[4] Meade made his first-team debut on 16 September 1981 in a UEFA Cup first round tie away to Panathinaikos; entering the match after 66 minutes with his team 1–0 up, he scored the second goal with a bicycle kick with what the Daily Express reported as his first touch of the ball.
[6] The signings of Paul Mariner and Charlie Nicholas meant Meade had been pushed down the pecking order at Arsenal, and he made only eight appearances in 1984–85, taking his totals to 16 goals from 51 matches in all competitions.
In his debut season, Meade scored twice against Athletic Bilbao to help his team reach the quarter-finals of the 1985–86 UEFA Cup,[7] produced hat-tricks against Académica Coimbra and Vitória Guimarães, and finished the campaign with 13 goals from 26 appearances in all competitions.
[9] He made just one start, in a 4–1 win away at Espanyol in early February, and two substitute appearances,[10] In August 1988 Meade left Sporting CP to sign for Scottish Premier Division club Dundee United for £150,000.
[11] In March 1989, Meade moved on to Luton Town, for whom he made 4 appearances and was an unused substitute on the losing side in the 1989 Football League Cup Final.