. He later played for Sunderland

Sunderland A.F.C.

Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

 and Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

, before moving to the Netherlands to play with PEC Zwolle

FC Zwolle

FC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie, the country's second level of professional club football. The club was founded in 1990 after the bankruptcy of PEC. They have played in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football, for a total of...

.

Later life and death

Holden died of motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease

The motor neurone diseases are a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body. They are generally progressive in nature, and can cause...

 in early 1981. After his death, Preston player Peter Litchfield

Peter Litchfield

Peter Litchfield is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career with Droylsden and played in The Football League with Preston North End, Bradford City, Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe United....

donated £1,000 he had received for winning a Man of the Match award to a motor neurone charity.