Tony Parkes: a tribute
If you were to list Kenny Dalglish’s qualities you’d definitely include timing, a mischievous streak and an appreciation of others’ loyalty and hard work. All of those were evident when the Blackburn Rovers manager addressed his first-team coach Tony Parkes in their dressing room before the Football League Second Division play-off final at Wembley on May 25, 1992. Dalglish waited until Parkes had got his track-suit on before saying, “Come on, Tony, get a suit on.” Parkes was perplexed. Track-suit and boots were his work clothes. He’d hung his smart Wembley suit up.
But Dalglish had a reason. Parkes was part of the fabric of Rovers when the Scot arrived a year earlier to begin the Jack Walker revolution. Parkes embodied the club: committed, sleeves rolled, hard working, down to earth. He’d been there since 1970 when he’d signed from Buxton for £5,000. The midfielder gave everything on the pitch for 12 years, played 409 games, scored 46 goals and was stopped eventually only by a broken leg. Parkes then gave everything off the pitch, becoming a first-team coach under Bobby Saxton, then caretaker when Saxton left in 1986 (three wins, one draw, two defeats).
In the modern era, the likes of Parkes are increasingly rare: player, coach and repeated caretaker at the same club. People move around more often. People also get moved on as new owners and/or new managers come in. Loyalty and longevity are less prevalent. Parkes’ career was different – he became a byword for devotion.