Philip Parkes (born 14 July 1947) is an English former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He was

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

' first-choice keeper for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Career

Born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

, Parkes, nicknamed "Lofty" for his booming kicks upfield, joined Wolves in 1962 straight from school and turned professional two years later. After several years in the reserve league, he made his first-team debut on 19 November 1966, saving a penalty in a 3–2 win over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. For the following nine seasons, Parkes missed few Wolves games and – over the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons – appeared in 127 consecutive league matches, breaking

Noel George Frank Noel George (26 December 1897 – 1929) was an English footballer in the 1910s and 1920s who played as a goalkeeper. Early career and Army Born in Lichfield, he started playing as a forward with Hednesford Town before joining the Royal Ar ...

's club record. In 1967, Parkes accompanied Wolves as they went to the United States to perform as

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer Leag ...

in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

, a professional league that imported teams to represent American cities and which, a year later, would merge with a rival league to form the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

. Parkes anchored the team as it proceeded to win the USA title, defeating

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. The n ...

(represented by

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

) in the final. Parkes would return to the United States two years later, in a similar "guest" role, as Wolves represented

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an United States, American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City M ...

in the NASL's

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

"mini-season." The keeper won a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

runners-up medal in 1972, after saving two penalties in the semi-final tie with

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

to help the club to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. However, he missed out on a winners medal in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, when he broke an ankle in the run-up to the 1974 final,"Proud day tinged for Wolves hero"
''ExpressAndStar.com'', 28 February 2009 (Retrieved: 25 July 2009) after having played in all the previous rounds. He traded the goalkeeper's role with

Gary Pierce Gary L. Pierce (born c. 1952) is a former Arizona Corporation Commissioner and a former member of the Arizona House of Representatives. Political career In the House of Representatives, Mr. Pierce served as the Majority Whip (2005–2006). He ...

over the next two seasons, until Pierce made the spot his own as Wolves won the Second Division championship in 1976–77. Nonetheless, Parkes stayed on the books at Molineux until 1978. With opportunities limited at Wolves, the goalkeeper had returned to North America to play in the North American Soccer League, with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

in the summers. He served the Canadian club in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, the latter seeing him win the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

. He was also voted the league's top goalkeeper for 1977 and 1979, after keeping teammate

Bruce Grobbelaar Bruce David Grobbelaar (born 6 October 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, most prominently for English team Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, and for the Zimbabwean national team. He is remembered fo ...

out of the side. He moved on to the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...

for

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and part of

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, before joining the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

for the remainder of the 1981 season. Parkes left the NASL to help lead the upstart

Oklahoma City Slickers The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Le ...

of the American Soccer League to the league finals in the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

season, but he left the Slickers in the middle of the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

season to return to the NASL with the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

, making just one appearance before retiring from playing. Parkes also participated in the 1980–81 NASL indoor season, playing half of one match for the Chicago Sting.

References

External links

NASL stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Phil 1947 births Living people American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Chicago Sting (NASL) players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Men's association football goalkeepers Los Angeles Wolves players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Oklahoma City Slickers (ASL) players Footballers from West Bromwich San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players English Football League players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players United Soccer Association players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players