Tom Parker (footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Robert "Tom" Parker (November 19, 1897 – November 1, 1987) was an English football player and manager.
Born in Woolston, Hampshire, Parker began playing with local sides, before joining Southern League side Southampton in 1919. He played for the Saints for seven seasons at right back, as they were founder members of the Third Division in 1920. Southampton were promoted to the Second Division in 1922, and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1925. Parker also won a solitary cap for England, against France on May 21, 1925. In all he played over 200 matches for Southampton.
In the spring of 1926, Parker was signed by Herbert Chapman's Arsenal, and made his debut against Blackburn Rovers on April 3, 1926. This was the first match of 172 consecutive first-team matches for Arsenal, a club record that still stands today. Reliable and assured at the back, Parker became Arsenal captain, and skippered the club to their first Cup final (1927), which they lost 1-0 to Cardiff City. Parker's luck was better with his next trip to Wembley in 1930 – Arsenal beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 and Parker became the first Arsenal captain to lift the FA Cup trophy.
Parker went on to captain Arsenal to their 1930-31 Championship triumph, and the 1932 Cup final (which they lost, controversially, to Newcastle United). However, by this time Parker was nearly 35, and the following season he was replaced at right back by George Male. He left the club in 1933 to become manager of Norwich City. He played 294 matches for Arsenal, scoring 17 goals (the majority of them being penalties, as he was the club's first-choice taker). Despite being an FA Cup and League-winning captain, he never won any further England caps to add to the one he picked up at Southampton.
With Parker as manager, the Canaries won the Third Division South in 1933-34 and thus promotion to the Second Division. Parker moved back to his old club Southampton in 1937, but the Second World War soon intervened and put a halt to competitive football. He later had a second, less successful spell at Norwich in the 1950s which saw the club finish at the bottom of the League, before returning to Southampton to work as chief scout.
