Scott Parker

Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player.

He was most recently the manager of Club Brugge.

As a 13-year-old, he appeared in a well-known English advert for McDonald's, in which he played keepie uppie, during the 1994 FIFA World Cup campaign.

Parker is a graduate of The Football Association's now-defunct national School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

After graduating from Lilleshall, Parker signed for Charlton Athletic as a trainee and made his first-team debut as a substitute against Bury in the First Division on 23 August 1997, a match which ended 0–0.

He signed his first professional contract with the club two months later.

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, then in the Premier League, loaned Parker to First Division club Norwich City for two months to give the England under-21 international some first-team experience.

At Norwich he scored once against Sheffield Wednesday.

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 line-up.

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.

Parker has represented England at every level from under-16 to senior, making his full debut in 2003.

Uniquely, he won his first four England caps while playing for four different clubs.

At the end of the 2003–04 season, Parker was named as the PFA Young Player of the Year.

Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and was loaned to Norwich City, before joining Chelsea for a £10 million fee in January 2004.

He did not play regularly at Chelsea, and moved to Newcastle United the following year, where he was made captain.

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 on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a £10 million fee.

Alan 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."

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 in a 2–0 win against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on 11 February.

Following the summer signings of Arjen Robben and Tiago Mendes, Parker's first-team opportunities were limited during 2004–05.

Although he found first-team opportunities hard to come by at Chelsea, he was a regular starter in Chelsea's League Cup matches, a competition where he played in three consecutive victories against West Ham, Newcastle and Fulham.

His problems were compounded when he broke a metatarsal bone in a match against his former club, Norwich City.

Due to this injury, Parker missed both legs of the League Cup semi-final against Manchester United and the final against Liverpool, although he took part in the celebrations.

Parker was sold the following summer, moving to Newcastle United in July 2005 for a £6.5 million fee.

He 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 seventh 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 on 25 March 2006.

Later that month he was diagnosed with glandular fever, putting an end to his season.

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 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In July 2006, he was named Newcastle United's new captain by manager Glenn Roeder, succeeding the retired Alan Shearer.

Parker joined West Ham United in 2007, and was the FWA Footballer of the Year for the 2010–11 season despite the club being relegated.

Parker was a member of the England team which reached the quarter-finals at UEFA Euro 2012.

He was then signed by Tottenham Hotspur and joined Fulham in 2013.

He would play 119 league matches for Fulham in both the Premier League and the Championship, before retiring at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Parker was appointed caretaker manager of Fulham in February 2019, and hired on a permanent basis that summer.

In his first season in charge, he guided them to promotion to the Premier League after winning the Championship play-offs, but they were relegated back the following season.

He then left to join AFC Bournemouth in 2021, and again won promotion from the Championship in his first season.

After a 9–0 loss to Liverpool in the club's fourth league game of the season, he was dismissed, and then hired by Club Brugge from which he was sacked after 12 games, in March 2023.

Parker was born in Lambeth, Greater London, and attended Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross.