Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English footballer who plays for West Ham United. He is a midfielder, who has represented England at every level; from under-15 to senior, for whom he has made one start and two substitute appearances. He won his three England caps while playing for three different clubs. He is known as a tough tackling central midfielder who likes to get forward.

Early life

Parker was born in Lambeth, Greater London,[1] and attended Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross Gate. As a 13 year old, he appeared in a well-known British advert for McDonald's, in which he played keepie uppie during their 1994 World Cup campaign.[2] Parker is a graduate of the Football Association's now-defunct national School of Excellence at Lilleshall.[1]

Club career

Charlton Athletic

After graduating from Lilleshall, he signed for Charlton Athletic as a trainee and made his debut as a substitute against Bury[1] in the first division on 23 August 1997, a game which ended 0–0. He signed his first professional contract with the club two months later.[1] Over the next couple of years he made only a few sporadic substitute appearances for Charlton, although he was one of the brightest prospects in English football. In October 2000 Charlton, now in the Premier League, loaned Parker to First Division side Norwich City[3] for two months to give the England under-21 some first team experience. At Norwich he scored once against Sheffield Wednesday.[4] On his return to The Valley, Parker was immediately called into the first team to replace injured captain Mark Kinsella. Parker played so well for Charlton that, upon his return from injury, Kinsella could not regain his place in the starting lineup. Parker soon became the linchpin of Charlton's midfield, combining tenacious tackling with an ability to carry the ball quickly from defence to attack and play telling passes, creating many chances for his teammates. There was talk that the Addicks would mount a serious challenge for Champions League qualification. He played 145 times for Charlton, scoring ten goals.[1]

Chelsea

Parker, who had been consistently linked with moves away from Charlton for several years, finally left the Valley on 30 January 2004 to join Chelsea for a fee of £10 million[5] after a protracted and acrimonious transfer saga. Curbishley, the Charlton manager, criticised his attitude following news of Chelsea's interest, accusing him of bad behaviour and saying that "...his conduct in training has not been what it should have been."[6] Parker was initially signed as cover for Claude Makélélé and Frank Lampard, but did not get too many chances to play in his preferred position. He scored his only goal for Chelsea against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.[7] Within just two months of signing for Chelsea, he made another substitute appearance for England on 31 March 2004, this time against Sweden. At the end of the 2003–04 season Parker was named as the PFA Young Player of the Year.[8]

Following the summer signings of Arjen Robben, and Tiago, Parker's first team opportunities were extremely limited during the 2004–05 season. His problems were compounded when he broke a metatarsal bone in a game against his former club, Norwich City.[9] This injury, coupled with the signing of Jiří Jarošík, served to add to the rumours that he would be sold by José Mourinho in the summer.

Newcastle United

Parker was sold the following summer, moving to Newcastle United in July 2005 for a fee of £6.5 million.[10] Parker became a regular in the Newcastle first team and was one of the few players at the club to show any consistency during an often difficult season in which Newcastle finished in 7th place, despite having a very poor start under Graeme Souness. His first Newcastle goal came against his former club Charlton in a 3–1 defeat.[11] In March 2006 he was diagnosed with glandular fever, putting an end to his season.[12] The timing was especially unfortunate for Parker, who had been playing well for Newcastle, as it ended any hopes he may have had of forcing his way into the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In July 2006, he was named Newcastle United's new captain by manager Glenn Roeder.[13] His first goal as captain came against Wigan Athletic in August 2006.[14] Parker scored his second goal of the season against Fulham in September 2006, but after he was substituted Newcastle conceded 2 goals and subsequently lost the game.[15] Despite Newcastle's poor form, his performances earned him a recall to the England squad in September after an absence of more than two years. In November, Parker scored a goal in the 116th minute against Watford in the Carling Cup and then scored in the penalty shoot-out to allow Newcastle to progress in the competition.[16] He scored his fourth goal of the 2006–07 season season against Tottenham in December 2006.[17]

Scott Parker was found to be the second best player in the country for December 2006 by Sky Sports and Opta Index. He led Newcastle on their way to Intertoto Cup victory and was presented with the UEFA Intertoto Cup plaque in March 2007 before the UEFA Cup first leg tie with AZ Alkmaar, which Newcastle won 4–2.

West Ham United

In June 2007, West Ham United signed Scott Parker for £7 million.[18] Due to injury, he did not make his first team debut until 26 September 2007 in the 1–0 League Cup victory against Plymouth Argyle.[19] His full Premier League debut came on 29 September 2007 in the 1–0 home defeat to Arsenal, a game which saw Parker sustaining yet another injury and being substituted by Hayden Mullins at half-time.[20] Parker scored his first goal for West Ham in the 2–1 win at Middlesbrough on 22 December 2007;[21] The match winner in the 90th minute.

In the 2008/2009 season Parker played a major part of West Hams' season and on 24 May 2009 was voted Hammer of the Year, by the club's supporters, for the 2008–09 season.[22] and became the first player since Julian Dicks in 1997 to retain the award after winning again on 4 May 2010.[23]

He was again one of West Ham's key players in the 2009-10 season, scoring the winning goal in a vital 3–2 win against Wigan Athletic, which ensured another season of Premier League football for West Ham.[24]

In July 2010, West Ham Chairman David Sullivan made a forceful public statement reiterating earlier comments that Parker was not for sale to another club at any price. His latest announcement came on the heels of a bid from Tottenham Hotspur and also very strong and public interest from Aston Villa.

International career

Scott Parker has represented England at every level from under-15 to the senior team.[1] He has 11 caps for the England under-21 team.[25]

Parker's international debut for the senior England team came on 16 November 2003 when he came on in the 66th minute as a substitute replacing Wayne Rooney in a 3–2 defeat against Denmark.[26]

Parker's form earned him a place in the starting line-up for England's European Championships qualifier away to Croatia. Parker was restricted to tracking back and covering due to the attacking players in the team like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. England boss Steve McClaren specifically told Parker to chase the wingers and assist the two wing backs, Gary Neville and Ashley Cole.

On 11 May 2010, Parker was revealed to be among Capello's 30-man preliminary squad list for the 2010 World Cup.[27]

If Parker gains another England cap while at West Ham, he will become the first player to receive his first four full caps whilst playing for four different teams.