QPR and West Ham goalkeeper, and once British football's most expensive transfer
FootballPhil Parkes was the goalkeeper other goalkeepers watched. Tall, calm, and unfussy, he built his reputation on positioning and handling rather than theatre, and for a generation of First Division strikers he was the figure they least wanted to see filling the goal.
He came through at Walsall before becoming a fixture at Queens Park Rangers, where he made more than 400 appearances and earned the nickname The Great Man. In 1979 West Ham United paid QPR a world record fee for a goalkeeper to bring him to Upton Park, a then staggering sum that reflected just how highly he was rated. At West Ham he won the FA Cup in 1980, helping the Second Division side beat Arsenal at Wembley in one of the shock finals of its decade.
Parkes won only one full England cap, a statistic that even now supporters of a certain vintage will grumble about. He had the misfortune of arriving at his peak during an era when England could also call upon Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence, a goalkeeping inheritance the country has rarely enjoyed since.
In retirement he has stayed close to the game through coaching, community work and fundraising, particularly around West Ham. A modest and well-liked figure who lets the records and the reputation speak for him.
Two decades of world class speakers in the basement at EC3. Want to book Phil Parkes or someone like them? Tell us what you need and we will come back with a plan.
Start an enquiry