John Parke (footballer)

For other people with the same name, see John Parke (disambiguation).

John Parke
Personal information
Date of birth (1937-08-06)6 August 1937
Place of birth Bangor, Northern Ireland
Date of death 27 August 2011(2011-08-27) (aged 74)
Place of death Belfast, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Cliftonville
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1963 Linfield
1963–1964 Hibernian 21 (0)
1964–1968 Sunderland 85 (0)
1967 → Vancouver Royal Canadians (loan)[1] 7 (0)
1968 KV Mechelen 39 (0)
Total 152+ (0+)
International career
1963–1967 Northern Ireland 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Parke (6 August 1937 – 27 August 2011) was a footballer, who played for Linfield, Hibernian, Sunderland, Vancouver Royal Canadians, KV Mechelen and the Northern Ireland national football team as a full back.

Club career

He started his professional footballing career in his native Northern Ireland with Cliftonville before joining their rivals Linfield in 1954.[2] Having been a key player in the club's 'Seven Trophy' season of 1961/62, he moved to Scotland with Hibernian in 1963 where he made 23 appearances, scoring no goals. Parke moved to Sunderland in November 1964[3] and made his debut on 21 November, against Sheffield United in a 3–0 defeat at Bramall Lane.[4] He went on to make 85 league appearances for the club.[5] He joined Belgian club KV Mechelen before retiring in 1968.[2]

International career

He won his first cap for Northern Ireland on 12 November 1963 in a 2–1 win against Scotland. He went on to make a further 13 caps for his country, making it a total of 14 caps, with 0 goals.[2]

Death

Parke died of Alzheimer's disease in 2011, aged 74.[6]

References

  1. ^ "NASL-John Parke".
  2. ^ a b c "John Parke". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  3. ^ "John Parke". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Sheffield United 3-0 Sunderland". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  5. ^ "John Parke". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  6. ^ Notice of death in The Belfast Telegraph