Debut:
11/11/1899 v Barnsley (A) 0-0 (League Division Two)
Farewell:
Transferred to Watford, 11/1900, £
Passed Away:
PA
Biography
After serving junior sides like Preston Ramblers, Preston Athletic and Fleetwood Rangers in his younger days, centre-forward Robert Parkinson embarked on a nomadic career that involved him continuously bouncing between the Football League and the Southern League.
His first taste of the Football League came on Christmas Day 1894 with a Rotherham Town side that also regularly featured former (Clements and Coupar) and future (Bryant) Newton Heath players. It was with one of them - Jimmy Coupar - that Parkinson crossed over to Southern League Luton Town in May 1895. He played 10 games and scored 4 goals there before appearing in Blackpool's inaugural Football League fixture in September 1896.
In 1897-98, Parkinson captained high-scoring Warmley in the Second Division of the Southern League then joined Nottingham Forest in October 1898. Mainly a reserve - he only made the first team twice - Bob was snapped up by Newton Heath the following winter. After he impressed in a scoring debut for the reserves on November 4th, 1899, he was promoted to the first team where he appeared in 22 consecutive matches.
Fifteen came in the league where Parkinson proved prolific - he got 7 goals, including five in consecutive outings around the turn of the century, which constituted a club record that stood until 1921. Heath lost only three of these games and conceded just nine goals, but the management decided to suspend Robert - and his old Rotherham mate, Willie Bryant - in March 1900, bringing to an abrupt end his Bank Street honeymoon.
While Bryant quickly shacked up with Blackburn, it took Parkinson until November to find another team, signing for Watford in the Southern League. He notched 5 goals in 15 matches with the London outfit in 1900-01 before joining Swindon Town that summer, although he did not make their first team. After retirement, Bob returned to live in Blackpool and work as a butcher. He also entered the local political field and was involved in a novelty game between 'Liberals' and 'Conservatives' in March 1906, though the papers did not specify his particular affiliation. Thanks to the tireless work of Charbel Boujaoude for extra info on Robert Parkinson. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude.
