Elliot Charles Parish (born 20 May 1990) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Parish began his career at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

, where he progressed through the club's

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

. He made his professional debut away from the club on loan at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side Lincoln City in 2011, before a short loan at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

where he made no appearances. He joined Cardiff on a permanent basis in January 2012, before being loaned out to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

later the same year. He was released by the club in 2013, again failing to make a first-team appearance. He joined Bristol City, where he went on to make 19 league appearances, but again found himself out on loan, on this occasion to Newport County. He later joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

for one season, and then played for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

for one season, before joining

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete histor ...

. He then signed for Dundee where he spent two seasons. Parish has represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

level.

Club career

Aston Villa

Born in

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the olde ...

, Parish joined the

ahead of the 2006–07 season. He became the regular goalkeeper for Villa's under-18 side that won the

2007–08 Premier Academy League The 2007–08 Premier Academy League season is the tenth since its establishment, and the fourth under the current name and make-up. Aston Villa were crowned the 2007–08 Premier Academy League Champions after beating Manchester City 2–0 in th ...

title and reached the semi-final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. I ...

the same year. While with the club, he represented the England under-20 team, playing in the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confedera ...

. England

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Brian Eastick Brian Eastick (born 27 January 1952) is an English football manager and former player. Eastick was technical director of Al Jazira, managed Newport County, and held various posts within the England coaching setup, including head coach of the ...

said that Parish was one of the best players at the tournament. Having travelled with the first-team squad during pre-season and in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, Parish became the regular goalkeeper for Aston Villa's reserve team during the 2010–11 season.

Lincoln City loan

side Lincoln City signed Parish on 24 March 2011 on loan until the end of the season. He went straight into Lincoln's starting eleven to make his professional debut the following day, conceding six goals as

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

won 6–0 at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since the ...

. Parish made nine appearances for Lincoln, conceding 23 goals in a period where the Imps accrued just one point.

Cardiff City

initially signed Parish on a six-week loan from Aston Villa on 23 September 2011. However, despite failing to make an appearance for Cardiff, manager Malky Mackay signed Parish on a permanent basis on 4 January 2012, with the player signing a one-and-a-half year deal. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Parish was released after the club decided not to offer him a new deal.

Wycombe Wanderers loan

Parish joined

in an emergency loan deal on 18 September 2012 after injuries to regular goalkeepers Nikki Bull and Matt Ingram. He made his debut for the club the same day in a 3–2 defeat away to Exeter City. He made just one further appearance for the club, a 1–0 home defeat by

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

four days later.

Bristol City

After his release by Cardiff, Parish joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

side

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

on trial with a view to a permanent contract. However, after one week training with Aberdeen, it was announced that Parish would not be offered a deal by the club. He then joined League One club Bristol City on trial on 11 July 2013. On 26 July, it was announced that Parish had signed a two-year deal with the club following his successful trial. Parish made his debut for Bristol City on 27 August in a 2–1

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win over

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Crystal Palace. After making 19 league outings and becoming a regular starter, Parish found himself out of favour following the loan arrival of Simon Moore from Cardiff.

Newport County loan

Parish joined League Two side Newport County in an emergency loan deal on 10 February 2014, making his debut on 15 February in a 3–0 defeat at Hartlepool United. After the clubs had initially agreed to extend Parish's loan spell, Newport decided to not exercise an extension and Parish returned to his parent club on 10 March after making seven appearances.

Blackpool

On 7 August 2014,

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

signed Parish on a free transfer from Bristol City. He became the club's twelfth summer signing, joining on a one-year deal with the option of a further 12-months. He made his debut on 3 October, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over his former club Cardiff, Blackpool's first win of the season. After Blackpool were relegated from the Championship at the end of the season, Parish was released after making only 13 appearances all season.

Colchester United

Parish joined League One side

on trial in July 2015 in a bid to gain fitness and earn a contract. He joined the club following an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Sam Walker that ruled him out of the early stages of pre-season. After playing in all four of Colchester's pre-season friendlies, including 90-minutes during a 1–0 win against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

, Parish signed a one-year deal with the club on 23 July. He made his debut on the opening day of the season against his former club Blackpool, conceding two goals as Colchester were held to a 2–2 draw at the

Colchester Community Stadium Colchester Community Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the JobServe Community Stadium, is a football stadium in Colchester, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 2 ...

. In Walker's absence, Parish established himself as Colchester's first-choice goalkeeper in the latter stages of the season as he went on to make 28 appearances for the club. However, at the end of the campaign, it was announced that Parish had not been offered a new contract by Colchester.

Accrington Stanley

After leaving Colchester, Parish signed for League Two rivals

on a one-year contract in June 2016.

Dundee

Parish signed a one-year contract with

club Dundee in July 2017. He made his debut on 4 November 2017, in a 2–1 defeat away to Hibernian. On 6 May 2018, Parish signed a new contract, keeping him at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yar ...

for another year. He left the club at the end of his contract.

St Johnstone

On 20 June 2019, Parish signed for

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

on a two-year contract.

International career

Parish represented

level. He made his debut during the

in Egypt, playing in each group stage match for England as they crashed out of the competition without a win in three games. Despite their failure to progress, Parish impressed coach

with his performances, with Eastick saying that Parish had "come in and acquitted himself really well in the three games he's played".

Career statistics

Honours

Aston Villa U18 * Premier Academy League: 2007–08 St Johnstone *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in exist ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parish, Elliot 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Towcester English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Aston Villa F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers Dundee F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Footballers from Northamptonshire