Paul Parker

Paul Parker
Personnel
Surname	Paul Andrew Parker
birthday	April 4th 1964
place of birth	West Ham / London ,  England
size	170 cm
position	Right full-back
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1982-1987	Fulham FC	153 (2)
1987-1991	Queens Park Rangers	125 (1)
1991-1996	Manchester United	105 (1)
1996	Derby County	4 (0)
1996	Sheffield United	10 (0)
1997	Fulham FC	3 (0)
1997	Chelsea FC	4 (0)
1997-2000	Farnborough Town
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1989-1994	England	19 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Paul Andrew Parker (born April 4, 1964 in West Ham , London , England ) is a retired English football player who was particularly successful as a player for the Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United during his playing career . He also made a name for himself by performing well at the 1990 World Cup in Italy , when he was one of the best players in the English national team .

Athletic career

Parker began his career as a center- back at Fulham FC before joining the Queens Park Rangers. There he made a name for himself as a reliable and quick defensive player , although he has grown relatively small for a player in this position. Due to his above-average performance and his simultaneous use as a right full-back , the English national coach Bobby Robson noticed him and enabled Parker to make his debut against Albania in 1989 .

In his club he continued to play in the central defensive position, while in the national team a duel with Gary Stevens delivered for the right-back post. For the 1990 World Cup, he was initially called up as a substitute for Stevens in the squad, but after a disappointing performance by Stevens in the opening game against Ireland - which ended 1-1 - Parker joined the team after only five international matches .

He took his chance, formed a duo with Chris Waddle on the right side and made it to the semi-finals with his team, in which they faced Germany . Parker was supposed to be involved in two crucial scenes there.

At 0-0, Parker, running out of the wall, falsified a free kick by Andreas Brehme from around 20 meters in the second half so unfortunate that the ball in a high arc over English goalkeeper Peter Shilton to 0-1 deficit flew into the gate. The goal was awarded to Brehme, but Parker tried hard to make up for this unfortunate move, which he succeeded in the 81st minute.

On the right side he took the ball and crossed high into the German penalty area, where he found his teammate Gary Lineker . The German defenders blocked each other in the defense attempt and involuntarily made room for Lineker for a shot on goal, who could then use the situation to equalize 1: 1. Even after extra time , the game was still 1-1 and the penalty shoot-out meant that England had to be eliminated from the tournament. In the meaningless match for third place against Italy , Stevens came back on the team and Parker, who had been one of England's most positive appearances in the tournament, was substituted on again.

After the World Cup, however, his prospects in the national team suddenly deteriorated again when the new national coach Graham Taylor increasingly relied on Lee Dixon from Arsenal FC as right-back in almost all qualifying games for the 1992 European Championship in Sweden . At the European Championship tournament itself, Parker, Dixon, Stevens and Rob Jones were supposed to be injured in advance , so that Taylor had to put a trained central defender on the right side. Since there was no player available there who - like Parker - could handle both game positions in the same quality, this weak position in the English game was one of the reasons why England were eliminated after the first group stage.

During this time, Parker was sold to Manchester United by Queens Park Rangers, who were always a little below their potential, for £ 2 million in August 1991, where he made his debut as a right-back - which has now been his regular position in club football - against Notts County that same month . Unfortunately, Parker struggled with injuries during his five-year stint at Old Trafford and was unable to permanently return to the team after winning championships in 1993 and 1994 when the club began to dominate the English league under Alex Ferguson play.

In addition to the championship titles mentioned, he won the English League Cup in 1992 and the FA Cup in 1993 . In the last two years Parker - even more so due to his vulnerability to injuries - could no longer seriously compete with the up-and-coming Gary Neville , who would then inherit him as a right defender at both Manchester and the English national team.

Parker had previously played an important qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup in the United States against the Netherlands in Rotterdam in October 1993 after an 18-month international break. England lost the game 2-0 and Parker's second World Cup appearance was out of reach.

When Terry Venables took over the post of England coach in 1994, he nominated Parker for the first game of his tenure - a 1-0 win against Denmark at Wembley - and gave the starting position to Neville from then on. After 19 internationals, Parker had to end his career in the English national team.

In 1996 Parker left Manchester United on a free transfer and, after a few brief engagements, switched to amateur football, where he also took on coaching duties. Parker is often asked as an expert in the English media, especially on issues relating to the Queens Park Rangers, Manchester United or the England national team.

successes

• English champion: 1993, 1994
• FA Cup winner: 1994
• English league cup winner: 1992
• Charity Shield winner: 1993, 1994

Web links

• Photo by Paul Parker