George Parris

Football player infobox2
playername= George Parris


fullname = George Parris
nickname =
height = 5' 9"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1964|09|11
cityofbirth = Barking
countryofbirth = England
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1982 – 1993
1993 – 1995
1994
1994
1995
1995
1995 – 1997
1997
1997
1997 – 1998
clubs = West Ham
Birmingham
→ Brentford (loan)
→ Bristol City (loan)
→ Brighton (loan)
IFK Norrkoping
Brighton
Southend
→ Kettering (loan)
St Leonards
caps(goals) = 239 0(12)
039 00(1)
005 00(0)
006 00(0)
01800(0)
004 00(0)
053 00(3)
001 00(0)
00?
00?
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =

George Parris (born September 11 1964 in Barking, Essex) is an English former professional footballer.

Background

Parris played district, county and national football for Redbridge, Essex and England Under 15 as a schoolboy. He was invited to train at West Ham United when he was 13 and signed as an apprentice in July 1981 when he left school.

West Ham United

Parris turned professional the following year in September 1982. A lengthy spell of reserve team football followed before he made his First Division debut in the final match of the 1984-85 season at home against Liverpool in May 1985. He made a handful of appearances in the first half of the 1985-86 season, then replaced the injured Steve Walford at left-back and impressed as the West Ham won eleven of their last 14 games to finish third in the table. Parris made 48 league and cup games appearances in the 1986-87 season. The arrival of left-back Tommy McQueen in March 1987 saw Parris move briefly to midfield but he returned to the left-back position for much of the 1987-88 season until the arrival of Julian Dicks in March 1988, whose form led to Parris playing at right-back or midfield for most of the rest of his career at West Ham.

He made 32 league and cup appearance in the 1988-89 season as West Ham reached the semi-finals of the League Cup but were relegated to Division Two, and 49 league and cup appearances in the 1989-90 season as West Ham again reached the semi-finals of the League Cup. He made 55 league and cup appearances in the 1990-91 season, returning to left-back when Julian Dicks suffered a severe knee injury in October 1990, scoring in four successive games in January 1991 and helping West Ham to promotion back to the First Division and to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. His performances that season saw him voted as runner-up to Ludek Miklosko as 'Hammer of the Year'. Parris made only 27 league and cup appearances in the 1991-92 season, which ended for him when he suffered a knee injury against Aston Villa on Boxing Day that required surgery and then collapsed during his comeback game against Arsenal in March 1992 with a suspected heart-related problem. He returned to the first-team in the opening game of the 1992-93 season against Barnsley and made 18 league and cup appearances before Birmingham City made an offer for him in March 1992. Parris had made 300 first-team appearances for West Ham, scoring 20 goals.

Birmingham City

Parris joined Birmingham City in March 1993 for a fee of £100,000, where he was made captain. Injuries and a change of manager in November 1993 saw him fall out of favour and he spent the 1994-95 season on loan at Brentford, Bristol City and Brighton before being released. Parris had made 42 league and cup appearances for Birmingham City.

Brighton and Hove Albion

After a trial with Stoke and a short spell with Norrköping in Sweden,cite news|title =The day George left a goalkeeper red-faced| publisher=The Argus | date = 2001-11-24 | url =http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2001/11/24/167711.html | accessdate = 2007-08-27 ] Parris signed a permanent deal with Brighton in September 1995 and stayed for two seasons. He was made captain and made 63 first-team appearances before being released on a free transfer in May 1997. He was best remembered for an impudent goal against Bristol Rovers in October 1995 when he came from behind the Rovers goalkeeper as he released the ball to dispossess him and score.

Later career

After leaving Brighton, Parris played one league game on a non-contract basis for Southend and also played for non-league clubs Kettering Town, St Leonards, where he was also assistant manager, and Shoreham, where he was player-manager. After retiring from playing, he worked as a part-time activities organiser at the Ovingdean Hall school for deaf children in Sussex. [cite news|title =Youth in Action: Parris gets an eyeful of community spirit| publisher=The Argus | date = 2001-01-24 | url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2001/1/24/183421.html | accessdate = 2007-08-27 ] He now works as a sports coach at the University of Sussex. [cite news|title =FA Cup flashback | publisher=BBC Sport | date = 2006-04-22 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/4923490.stm| accessdate = 2007-08-27 ]

References

*cite book |last= Blows |first= Kirk |coauthors= Ben Sharratt |title =Claret and Blue Blood |publisher =Mainstream Publishing (Edinburgh) Ltd |date =2002 |pages =pp. 178-181 | isbn =1840184892

*cite book |last= Northcutt |first= John |title =The Definitive West Ham United F.C. |publisher =Soccerdata |date =2003 |pages =pp. 100-108 | isbn =1899468196

*cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1 903135 50 8 |pages=p. 161
*cite web | title =George Parris | work =Soccerbase | publisher =Racing Post |url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=6132 | accessdate = 2007-08-27

External links

*Soccerbase|6132
* [http://www.westhamstats.info/westham.php?west=2&ham=518&united=George_Parris George Parris] at westhamstats.info