John Willie Parker (5 July 1925 – August 1988)John Willie Parker's profile at Barry Hugman's Footballers
/ref> 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 ...

. Parker started his career across the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

from his

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

birthplace as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

for Everton in 1947, though he did not make his debut until 1951. He was the club's leading scorer for four seasons in a row, from 1951–52 to 1954–55, scoring 31 times in 1953-54 as Everton was promoted from

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, one half of a prolific partnership with

Dave Hickson David Hickson (30 October 1929 – 8 July 2013) was an English professional footballer who played for Everton, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Liverpool, Cambridge City, Bury and Tranmere Rovers Club career Hickson started his football ca ...

. He left for

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 ...

in 1956, playing for the club until 1959, having made 82 appearances and scoring 43 goals.

References

1925 births 1988 deaths English footballers Everton F.C. players Bury F.C. players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Birkenhead {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub