Tony Parkes obituary: The Yorkshire football stalwart who made his name on the other side of the pennines
Tony Parkes, who has died at 76, was one of the longest serving players in Blackburn Rovers’ history, with an association that began with his £5,000 move from Buxton in 1970 and ended in 2004.
Born in Sheffield in 1949, Parkes was part of the team which lifted the Third Division title in 1975 and secured immediate promotion back to the second tier following the club’s relegation in 1979.
A striker turned midfielder, he became a constant presence: part of the 1974-75 promotion side under Gordon Lee and influential in the team that rose back to the second tier under Howard Kendall in 1980.
Parkes retired with a broken leg in 1982 having scored 46 goals in 409 appearances for the club, becoming first-team coach under new manager Bobby Saxton and going on to serve six spells as caretaker manager and was part of the backroom staff when the club won the Premier League in 1995.
The most significant of his caretaker stints came in the 1996-97 season following the departure of Ray Harford when he steered the club away from relegation danger.
After leaving Ewood Park in 2004 Parkes served as a scout for Leicester before becoming assistant manager to Simon Grayson at Blackpool, where he later had a spell in caretaker charge after manager Grayson left to join Leeds United.
Parkes’ swansong was in 2010 when at age 61 he returned to Blackburn Rovers as a scout.
Afflicted with Alzheimer’s in later life, his life away from the pitch was centred on his family and he preferred time at home with his late wife Eileen and his daughter Natalie to making public appearances.
However he was persuaded to turn out to the North West Football Awards to accept a lifetime achievement award.