Tom Parker (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Robert Parker | ||
| Date of birth | 19 November 1897 | ||
| Place of birth | Woolston, Southampton, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 November 1987 (aged 89) | ||
| Place of death | Southampton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Right back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1919–1926 | Southampton | 246 | (11) |
| 1926–1933 | Arsenal | 258 | (17) |
| Total | 504 | (28) | |
| National team | |||
| 1925 | England | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1933–1937 | Norwich City | ||
| 1937–1943 | Southampton | ||
| 1955–1957 | Norwich City | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Thomas Robert "Tom" Parker (19 November 1897 – 1 November 1987) was an English football player and manager.
Born in Woolston, Southampton, Parker began playing with local sides, such as Sholing Rangers and Sholing Athletic, before joining Southern League side Southampton as an amateur in 1918, just before the end of the First World War. In his first season for the Saints, he was playing in the War League and in friendlies, and made a total of 39 appearances, scoring 12 goals, of which 10 were penalties, thus making him the club's second highest scorer behind Bill Rawlings. In 1919, after the end of hostilities, professional football restarted and for the next seven seasons he was a virtual ever-present at right back, forming a successful full-back partnership with Fred Titmuss.
Parker was described in Holley & Chalk's The Alphabet of the Saints as "never the fastest of players, he had wonderful positional sense and his tackling was always well-timed".
Southampton became founder members of the Third Division for the start of the 1920–21 season and were promoted (as champions) to the Second Division in 1922. Southampton reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1925 but in the match at Stamford Bridge on 28 March 1925 they were eliminated by Sheffield United when Parker had a dreadful afternoon, first scoring an own-goal, then suffering a rare miss from the penalty spot (shooting straight at the 'keeper) before a mix-up between him and goalkeeper Tommy Allen gave Sheffield their second goal.
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