Anthony "Tony" Parks is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, Oxford United

Oxford United F.C.

Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

, Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, Brentford

Brentford F.C.

Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

, Fulham

Fulham F.C.

Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

, West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, Stoke City

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...

, Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

, Scarborough

Scarborough F.C.

Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

 and Halifax Town

Halifax Town A.F.C.

Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

, and in Scotland for Falkirk

Falkirk F.C.

Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Falkirk. It is one of two professional football teams from the town, the other being East Stirlingshire...

.

Parks was born in Hackney

Hackney Central

Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street. It is situated north east of Charing Cross...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and began his football career with Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

. Though never a first-team regular, he was on the winning side in the 1984 UEFA Cup Final

1984 UEFA Cup Final

The 1984 UEFA Cup Final was a football tie played on 9 May and 23 May 1984 between R.S.C. Anderlecht of Belgium and Tottenham Hotspur F.C. of England. Tottenham won 4–3 on penalty kicks after the tie finished 2–2 on aggregate.-First leg:...

, in which he saved the decisive penalty

Penalty kick

A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 in the shootout. In a career spanning over 20 years, he was on the books of 15 different clubs, making more than 250 league appearances, and had two spells as joint caretaker manager

Caretaker manager

In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...

 of Halifax Town

Halifax Town A.F.C.

Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...

.

After his playing career ended, Parks went on to work as a goalkeeping coach with several clubs and as one of the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

's national coaches, working with the England youth teams. In November 2008, he succeeded Hans Leitert

Hans Leitert

Hans Leitert is an Austrian goalkeeping coach. He has coached at VfB Mödling, SK Rapid Vienna, FK Austria Vienna, the Austria national under-21 team, Panathinaikos and Tottenham Hotspur. He joined Tottenham in May 2008 from Recreativo de Huelva, replacing Hans Segers, who left the club in October...

 as goalkeeping coach for Tottenham Hotspur.

External links

• League stats at Neil Brown's site