Raymond Parkin (28 January 1911 – 18 July 1971) 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 at

inside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

and later in his career at

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent a large part of his career at

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 ...

, where he played mainly in the reserves, and also appeared for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, before becoming a regular member of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

side.

Football career

Parkin was born in

Crook, County Durham Crook is a market town in the County Durham (district), district and County Durham, ceremonial county of County Durham, Northern England. The town is located on the edge of Weardale, therefore is sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to Wearda ...

and played his youth football at

Esh Winning Esh Winning is a village, and location of a former colliery, in County Durham, England. It is situated in the River Deerness, Deerness Valley to the west of Durham, England, Durham. The village was founded by the Pease family in the 1850s to serv ...

before joining

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

as an amateur in October 1926. He made no first-team appearances for Newcastle and moved south to join First Division

in February 1928. His Arsenal debut came in a 5–1 defeat at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 1 January 1929. He was in and out of the side for the rest of the season and scored his first goals for Arsenal when he netted twice in a 7–1 victory over

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

on 30 March, with

David Jack David Bone Nightingale Jack (3 April 1898 – 10 September 1958) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. He scored 267 goals from 490 appearances in the Football League playing for Plymouth Argyle, Bolton Wanderers and Arsena ...

scoring four goals. Despite scoring three goals in five matches in his debut season, Parkin made no first-team appearances in the next two seasons, and it was not until September 1931 that he made another Football League appearance. On 30 January 1932, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory over

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. Although Parkin remained with Arsenal until January 1936, he only made eleven appearances in his final four seasons, before being transferred to

for a fee of £2,500. He appeared regularly for Arsenal's reserve team, making 232 appearances and winning the Combination League five times. In his eight years at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, he only made 26 first-team appearances, scoring 11 goals. After nearly two years at Middlesbrough with only six first-team appearances, he moved in September 1937 for a fee of £1,500 to

, where his former Arsenal teammate, Tom Parker, was manager. Parkin scored on his Saints debut, a 3–3 draw with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 18 September. He made 13 appearances at inside right, before losing his place to another new signing, Ted Bates in December. Parkin was recalled to the side in February, and remained in the side for the rest of the season, either at inside right or centre forward. The following season, Parkin was moved to right half to replace

Cyril King Cyril Emanuel King (April 7, 1921 – January 2, 1978) was an American politician who served as the second elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 1975 until his death in 1978. He also briefly served as acting governor in 1969, ...

, retaining his place for the rest of the season. In September 1939, he played twice before the Football League was abandoned for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Honours

Arsenal *

Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

(formerly the London Combination) champions: 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1934–35

World War II and after

During the

, "the Board gave permission for Parkin to guest for Holiday Sports". After 1945 he worked in a coalmine not far from

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, as an electrician.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkin, Ray 1911 births 1971 deaths People from Crook, County Durham Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Esh Winning F.C. players