Philip Benjamin Neil Frederick Parkes (born 8 August 1950, Sedgley, Staffordshire, England) is a former football goalkeeper. 320px, Phil Parkes with fellow ex-Hammer Alan Taylor at Upton Park 2 May 2015

Early life

Phil Parkes grew up in Monument Lane, Sedgley, and was a pupil at nearby Dormston School.

Football career

Beginning his football career at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, turning professional in 1968, he made over 50 appearances in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of England's West Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley and Sandwell metropolitan boroughs, with the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The road between Wolverhampto ...

before moving to London, signing for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

for £15,000 in June 1970. His QPR debut was on Saturday 22 August 1970 in a 3–1 defeat at home 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 ...

. Parkes was part of the QPR team that reached the last eight of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1974 and were League runners-up to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1976. His club career at QPR spanned 344 league appearances (406 in all competitions). He gained his only

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

during this period, against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in 1974. Parkes was sold to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in 1979 for £565,000, a world record for a goalkeeper at the time. It is reported that Sexton, who by then was manager of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, put in six bids for the player but saw them all turned down. It was only the half-million-pound bid from

that QPR chairman Jim Gregory could not resist. Upon John Lyall's signing of Parkes, it was thought that he was a huge risk due to the severity of the condition of his knees, but his signing was to pay off as Parkes was to remain first choice keeper for the next decade. Despite this long spell, most of which was spent in the First Division, he only ever gained one piece of silverware, when West Ham beat

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

1–0 to win the 1980 FA Cup final. Parkes appeared as himself in Thunderbolt and Smokey! in the boys' comic ''Eagle'' in 1982, giving a coaching session to a schoolboy striker who was having to play in goal in a cup semi-final due to the regular keeper being injured. Although Parkes collected just one major trophy during his long playing career, his time at Upton Park saw him come close to picking up honours more than once later on in the 1980s. He was on the losing side in the 1981 Football League Cup Final against

, the same year that he collected a Second Division title medal as the Hammers returned to the First Division after three years away. In 1983–84, the Hammers were in the title race for the first half of the season but fell away to finish ninth - not even enough for a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

place. They re-emerged as title challengers in 1985–86 and were in the hunt for the title right up to the penultimate game of the season, finally finishing third. He also helped them reach the League Cup semi-finals in 1988–89, but it was a disappointing season for the Hammers who were then relegated to the Second Division. Parkes had sat out much of the season, despite new signing Allen McKnight making many mistakes, before Parkes was finally reinstated as first choice. Parkes finished his West Ham career having played exactly the same number of league games for them as he had for QPR – 344. Parkes is the only footballer ever to have played in excess of 300 matches for two different English league clubs. In 1990, just before his 40th birthday, he left the Hammers on a free transfer after 11 years and was signed by John Lyall, who had just returned to management at Ipswich Town, to complete his playing career in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. He played three league games in 1990–91 before finally retiring as a player and moved into coaching. In 2003, an official

members poll for the greatest West Ham XI named him as the team's goalkeeper, beating Ludek Miklosko to that position. He is considered by QPR supporters to be one of the three best goalkeepers in the club's history, the others being Reg Allen and

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country ...

. Parkes had great ability, and was unfortunate to only ever win one England cap. He would have won a second soon after his first as, during a game against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1976, the manager

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

said Parkes would play the second half, but at half-time with the score still at 0–0 Revie decided to keep Ray Clemence on. After the game, Parkes went home and said to his wife he would never make himself available for England again.

Honours

West Ham United *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1980–81 *

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1979–80 Second Division, 1980–81 Second Division * West Ham United Hammer of the Year: 1980–81

Personal life

In 2014, Parkes received treatment for

Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

stage A

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Phil 1950 births Living people England men's B international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Ipswich Town F.C. players Footballers from Dudley Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Association football goalkeeping coaches