Born in
West Bromwich, Parkes, nicknamed "Lofty" for his booming kicks upfield, joined Wolves in 1962 straight from school and turned professional two years later. After several years in the reserve league, he made his first-team debut on 19 November 1966, saving a penalty in a 3–2 win over
Preston North End. For the following nine seasons, Parkes missed few Wolves games and – over the
1971–72 and
1972–73 seasons – appeared in 127 consecutive league matches, breaking
Noel George's club record. In 1967, Parkes accompanied Wolves as they went to the United States to perform as
Los Angeles Wolves in the
United Soccer Association, a professional league that imported teams to represent American cities and which, a year later, would merge with a rival league to form the
North American Soccer League. Parkes anchored the team as it proceeded to win the
USA title, defeating
Washington Whips (represented by
Aberdeen) in the final. Parkes would return to the United States two years later, in a similar "guest" role, as Wolves represented
Kansas City Spurs in the NASL's
1969 "mini-season." The keeper won a
UEFA Cup runners-up medal in 1972, after saving two penalties in the semi-final tie with
Ferencváros to help the club to
the final. However, he missed out on a winners medal in the
League Cup, when he broke an ankle in the run-up to the
1974 final, after having played in all the previous rounds. He traded the goalkeeper's role with
Gary Pierce over the next two seasons, until Pierce made the spot his own as Wolves won the Second Division championship in
1976–77. Nonetheless, Parkes stayed on the books at
Molineux until 1978. With opportunities limited at Wolves, the goalkeeper had returned to North America to play in the North American Soccer League, with the
Vancouver Whitecaps in the summers. He served the Canadian club in
1976,
1977 and
1979, the latter seeing him win the
Soccer Bowl. He was also voted the league's top goalkeeper for 1977 and 1979, after keeping teammate
Bruce Grobbelaar out of the side. He moved on to the
Chicago Sting for
1980 and part of
1981, before joining the
San Jose Earthquakes for the remainder of the 1981 season. Parkes left the NASL to help lead the upstart
Oklahoma City Slickers of the
American Soccer League to the league finals in the
1982 season, but he left the Slickers in the middle of the
1983 season to return to the NASL with the
Toronto Blizzard, making just one appearance before retiring from playing. Parkes also participated in the
1980–81 NASL indoor season, playing half of one match for the Chicago Sting. ==References==