Ted Melling was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 coach who coached Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

When the incumbent captain-coach, George Holden

George Holden

George Holden was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League ....

, injured his knee at the start of the 1919 VFL season

1919 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1919.-Premiership season:In 1919, the VFL competition consisted of nine teams of 18 on-the-field players each, with no "reserves", although any of the 18 players who had left the playing field for any reason could later resume their...

, he was restricted to being an off-field coach and after seven games he was replaced by Melling. Under Melling, Fitzroy managed four wins and a draw from their nine games, only narrowly missing out on a place in the finals.