The boyhood City fan from Manchester made 50 appearances for the club between 1971 and 1973, which included an appearance in the 1972 Charity Shield victory over Aston Villa. Mellor's City highlights also include goals in his first Manchester derby and against Alfredo Di Stefano's Valencia in the Uefa Cup.

Nicknamed 'Spider', he also went on to play for Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield Wednesday, scoring for the latter in the famous 'Boxing Day Massacre' against local rivals Sheffield United in 1982, a game the Owls won 4-0 and earned promotion under Jack Charlton.

Mellor's final professional club was Bradford City, while he also spent a brief time playing in Hong Kong.

"Everyone at Manchester City would like to send their thoughts and best wishes to Ian's family and friends at this difficult time," City said via a statement on their website, as news broke.

Mellor's son, Neil, who played for Liverpool and Preston North End during his playing career, and now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, wrote on X: "My Dad. My Hero. I love you. Thank you for everything.

"We are all absolutely devastated to have lost my Dad. Big thanks to St Ann's Hospice and all their brilliant staff who helped during those last days as he battled so hard against amyloidosis."