| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen John Parkin[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1965-11-07)7 November 1965 (age 60)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Mansfield, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Wrexham (assistant manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1989 | Stoke City | 113 | (5) |
| 1989–1992 | West Bromwich Albion | 48 | (2) |
| 1992–1999 | Mansfield Town | 77 | (3) |
| Total | 238 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983 | England U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 1984 | England Youth | 2 | (0) |
| 1987–1988 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1996–1999 | Mansfield Town | ||
| 1999–2001 | Rochdale | ||
| 2001–2002 | Barnsley | ||
| 2003–2006 | Rochdale | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Stephen John Parkin (born 7 November 1965) is an Englishfootball manager and former player who played as adefender. As of 2021, he serves as the assistant manager atWrexham. He played forMansfield Town,Stoke City andWest Bromwich Albion and has been manager ofBarnsley, Mansfield Town andRochdale (two spells).[1][2]
Parkin was born inMansfield and began his career withStoke City, captaining the youth team to the final of theFA Youth Cup in 1984 where they lost out toEverton.[1] He made his senior debut againstNottingham Forest in1982–83 and was part of the defence which kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory.[1] He played 16 games in1984–85 in which was an awful season for Stoke as they suffered an embarrassing relegation, going down with a then record low points tally of 17. Parkin played 18 games in1985–86 under new managerMick Mills and fully established himself in the side in1986–87 making 46 appearances as Stoke missed out on the play-offs by six points.[1]
He played in 50 matches in1987–88 before a groin injury restricted him to only four appearances in1988–89.[1] Parkin then moved on toWest Bromwich Albion where he spent three seasons making 54 appearances scoring twice. He joined his home-town clubMansfield Town in July 1992 and was a player atField Mill for four seasons making 96 appearances scoring four goals before retiring to become manager of the club.[1]
Parkin started his managerial career atMansfield Town at the start of the1996–97 season afterAndy King was sacked. Parkin, only 30 at the time, and club captain, took over as a caretaker manager, but went to last three seasons with the Stags, missing out closely on the play-offs in two of his three seasons. Parkin left Mansfield after his position became untenable due to a transfer embargo on theNottinghamshire club, and joined Rochdale in the summer before the1999–2000 season.
Parkin's first spell at Rochdale was a great success, and he lifted the Lancashire club from the depths of the league to an 8th-place finish in his first season. The team's success paved the way for big money signings likePaul Connor andClive Platt.
On 9 November 2001 Parkin leftSpotland and joinedBarnsley. Parkin's spell at Barnsley was not a productive or a successful one. Barnsley were in the relegation place at the time of his take over inDivision One and with a small transfer budget, Parkin could not improve their position and Barnsley were relegated in April 2002. With debt-ridden Barnsley struggling to stave off a second successive relegation, on 15 October 2002, the club went into administration and Parkin along with his assistantTony Ford both lost their jobs.[3]
Parkin did not find a managerial position for 14 months after his departure from Barnsley, although he expressed an interest in taking over atColchester United.[4] He became assistant manager atNotts County shortly after his sacking.[5]
In December 2003, Parkin went back to his former job at Rochdale, where Ford had already been re-employed as assistant-manager to Parkin's predecessorAlan Buckley.[6] His first duty was to save Rochdale from relegation that season, which he did with a few games to spare, adding talent such asGrant Holt to the ranks, although Rochdale's final position was lower than when he took over. His second season saw Dale nearly reach the play-offs, but stumble late in the season. In the2005–06 season, Parkin guided the club to what many saw as a backward step, only narrowly avoiding relegation.
Both Parkin and Dale were under an increasingly significant amount of pressure following a poor start to the2006–07 season, which saw Rochdale gain only six points from eight matches. During the course of the season Dale lost arguably one of their best players of recent years,Rickie Lambert, an attacking midfielder/striker who was sold toBristol Rovers for £200,000 on transfer deadline day in August 2006. Parkin's position became untenable and he was sacked shortly before Christmas.[7]
In January 2007 he was installed as the first-team coach forChampionship sideHull City, working alongsidePhil Brown andBrian Horton. On 15 March 2010 he took over as joint caretaker manager withBrian Horton afterPhil Brown was put on gardening leave.[8] In June 2010Nigel Pearson was appointed at the full-time successor to Phil Brown, and opted to bring his own backroom staff with him from his previous position at Leicester City, bringing to an end Parkin's association with the club.[9]
On 6 October 2010, it was announced that Parkin would be swapping the north for the south bank of the Humber, joining newly appointed managerIan Baraclough atScunthorpe United.[10][11] Parkin joinedBradford City as assistant manager toPhil Parkinson on 22 September 2011.[12]
On 10 June 2016, he linked up with Parkinson once again as the Assistant Manager ofBolton Wanderers, signing a two-year contract at theMacron Stadium.[13] On 2 November 2019 Parkin once again followed Parkinson, and became Sunderland's Assistant Manager.[14]But on 28 November 2020,Sunderland "parted ways" with their then managerPhil Parkinson, as Parkin also departed.[15] On 1 July 2021, Parkin again followed Parkinson toNational League sideWrexham.[16]
Source:[17]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke City | 1982–83 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1983–84 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 1985–86 | Second Division | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| 1986–87 | Second Division | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 43 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 3 | |
| 1988–89 | Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 113 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 137 | 5 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 1989–90 | Second Division | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 1991–92 | Third Division | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 54 | 2 | ||
| Mansfield Town | 1992–93 | Second Division | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 1993–94 | Third Division | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 1994–95 | Third Division | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| 1995–96 | Third Division | 26 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| Total | 77 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 96 | 4 | ||
| Career Total | 238 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 284 | 11 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Mansfield Town | 1 October 1996 | 2 June 1999 | 143 | 54 | 41 | 48 | 037.76 |
| Rochdale | 16 June 1999 | 9 November 2001 | 127 | 51 | 39 | 37 | 040.16 |
| Barnsley | 9 November 2001 | 15 October 2002 | 44 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 027.27 |
| Rochdale | 31 December 2003 | 16 December 2006 | 152 | 44 | 51 | 57 | 028.95 |
| Total | 466 | 161 | 145 | 160 | 034.55 | ||
