William Parry (18 February 1933 in Blaenau Ffestiniog – 20 May 2009) was a Welsh

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 played most of his professional career with Gillingham. He was spotted by scouts for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

while on trial for a Welsh amateur international selection, and joined them in 1950. He moved to Gillingham after 5 years, in the hope of gaining more first team experience, and went on to play 220 matches for the Kent side from 1955 to 1961, including 200 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. He finished his career with non-league sides

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

where he was captain of the side that won the Southern Football League, and

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

, retiring from the game in 1966. He settled in Rochester, Kent after his playing days, and his son David continued the family ties to Gillingham, becoming a matchday announcer.Obituary on Gillingham FC site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Bill 1933 births 2009 deaths Welsh footballers People from Blaenau Ffestiniog Sportspeople from Gwynedd People from Rochester, Kent Gillingham F.C. players Margate F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players English Football League players Sittingbourne F.C. players Association football defenders