Tom Parkes

Tom Parkes

Parkes playing for Bristol Rovers in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Peter Wilson Parkes [1]
Date of birth	(1992-01-15) 15 January 1992 (age 32) [2]
Place of birth	Sutton-in-Ashfield, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Hartlepool United
Number	4
Youth career
2006–2010	Leicester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Leicester City	0	(0)
2010	→ Burton Albion (loan)	22	(1)
2010–2011	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	1	(0)
2011	→ Burton Albion (loan)	5	(0)
2011–2012	→ Burton Albion (loan)	4	(0)
2012	→ Bristol Rovers (loan)	14	(0)
2012–2016	Bristol Rovers	161	(6)
2016–2017	Leyton Orient	41	(1)
2017–2019	Carlisle United	76	(2)
2019–2021	Exeter City	62	(3)
2021–2024	Livingston	21	(1)
2024–	Hartlepool United	40	(2)
International career
2008–2009	England U17	18	(1)
2014–2015	England C	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:38, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

Thomas Peter Wilson Parkes (born 15 January 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Hartlepool United. Mainly a centre-back, he can also be deployed as a left-back.

Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, he started his career with Leicester City. He had four loan spells with Burton Albion and one each with Yeovil Town and Bristol Rovers. He moved to Bristol Rovers permanently in 2012 where he won two promotions and was named as the club's Player of the Year and was included in the Conference Team of the Year for the 2014–15 season. He left in 2016 for Leyton Orient and then spent two seasons with Carlisle United. He moved to Exeter City in 2019. He spent two years with Exeter and moved to Scottish side Livingston in 2021. After three seasons with Livingston, he returned to England, signing with Hartlepool United in 2024.

Club career

Leicester City

Parkes with Leicester City in 2010

Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, ^[2] Parkes started his career at Leicester City where he is a product of their youth academy. Parkes' first involvement with Leicester's first team came when he was named as an unused substitute as Leicester beat Swansea City 2–1 at the Walkers Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup. ^[3]

Loan spells

On 22 January 2010 Parkes joined Burton Albion on a one-month loan deal to help ease their injury crisis, ^[4] making his debut the following day, playing the full 90 minutes of Burton's 2–3 come back win away at Torquay United. ^[5] On 30 January, Parkes agreed to extend his loan at Burton until the end of the 2009–10 season. ^[6]

On 1 December 2010, Parkes secured a loan move to League One side Yeovil Town until January 2011 ^[7] Parkes made two appearances for the club the first being a 0–0 draw against Colchester United in a Football League One match. The second was a 4–2 defeat to Hartlepool United in the FA Cup.

On 24 March 2011, Parkes joined Burton Albion on loan for a second time until the end of the 2010–11 season. ^[8]

Parkes joined Burton Albion on a sixth month loan deal at the start of the 2011–12 season. However this came to a premature end after only three league games after Parkes suffered a broken ankle. ^[9] He made his return by being named on the bench on 14 January 2012 in a match against Plymouth Argyle.

Following the end of his loan at Burton Albion, Parkes was an unused substitute for Leicester's 2–0 victory over Swindon Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup. A few days later, Parkes joined up with fellow Leicester loanee Cian Bolger, at Bristol Rovers on an initial month-long loan deal. Parkes made his debut against Morecambe on 11 February, re-uniting his academy defensive partnership with Bolger. On 21 April, he was sent off for a dangerous two footed challenge on Port Vale's Chris Shuker; opposition manager Micky Adams defended Parkes, saying that in his experience "the boy is not that type of player". ^[10]

Bristol Rovers

Tom Parkes joined Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed fee on 20 August 2012. ^[11] He made his debut on 21 August 2012 in a 1–1 draw against Barnet, playing the full 90 minutes. ^[12] On 18 September 2012, he scored his first goal for in a Rovers shirt in away match against west country rivals Plymouth Argyle. ^[13]

On 20 November 2012, he suffered a fractured ankle in a 4–0 loss away at Port Vale at Vale Park and returned to action on 1 December 2012 in the 2–0 loss to Wycombe.

When John Ward was appointed manager in December 2012, Parkes was awarded the captain's armband and picked up the League Two Player of the Month award for February 2013. ^[14]

In September 2013, Parkes agreed a contract extension at Rovers to keep him at the club until 2016. ^[15] That season would end in disappointment for Parks and Rovers as the club were relegated out of the Football League for the first time since their election in 1920. ^[16]

Parkes remained with Rovers for their first campaign in the Conference Premier as Darrell Clarke guided the side to a second place finish in the league, missing out on automatic promotion by just one point. They would however go on to seal promotion at Wembley Stadium, beating Grimsby Town in the 2015 Conference Premier play-off final. ^[17] Parkes made 51 appearances in all competitions during the season, the most of any player at the club, and was named Bristol Rovers' Player of the Year at the end of the campaign. ^[18]

The 2015–16 season saw Parkes struggle to hold down a regular place in the side as Mark McChrystal and Tom Lockyer were generally favoured in the centre back positions. Rovers went on to secure back-to-back promotions to League One following a 92nd minute winning goal from Lee Brown. ^[19] Parkes, along with the rest of Rovers' senior players, was offered a new deal at the club. ^[20] He elected to bring his time at Rovers to an end though, deciding to join Leyton Orient ^[21]

Carlisle United

He was offered a new contract by Carlisle at the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[22]

Exeter City

On 27 May 2019, Parkes joined Exeter City. ^[23] In August 2019 he received a three-match ban for violent conduct. ^[24] He scored his first goal for the club in the 4–0 win against local rivals Plymouth Argyle. ^[25]

On 12 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Exeter at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract. ^[26]

Livingston

On 3 June 2021, Parkes agreed to join Livingston following the expiration of his Exeter contract, signing a one-year contract with the potential to rise to three years. ^[27] Parkes scored one minute into his competitive debut for the club, when he opened the scoring in an eventual 3–0 victory over Brechin City. ^[28]

Hartlepool United

Parkes warming up with Hartlepool United in 2024

On 8 January 2024, Parkes signed for National League club Hartlepool United. ^[29] He made his Hartlepool debut the following day as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 defeat to AFC Fylde. ^[30] Early in his Hartlepool career he formed a strong partnership with Luke Waterfall in central defence. ^[31] On 6 April, Parkes scored his first Hartlepool goal in a 2–0 home win against Aldershot Town. ^[31] At the end of the season, Hartlepool took the option to extend his contract. ^[32] On 30 November, Parkes made his 500th career appearance in a 0–0 home draw with Barnet. ^[33]

International career

At international level, Parkes has represented England at under-17 level 18 times, scoring once. Parkes was a member of the unsuccessful England Under-17 squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Personal life

Parkes was prosecuted in July 2016 for drink driving after crashing his stepfather's car in the Leamington area of Sutton-in-Ashfield. ^[34]

Career statistics

As of match played 14 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup [a]		League Cup [b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leicester City	2009–10 [35]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010–11 [36]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2011–12 [37]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Burton Albion (loan)	2009–10 [35]	League Two	22	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	1
Yeovil Town (loan)	2010–11 [36]	League One	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Burton Albion (loan)	2010–11 [36]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2011–12 [37]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		31	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	1
Bristol Rovers (loan)	2011–12 [37]	League Two	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
Bristol Rovers	2012–13 [38]	League Two	40	1	0	0	0	0	1 [c]	0	41	1
	2013–14 [39]	League Two	44	1	5	0	1	0	1 [c]	0	51	1
	2014–15 [40]	Conference Premier	46	4	1	0	—		4 [d]	0	51	4
	2015–16 [41]	League Two	31	0	0	0	1	0	2 [c]	0	34	0
	Total		175	6	6	0	2	0	8	0	191	6
Leyton Orient	2016–17 [42]	League Two	41	1	1	0	0	0	2 [e]	0	44	1
Carlisle United	2017–18 [43]	League Two	37	1	5	0	2	0	3 [e]	0	47	1
	2018–19 [44]	League Two	39	1	0	0	1	0	2 [e]	0	42	1
	Total		76	2	5	0	3	0	5	0	89	2
Exeter City	2019–20 [45]	League Two	31	2	2	0	0	0	8 [f]	0	41	2
	2020–21 [46]	League Two	31	1	1	0	0	0	1 [c]	0	33	1
	Total		62	3	3	0	0	0	9	0	74	3
Livingston	2021–22 [47]	Scottish Premiership	8	1	0	0	3	1	—		11	2
	2022–23 [48]	Scottish Premiership	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2023–24 [49]	Scottish Premiership	9	0	0	0	3	1	—		12	1
	Total		21	1	0	0	6	2	—		27	3
Hartlepool United	2023–24 [40]	National League	19	1	0	0	0	0	1 [g]	0	20	1
	2024–25 [40]	National League	21	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	24	1
	Total		40	2	2	0	0	0	2	0	44	2
Career total			447	16	18	0	11	2	26	0	502	18

1. Includes FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
3. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
4. One appearance in FA Trophy, three appearances in Conference Premier play-offs
5. Appearances in EFL Trophy
6. Five appearances in EFL Trophy and three in League Two play-offs
7. Appearance in FA Trophy

Honours

Bristol Rovers

• Football League Two third-place promotion: 2015–16 ^[50]
• Conference Premier play-offs: 2015 ^[17]

Individual

• Football League Two Player of the Month: February 2013 ^[14]
• Conference Premier Team of the Year: 2014–15 ^[51]
• Bristol Rovers Team of the Year: 2014–15 ^[18]

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Exeter City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 28. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 328. ISBN   978-1-84596-601-0.
3. "Leicester 2–1 Swansea". www.LCFC.co.uk. Leicester City F.C. 2 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
4. "Burton sign Atkins and Parkes to ease injury worries". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
5. "Torquay 2–3 Burton". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
6. "Parkes extends loan deal". www.BurtonAlbionFC.co.uk. Burton Albion F.C. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
7. "Parkes secures loan move". www.LCFC.co.uk. Leicester City F.C. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
8. Parkes Loaned Back To Burton Archived 26 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine LCFC.COM, 24 March 2011
9. "Defender Parkes fracture Ankle". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
10. Shaw, Steve (23 April 2012). "Match analysis: Port Vale 1, Bristol Rovers 0". The Sentinel. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
11. "Leicester City's Tom Parkes agrees Bristol Rovers switch". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
12. "BBC SPORT – Barnet 1–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
13. "BBC SPORT – Plymouth 1–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
14. "Tom Parkes Wins Player of the Month". Football League. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
15. "PARKES AGREES CONTRACT EXTENSION". Bristol Rovers Official Website. bristolrovers.co.uk. 11 September 2013.
16. "ROVERS RELEGATED". Bristol Rovers Official Website. bristolrovers.co.uk. 3 May 2014.
17. "Rovers return after penalties". BT Sport . sport.bt.com. 17 May 2015.
18. Brookman, Keith (2015). The Long Road Back. Bristol: Tangent Books. p. 105. ISBN   9781910089194.
19. "Bristol Rovers 2–1 Dagenham: Lee Brown goal sends Rovers up". Sky Sports. 7 May 2016.
20. "NEW DEALS IN THE POST". Bristol Rovers F.C. 12 May 2016.
21. "NEWS: O's complete Parkes deal". Leyton Orient F.C. 15 June 2016.
22. "Carlisle United release eight players after League Two season completed". BBC Sport. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
23. Tom Parkes signs for Exeter City, exetercityfc.co.uk, 27 May 2019
24. "Exeter City: Tom Parkes suspended for three games after violent conduct charge". BBC Sport. 13 August 2019.
25. "Exeter City 4–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport.
26. "📝 Retained List announced - News - Exeter City FC".
27. "Tom Parkes joins the Lions!". livingstonfc.co.uk. 3 June 2021.
28. "Brechin City 0–3 Livingston". livingstonfc.co.uk. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
29. "Tom Parkes joins Pools". Hartlepool United FC. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
30. Ledwith, Gavin (9 January 2024). "Hartlepool United remain four points from National League relegation zone after 2–1 defeat at second-bottom AFC Fylde". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
31. Stelling, Robbie (6 April 2024). "Tom Parkes delighted to get off the mark as defender scores first goal for new club as Hartlepool United beat Aldershot Town 2–0". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
32. "Retained List 2023/24". Hartlepool United FC. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
33. Stelling, Robbie (30 November 2024). "Hartlepool United 0–0 Barnet: resolute Pools extend unbeaten run thanks to hard-fought point against league leaders". Hartlepool Mail. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
34. "Former Leicester footballer crashed borrowed car while drunk in Sutton". Chad. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
35. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
36. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
37. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
38. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
39. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
40. "T.Parkes summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
41. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
42. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
43. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
44. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
45. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
46. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
47. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
48. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
49. "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
50. "Bristol Rovers 2–1 Dagenham: Lee Brown goal sends Rovers up". Sky Sports. 7 May 2016.
    "Games played by Tom Parkes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
51. "Rovers players in team of the season". Bristol Rovers. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2023.

External links

• Tom Parkes at Soccerbase