Patrick John Parker (15 July 1929 – 28 January 2014) was 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 lea ...

who played at

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the 1950s.

Playing career

Parker was born in

Bow, Devon Bow () is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England, about west of Crediton. According to the 2021 census, it had a population of 1,120, which was slightly more than the 1,095 recorded at the 2011 Census. There i ...

and after his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

he joined

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

as an amateur in 1949. He failed to make the grade at Argyle and was playing for

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

on a part-time basis, where he was spotted by

when the clubs met in a pre-season friendly. Manager Sid Cann signed Parker in August 1951 and, after a few reserve team matches, he made his first team debut away to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 3 September 1951. His early career was blighted by broken legs, firstly in a pre-season friendly against his former club in 1952 and then a year later in another friendly against an RAF team. He eventually overcame these difficulties and in April 1954 he replaced Stan Clements at the heart of Saints' defence. He retained his place for the start of the following season before losing out to Len Wilkins. He continued to turn out regularly for the reserves and in turn replaced Wilkins in the centre for the first team; in 1956–57 he was ever-present and his "sterling performances in the heart of the Southampton defence" earned him Divisional representational honours. He was selected to play for the Third Division South team in 1955–56 and 1956–57. After 145 games for the Saints, he was transfer listed in 1959 and moved on a free transfer to Poole Town, along with Southampton teammates Bryn Elliott, Sam Stevens and Barry Hillier. After a year with Poole, he moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

to join Cowes Sports starting a long association with the Cowes club, where he became manager in 1961, continuing to play until 1978. After retiring from full-time professional football, he worked as a production controller before becoming a sales administrator for

International Computers Limited International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Ele ...

. He lived in

for the rest of his life and died on 28 January 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Pat 1929 births 2014 deaths People from Mid Devon District English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Newton Abbot A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Cowes Sports F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Footballers from Devon Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Devon 20th-century English sportsmen