Frederick Parker (18 June 1886 – 5 January 1963), also known as Spider Parker or Bassie Parker, 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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

. He was the first person to enlist in the

Football Battalion The 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was an infantry battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, part of the British Army, which was formed as a Pals battalion during the Great War. The core of the battalion was a group of professional footbal ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He later served as

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 o ...

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Personal life

Parker was married with five children. During his early football career, he worked as a carter on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

. Parker served as a colour sergeant with the

of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

during the

. As

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he was the first person to enlist in the newly formed battalion in December 1914. Parker suffered with

trench foot Trench foot is a type of foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become red or bluish in color. As the condition worsens the feet can start to swell and smel ...

in 1917 and was lightly wounded in April 1918. After his retirement from football, Parker worked as a

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

London King's Cross railway station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

and as a cleaner at

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

offices. Following his death in January 1963, he was buried in

Southgate Cemetery Southgate Cemetery, sometimes known as Edmonton and Southgate Cemetery or Old Southgate Cemetery, is a cemetery in Waterfall Road, Southgate, London, run by the London Borough of Enfield. The cemetery was established by the Southgate Burial B ...

Career statistics

References

1886 births 1963 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football inside forwards Leyton Orient F.C. players Folkestone F.C. managers Sportspeople from Weymouth Footballers from Dorset British Army personnel of World War I Middlesex Regiment soldiers English football managers Southern Football League players Western Football League players Weymouth F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards Salisbury City F.C. (1905) players Folkestone F.C. players Southern Football League managers Leyton Orient F.C. non-playing staff Military personnel from Dorset Burials in England {{England-footy-forward-1880s-stub