Manon Melis

Gabriëlla Maria "Manon" Melis (Dutch pronunciation: [ɣaːbriˈɛlaː maːˈriaː maːˈnɔn ˈmeːlɪs]; born 31 August 1986) is a former Dutch professional footballer who last played as a forward for the Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League. Melis has spent most of her career playing in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. At international level, since making her debut in 2004, she has won over 100 caps. She is the daughter of former Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag player Harry Melis.[2] After her playing career Melis became manager girl football development at Feyenoord.

Manon Melis

Personal information
Full name	Gabriëlla Maria Melis
Date of birth	(1986-08-31) 31 August 1986
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Playing position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	RVVH
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2007	Be Quick '28
2007–2011	FC Rosengård	83	(74)
2012	Linköpings FC	21	(16)
2013	FC Rosengård	21	(11)
2014–2015	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	41	(23)
2016	Seattle Reign FC	16	(7)
National team
2004–2016	Netherlands	136	(59)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 8 November 2016 (UTC)

Playing career

Club

Damallsvenskan, 2010–2015

Melis was the Damallsvenskan top-scorer in 2010 and 2011,[3] playing for LdB Malmö. She won the Damallsvenskan's awards for top footballer and top forward in 2010.[4]

In November 2011 she announced she was moving from Malmö to Sky Blue FC in the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.[5] In her last match she helped LdB secure a spot in Champions League quarterfinals with a goal.[6] Before Melis could play for Sky Blue the WPS suspended operations, so she returned to Sweden to sign for Linköpings FC.[7] Two seasons with Linköpings both yielded 16 goals in 21 Damallsvenskan appearances. Melis agreed a return to Malmö in December 2012.[8]

Melis collected another league winner's medal with Malmö in 2013, before receiving a lucrative contract offer from Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC which she felt unable to turn down.[9]

Seattle Reign, 2016

After two seasons at Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC, Melis signed with Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League for the 2016 season.[10] Of her signing, Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey said, "Manon is a fantastic talent who will bring something new to our attack next season. We're thrilled to have a player with her experience and consistent record of success at the highest levels of club and international football join our club next season."[11]

International

Melis scored on her debut for the senior Netherlands women's national football team in April 2004, a 3–0 win over Belgium in Leuven. She represented the Netherlands in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying rounds[12] and the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 finals.[13] In August 2010 Melis scored twice against Belarus, her 29th and 30th international goals, which made her the national team's all-time top goalscorer.[14]

Melis scored four goals in the 6–0 won UEFA Women's EURO 2013 qualification opening match for The Netherlands against Serbia on 21 September 2011, stating, "It is a great feeling to score four goals, I had never done that before for the national team."[15]

In June 2013, national team coach Roger Reijners selected Melis in the Netherlands squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden.[16]

In March 2016, Melis announced her retirement from international play.

International goals

Scores and results list the Netherlands goal tally first.[17]

International goals
Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 April 2004	Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium	Belgium	2–0	3–0	2005 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
2.	12 October 2005	Oosterenkstadion, Zwolle, Netherlands	Switzerland	5–0	6–0	Friendly
3.	21 February 2007	Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion, Almere, Netherlands	Italy	2–0	2–0
4.	14 March 2007	County Ground, Swindon, England	England	1–0	1–0
5.	9 May 2007	Herti Allmend Stadion, Zug, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	2–2	2009 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
6.	26 August 2007	Veronica Stadium, Volendam, Netherlands	Wales	1–0	2–1
7.	1 October 2007	Mitsubishi Forklift Stadion, Almere, Netherlands	France	1–4	1–4	Friendly
8.	27 January 2008	Frank Cooke Park, Dublin, Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–1
9.	20 February 2008	Newport Stadium, Newport, Wales	Wales	1–0	1–0	2009 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
10.	23 April 2008	Patrostadion, Maasmechelen, Belgium	Belgium	2–2	2–2
11.	30 August 2008	Den Haag Stadion, The Hague, Netherlands	Switzerland	1–0	1–1
12.	27 September 2008	Kras Stadion, Volendam, Netherlands	Belgium	1–0	3–0
13.				2–0
14.	5 March 2009	Makario Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Russia	1–0	2–1	2009 Cyprus Cup
15.				2–1
16.	12 March 2009	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	South Africa	1–0	5–0
17.				3–0
18.	11 July 2009	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Switzerland	2–0	5–0	Four Nations Cup
19.	15 July 2009		China PR	2–4	2–4
20.	8 August 2009	Koning Willem II Stadion, Tilburg, Netherlands	Poland	1–0	2–0	Friendly
21.	29 August 2009	Lahden Stadion, Lahti, Finland	Denmark	2–0	2–1	2009 UEFA Women's Euro
22.	29 October 2009	Oosterenkstadion, Zwolle, Netherlands	North Macedonia	3–0	13–1	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
23.	24 February 2010	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Scotland	1–0	4–1	2010 Cyprus Cup
24.				3–1
25.	26 February 2010	Ammochostos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	New Zealand	1–1	1–1
26.	3 March 2010	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Switzerland	1–0	4–0
27.	22 April 2010	Gradski Stadion, Kumanovo, Macedonia	North Macedonia	5–0	7–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
28.	19 June 2010	Oosterenkstadion, Zwolle, Netherlands	Norway	1–0	2–2
29.	21 August 2010	Haradzki Stadium, Maladzechna, Belarus	Belarus	2–0	4–0
30.				3–0
31.	2 March 2011	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	New Zealand	2–0	4–1	2011 Cyprus Cup
32.				3–0
33.	4 March 2011	Ammochostos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	France	2–1	2–1
34.	18 May 2011	De Koel, Venlo, Netherlands	North Korea	1–1	1–1	Friendly
35.	24 August 2011	Hohhot City Stadium, Hohhot, China	China PR	1–0	1–0
36.	21 September 2011	TATA Steel Stadion, Velsen-Zuid, Netherlands	Serbia	1–0	6–0	2013 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
37.				3–0
38.				5–0
39.				6–0
40.	22 October 2011	Gradski stadion, Vrbovec, Croatia	Croatia	1–0	3–0
41.	28 February 2012	GSZ Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus	Italy	1–1	2–1	2012 Cyprus Cup
42.	5 April 2012	De Koel, Venlo, Netherlands	Slovenia	3–1	3–1	2013 UEFA Women's Euro qualification
43.	20 June 2012	Stadion Srem Jakovo, Jakovo, Serbia	Serbia	1–0	4–0
44.				2–0
45.	9 April 2013	Kyocera Stadion, The Hague, Netherlands	United States	1–3	1–3	Friendly
46.	26 September 2013	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania	Albania	1–0	4–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
47.				2–0
48.				3–0
49.	23 November 2013	Stadion Woudestein, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Greece	4–0	7–0
50.	7 March 2014	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Scotland	3–4	3–4	2014 Cyprus Cup
51.	5 April 2014	Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion, Greece	Greece	1–0	6–0	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
52.	25 October 2014	Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland	Scotland	2–0	2–1	2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
53.	30 October 2014	Sparta Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Scotland	2–0	2–0
54.	8 April 2015	Strømmen Stadion, Strømmen, Norway	Norway	2–1	3–2	Friendly
55.	30 May 2015	York Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Sweden	1–0	1–2
56.	29 November 2015	Kras Stadion, Volendam, Netherlands	Japan	2–0	3–1
57.				3–1
58.	2 March 2016	Kyocera Stadion, The Hague, Netherlands	Switzerland	1–1	4–3	2016 UEFA Women's Olympic qualification
59.	5 March 2016	Het Kasteel, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Norway	1–2	1–4

References

1. 2015 World Cup
2. "Melis leads Dutch charge for glory". FIFA. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
3. "Damallsvenskan top scorers". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
4. "Manon Melis gekozen tot beste speelster" (in Dutch). Vrouwen Voetal Nederland. 16 November 2010.
5. "Ingen Melis i LFC". 11 November 2011.
6. Avskedsmatch ledde LdB FC Malmö till avancemang Damfotboll.com
7. Albert Sigurdsson (16 February 2012). "Manon Melis to Linköping FC (Confirmed)". WSoccerNews.com. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
8. Törner, Ole (4 December 2012). "Manon Melis återvänder" (in Swedish). Skånska Dagbladet. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
9. "Manon Melis lämnar Malmö" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
10. "Seattle Reign sign Netherlands' all-time leading scorer". Sounder at Heart. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
11. "Reign ink Netherlands international Manon Melis". The Equalizer. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
12. Manon Melis – FIFA competition record
13. Profile at UEFA.com Archived 28 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
14. "Melis topscorer aller tijden Oranje-vrouwen" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
15. "Netherlands 'not underdogs' against England By Berend Scholten on UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
16. "Trio miss cut in Netherlands squad". UEFA.com. UEFA. 30 June 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
17. "Profile" (in Dutch). Onsoranje.nl. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

External links

• Manon Melis – FIFA competition record
• Manon Melis – UEFA competition record
• Manon Melis at SvFF (in Swedish)
• Profile at Onsoranje.nl at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-03-07) (in Dutch)
• Profile at vrouwenvoetbalnederland.nl (in Dutch)
• Linköpings Profile (in Swedish)
• Manon Melis at Soccerway