Romeo Ovando Parkes (born 11 November 1990) is a Jamaican 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 plays as a striker. Parkes has played club football in Jamaica, El Salvador, the United States and Ireland for St. George's, Highgate United,

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli (), is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

, Boys' Town,

Portmore United Portmore United Football Club is a Jamaican professional football team in the top flight Jamaica Premier League. With 7 Jamaica Premier League titles, 5 JFF Champions Cup and 2 Caribbean Club Championships, Portmore United is the most decorat ...

Isidro Metapán Isidro is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Saints *Saint Isidore the Laborer (c. 1070 – died 1130), the patron saint of farmers of Madrid (Spain) and La Ceiba (Honduras) *Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – died 636), schola ...

and

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

. He has also represented the Jamaica national team at international level, earning four caps between 2012 and 2015.

Club career

Born in

Port Maria Port Maria () is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, ...

, Parkes spent his early career in Jamaica with St. George's, Highgate United,

, Boys' Town and

. In 2012, Parkes had a two-month trial with

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

of the Turkish

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

, but was not offered a contract. In 2014 he signed for top flight Primera División side

, with whom he won the Apertura 2014 and Clausura 2014. He moved to American club

in February 2016. On 8 May 2016, during a fixture against

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. Hi ...

, Parkes aimed a heavy kick in to the back of New York's

Karl Ouimette Karl William Ouimette (born June 18, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Celtix du Haut-Richelieu in Ligue1 Québec. Club career Early career Ouimette played in Quebec's top amateur circuit in 2008 ...

who was walking off the pitch following a sending off. Ouimette was subsequently stretchered off the pitch. Due to the perceived severity of his actions, Parkes' contract was terminated by Pittsburgh the following day. The ban was later extended to a worldwide ban in all competitions by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, with the worldwide ban remaining in place until 23 October 2016. Parkes later stated that he thought the ban would be for life. In June 2016, Parkes returned to his former club

. On 5 May 2017, Parkes returned to Pittsburgh Riverhounds. He signed for Irish club

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

in January 2019. It was announced in January 2020 that Parkes would not return to Sligo Rovers for the 2020 season for personal reasons. On 8 January 2020, Parkes returned to the United States, joining

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

New Mexico United New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U. ...

on loan from Sligo Rovers. On 8 December 2020, Parkes rejoined Sligo Rovers after his loan spell with New Mexico United ended. After 4 goals in 25 appearances during the

2021 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2021 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, was the 37th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top Irish league for association football clubs sinc ...

season, it was announced that Parkes had left the club to return home on 13 November 2021 after helping the club to a 3rd-place finish in the league. Parkes joined

club

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

on 1 February 2022.

International career

In August 2011, he was a member of the under-23 national team competing in Olympic qualifying. He made his senior international debut for

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

in 2012, earning a total of 4 caps and scoring once on 30 March 2015 in a friendly against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. He was named to Jamaica's squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

Career statistics

International

''Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first.''

Honours

Isidro Metapán *

Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador The Primera División de Fútbol Profesional de El Salvador (First Division of Professional Football of El Salvador), more commonly known as La Liga Mayor or La Primera, also known as Liga Pepsi for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional ...

: Apertura 2014, Clausura 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Romeo 1990 births Living people Jamaican men's footballers 21st-century Jamaican sportsmen Jamaica men's international footballers St. George's F.C. players Highgate United F.C. (Jamaica) players Tivoli Gardens F.C. players Boys' Town F.C. players Portmore United F.C. players A.D. Isidro Metapán footballers Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Sligo Rovers F.C. players New Mexico United players Miami FC players National Premier League players Salvadoran Primera División players USL Championship players Men's association football forwards Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland 2015 Copa América players