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Date and Place of Birth 10th January 1968 - Thornaby
Transfers to and from Burnley from Bolton Wanderers - 27th January 1994 (£80,000) to Preston North End - 1st August 1997 (£50,000)
First and Last Burnley Games Cambridge United (h) - 29th January 1994
Watford (h) - 3rd May 1997
Other Clubs Everton, Middlesbrough, Southend United (loan), Bolton Wanderers ---------------------------------------- Preston North End, Blackpool |
Burnley Career Stats
| Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Others | Total | |||||
| apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | apps | gls | |
| 1993/94 | 20 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 23 | 2 |
| 1994/95 | 42(1) | 2 | 5 | - | 4 | - | - | - | 51(1) | 2 |
| 1995/96 | 29 | - | 1 | - | 4 | - | 2 | - | 36 | - |
| 1996/97 | 43 | 1 | 4 | - | 4 | - | 1 | - | 52 | 1 |
| Total | 134(1) | 4 | 10 | - | 12 | - | 6 | 1 | 162(1) | 5 |
Profile by Tony Scholes
There aren't many Burnley players who can claim to have scored a winning goal for the club at Wembley - indeed only one, and that was Gary Parkinson in the 1994 Division Two Play Off Final against Stockport County.
Parkinson netted the winner in a 2-1 win in the second half as the Clarets came from behind to beat a nine man Stockport side. He'd been at Burnley for just four months after an £80,000 move from Bolton and this was his second goal, and a far more important one than the first which had come in a 3-1 defeat at Leyton Orient.
He'd started his football career as an apprentice with Everton, but homesickness forced him back home and he eventually signed for Middlesbrough at a time when the club was just about at rock bottom.
When he made his debut for them in August 1986 against Port Vale the game had to be played at Hartlepool because they'd been locked out of their then ground of Ayresome Park by the receiver. It looked as though they would go out of business.
But they survived, as did Parkinson, and he played in every game that season as they won promotion to the second tier, and he was in the side that won another promotion in the following season.
They had a run of promotions and relegations and he eventually played in the inaugural season of the Premier League. However, during that season he had a loan spell with Southend and by the end of the season he'd moved to Bolton after over 200 league appearances for Middlesbrough.
The destination was no surprise. The manager at Bolton was Bruce Rioch who had been in charge at Middlesbrough for most of the time he'd been in the side. Unfortunately he couldn't break into that Bolton side with Phil Brown at right back and it was then Jimmy Mullen stepped in to sign him in January 1994.
Mullen had been searching for a right back after letting Ian Measham go. A number of players had occupied the position but once Parkinson signed he was straight into the side and remained there for much of the next three and a half seasons.
His first full season at Turf Moor was not a successful one for the club as we suffered relegation just a year after that Wembley success. But Parkinson was one of the success stories at right back, and who can forget that amazing last minute equaliser at Grimsby in a 2-2 draw as we went on a run of ten league games without defeat.
As the Clarets struggled after relegation so did Parkinson with a hamstring injury that forced him to miss a number of games but the 1996/97 season was a different story. He had arguably his best season for Burnley as the side improved and played in all but three of the games.
He was selected by his fellow players for the PFA Division Two Team of the Season but his Burnley career was coming to an end. He was out of contract in the summer of 1997 and was offered a new deal by manager Adrian Heath. There had though been rumblings of discontent between player and manager but it was a shock when he turned the deal down and opted for a move to Preston.
Back in 1997 there was still a fee to pay for out of contract players but Burnley were very disappointed when the tribunal decided Preston should pay only £50,000 for one of the best players in the division.
Just as at Burnley he was first choice at Deepdale, but after a season and a half with the club he suffered a cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for some time and he missed the entire 1999/2000 season when both his current and previous clubs won promotion.
He did play in the following season but at the end of 2000/01 he moved to Blackpool in a £20,000 deal. He had just two seasons there before retiring from league football but went on to play for such as Stalybridge Celtic and Rossendale United.
He didn't leave the game and did his coaching badges and that was rewarded in the summer of 2006 when he returned to Bloomfield Road to become Head of Youth Development. It's a role he still holds.
It was a blow when he left. Richard Huxford was the first player asked to fill the right back position at the start of the 1997/98 season and there have been several others since.
It's approaching twelve years since he left Burnley (at the time of writing in 2009) and the club's moved on some distance since. But I wonder just how many of those right backs since you would consider were better than Gary Parkinson.
As a footnote, Gary Parkinson once said in an interview a few years ago that he couldn't even remember scoring at Wembley for Burnley, he had no memories of it at all. I can assure you Gary, we do.
In September 2010 Gary suffered a serious stroke that has left him with locked-in syndrome, allowing him to communicate only with his eyes. Former clubs have rallied round to support him and his family.
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