When the League One season came to an abrupt halt because of the developing coronavirus pandemic in early March, nobody could have quite predicted what was to come next.
Tranmere had won three matches in a row, breathing new life into their battle against relegation from a division they had been promoted into less than twelve months earlier.
Despite struggling near the bottom of the table for the majority of the campaign, January additions such as Peter Clarke and James Vaughan had made a real difference and ensured Rovers had more than a fighting chance of staying up.
A 2-1 win at Bloomfield Road against Blackpool had left a true sense of euphoria. A booming noise from the traveling fans greeted a famous Micky Mellon fist pump at full time. It would be his final one.
Yet, with nearly a quarter of the season left, everything was, quite rightly, stopped – and it would, apart from the play-offs, fail to resume.
The fall out for Tranmere has been huge. They were deprived of the chance to continue their fight for survival, with the majority of their League One rivals instead voting to curtail the campaign.
As a result, Rovers have been relegated to League Two, therefore leaving a £1m hole in their budget and resulting in 20 redundancies within the club.
And now, the next hammer blow has struck: manager Micky Mellon has taken up a post with Dundee United.
It is a fantastic move for the 48-year old, who has spent over a decade in the lower reaches of English football, but now gets a chance to test himself in the top flight of his native Scotland.
He arrived at Prenton Park for his third spell with the club, following two as a player, in October 2016.
Tranmere were at another cornerstone in their history. Gary Brabin, having stabilised Rovers following back-to-back relegations, had been sacked after a poor run and a promotion challenge looked unlikely.
But the near four years since have been quite the ride. A 2-0 win over Wrexham on October 8th got things up and running, the first of four successive victories.
Indeed, it would be eleven league games before Mellon tasted defeat at Tranmere manager, and by the end of April they had cemented their place in the National League play-offs with a club record 95 point haul.
Unfortunately, the season would not end on a high, courtesy of a heartbreaking 3-1 defeat to Forest Green at Wembley – but from then on, well, almost, the only way has been up.
2017/18 did not start particularly well, but it ended perfectly – a nail-biting play-off semi-final win over Ebbsfleet before the infamous 10-man defeat of Boreham Wood a week later.
That, already, made Mellon a Tranmere legend. Their Football League status had been restored and after a 27-year wait, finally the fans had a promotion to celebrate.
Twelve months later, they went one better. Connor Jennings’ late, late strike over Newport secured a 1-0 victory in the League Two play-off final – meaning Rovers were back in League One.
Mellon made history with that second Wembley win, becoming the first Tranmere boss to earn back-to-back promotions.
The 2019/20 season was always going to be more of a struggle after the previous two years. League One is a different beast, with some huge clubs on some huge budgets.
But Rovers still held their own and despite getting cut adrift due to a poor run after Christmas, they managed to pull themselves back towards safety.
Indeed, they had a game in hand when the campaign was halted and it was only dreaded points per game that consigned them to League Two by 0.04 of a point.
Mellon’s time with Tranmere should not be tainted by that ‘relegation’. He still leaves a legend, not far behind the great Johnny King in terms of what he achieved during his time at the helm.
If you look at the bare stats, he comes out in first place. He was in charge for 199 games, coming out on top in 92 of them. His win percentage of 46.23% is the highest of any Rovers boss who led the team in over 100 fixtures.
Only Johnny King has been more successful in terms of promotions won (three). Indeed, when Tranmere went up in 2018, it was the first time they had done so without King’s assistance since the 1930s.
There are many reasons for Mellon’s success. Firstly, he is a terrific man manager. He knows how to motivate his team and how to get the best out of them. Speak to any of those who have played under him and they speak incredibly highly.
The Scot is also incredibly calm under pressure. There have been many moments during his tenure when the heat has really been turned on; that poor run in 2017/18 or the Boreham Wood play-off final to name but two. He held his nerve in each and every one of them.
Equally, he loves, and is very good at, nurturing players and taking their performances to another level. James Norwood, Connor Jennings and Manny Monthe are a handful of many who have really stepped up their game under his guidance.
But perhaps Mellon’s biggest asset is the way in which he reads a game. In my time watching Tranmere, I have never seen a manager who has such an innate ability to switch things around and therefore reverse the momentum of a match.
In that Boreham Wood fixture, he brought on Connor Jennings for Josh Ginnelly to add some defensive cover on Rovers’ right-hand side. The substitute would assist James Norwood’s winner in the second half.
In League Two, bringing on Harvey Gilmour at half-time against Lincoln proved a masterstroke.
Tranmere had been all over the place, but having the extra man in midfield made a real difference and Norwood was again on hand to net the winner in the second half.
Thirdly, and perhaps most famously, is the Newport play-off final, when Steve McNulty, who had played just one game in five months, came off the bench in the 82nd minute.
There were some baffled faces, in the stands and on the pitch, when the defender jogged on, but he put in one final mammoth performance in a Tranmere shirt, gobbling up headers and guiding the back line through extra-time to a clean sheet.
Mellon is a genuine game-changer as a manager. He was exactly what the club craved when he returned to Prenton Park.
For people of a certain age, he has given them their most euphoric moments as a fan, namely those two Wembley victories, or perhaps that incredible comeback against Watford in January.
After years of hurt, including three relegations and little to cheer, he helped restore pride in a team who, to many, had become a laughing stock.
Of course there were faults, with trips into the transfer market not always successful. Some high profile and highly paid players struggled to make an impact at Prenton Park, whilst a host of loan signings only made a handful of appearances between them.
The start to the 2017/18 was way below expectations, exacerbated, it has to be said, by some gilt-edge chances not being taken in a plethora of low scoring games.
There were moments when you could consider his position under threat, but he came through them with flying colours.
Perhaps the thing that mattered the most was that Mellon truly got what it meant to be Rovers manager.
Many, many figures have held his position. But too many of his predecessors have underestimated the importance of ‘little’ Tranmere and the position they holds within this little corner of England. As such, they failed to make a connection with a fan base that was just begging for a little success.
He understood exactly what the name Tranmere Rovers means to the Wirral. He came in and straight away he spoke not just to the supporters, but as one. He did not belittle or seek to talk down expectations. He fanned the flames of hope that a resurgence was coming.
Previous managers have seen Tranmere as Merseyside’s third club, behind Liverpool and Everton. Mellon saw them as the Wirral’s premier team.
When some have made lazy assumptions that if you support a team in White, you must have a soft spot for the Reds of Blues, Mellon cast aside aspersions.
He knew that Friday night is Prenton night. He loved the sound of a bellowing Kop. He bought into every single aspect of the Super White Army. He linked community and club.
Because of all that, for the last four years, Tranmere’s fans and team have been more united than in decades. They have come together as one, forging a formidable force on and off the field.
When the team won, you could tell it meant as much to Mellon as the 80-year old supporter who has been following the club for decades. A winner. A leader. A Tranmere great.
A final word from the man himself. Speaking to me in 2018 for my book Back Where We Belong, he said: “One day I will leave, because nobody is here forever. I will have left it, I hope, in a sustainable place that, if managed properly by everybody and with the correct expectations, will be a solid football club for the next 100 years. I know that’s my part in it now. That’s what we’ll try and get it to. ”
One thing is for sure; the club are in a much better position than when he arrived – and how many managers have left Rovers being able to make the same claim?
Matthew Jones 