 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Ian Parry | ||
| Date of birth | (1980-08-19)19 August 1980 (age 45) | ||
| Place of birth | Chepstow, Wales | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Chepstow Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1997 | Bristol City | ||
| 1997–1998 | Hereford United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2004 | Hereford United | 150 | (29) |
| 2004–2009 | Cardiff City | 192 | (24) |
| 2009–2012 | Preston North End | 80 | (6) |
| 2012–2014 | Shrewsbury Town | 70 | (11) |
| Total | 492 | (70) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2008 | Wales | 12 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Paul Ian Parry (born 19 August 1980) is aWelsh formerfootballer who is the assistant manager alongside Marc Ingles in theArdal South East sideChepstow Town. He is a formerWales international, and played forHereford United,Cardiff City,Preston North End andShrewsbury Town during a 16-year professional career.
Parry was born inChepstow. As a youngster he attended Chepstow Comprehensive School.
Parry suffers from a severe fear of flying (aviophobia) which, like other footballers such asDennis Bergkamp, has caused problems during his career due to his inability to sometimes travel with theWales team to far-away countries. He manages to overcome by taking tablets. It has also caused problems in his club career when his teams have travelled to opposite ends of Great Britain. He has often managed to get around the problem by travelling the long distances by car.[1]
He currently runs a property management company called Parry Property LTD, with his wife, Samantha.[2]
Parry started his career atBristol City where he spent two years as a schoolboy, before joiningHereford United as aYTS trainee.[3] He made his league debut for Hereford on 7 November 1998, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat away toLeek Town. His profile was raised after an excellentFA Cup performance againstLeicester City in the 1999/00 season. In this match, Parry so nearly scored the winning goal when he dribbled half the length of the pitch and hit the post when one-on-one with goalkeeperTim Flowers.[4]
He was Hereford's leading goalscorer in the 2002–03 season. On 19 December 2003, under the watchful eye of Cardiff City managerLennie Lawrence, Parry scored a hat-trick for Hereford in a 7–1 rout overForest Green. Soon after, Cardiff signed him for an initial fee of £75,000,[5] which would increase depending on appearances. Parry's final appearance for Hereford saw him score the winning goal in added time againstStevenage Borough.[6]
He quickly became a firm favourite with the Bluebirds fans under manager Lennie Lawrence. During this time Parry came close to leaving after the club revealed that it had large financial problems.[7] He was linked with a move toYeovil Town,[8] who had tracked Parry from his days at Hereford United,[9] but he eventually managed to avoid the cull of players, which included club captainGraham Kavanagh and star playersJobi McAnuff andPeter Thorne. He had continued to improve under new managerDave Jones where, at the time of Parry's departure, was the longest serving first team player at the club and was a huge favourite with the Bluebirds fans.
Parry began the 2007/08 season in fine form, forcing summer signingTrevor Sinclair out of the team with his impressive displays. His continuing good form also found him finding the net more often for Cardiff with goals againstQueens Park Rangers,Burnley,Ipswich Town andSheffield United leaving him as the Bluebirds joint top scorer by late December. His good form in the season and Cardiff's financial trouble saw several other Championship sides enquire about him,Norwich City even having a £750,000 offer rejected, but Parry stated that he did not wish to leave Cardiff.[10] January saw Parry return to the club he started his playing career at, Hereford United, when the two sides met in the fourth round of theFA Cup, with Cardiff winning 2–1.
Towards the end of the season, with a lack of strikers at the club, Parry was used primarily as a striker, playing alongside eitherJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink andSteve Thompson, and he would go on to finish the season as the club's joint top scorer, along withJoe Ledley, with 11 goals in all competitions. In April he suffered a hamstring injury during a 0–0 draw againstWest Bromwich Albion and he was forced to miss the remaining league games of the season as well as theFA Cup semi-final win overBarnsley. The injury meant he was forced into a long wait over his chances of appearing in thefinal,[11] but he did eventually manage to return in time and played all 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat toPortsmouth.
After stating his intent to be a regular as a forward for the club,[12] Parry opened his goalscoring account early in the 2008–09 season, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win overAFC Bournemouth in the first round of theLeague Cup, the team's second game of the season on 12 August.[13] However Parry soon reverted to playing as a winger due to the partnership ofRoss McCormack andJay Bothroyd and was forced to wait until 4 October before scoring his first league goal of the season in a 1–1 draw withBlackpool.[14] In February 2009, Parry made his 200th appearance in all competitions for Cardiff when he played in a 4–0 defeat toArsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
On 3 August 2009, Parry joined Championship rivalsPreston North End for a fee of around £300,000.[15][16] He made his debut againstBristol City in a 2–2 draw atDeepdale and scored his first goal for the Lilywhites in his fourth appearance during a 3–0 victory overBarnsley on 18 August. After being a reserve for most of the 2010/11 season, Parry regained his first team place, at the start of the new campaign in League 1, in PNE team at left-back putting in some brilliant performances.
On 9 July 2012, Parry signed for League One clubShrewsbury Town having turned down a new offer fromPreston North End. He made his debut for the club in the League Cup, in a 4–0 defeat against Yorkshire sideLeeds United atElland Road. Parry scored his first goal for the club on 14 August 2012, in a 1–0 win at home againstPreston North End. Parry finished the 2012–2013 season with 6 goals in 34 appearances. Following Shrewsbury's relegation the following season, Parry was released at the end of his contract.[17]
In January 2022, he came out of retirement to sign forCymru South sideRisca United.[18]
Parry made his international debut forWales on 18 February 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 4–0 win overScotland. It capped a remarkable rise for the midfielder who, at the time, had only made five appearances since joining Cardiff and had been playingConference football six weeks earlier.[19] He scored his first international goal in the 1–0 win overCanada on 30 May 2004.
In August 2007, Parry was called up to the Wales squad for theEuro 2008 qualifiers againstGermany andSlovakia but pulled out of the squad for personal reasons, which were later revealed to be due to going through a stressful divorce and custody battle.[20] His decision was branded "silly" by former Cardiff playerJason Perry.[21] However, on 15 January 2008 Parry stated that he would return to play for Wales if he was called upon by Toshack.[22] Parry returned to international football to win one more cap in a friendly match againstGeorgia before causing another shock by announcing his retirement from internationals at the age of 28,[23] later stating that he felt like a "spare part" in the Wales team after being overlooked during a2010 World Cup qualifying match againstAzerbaijan.[24][25]
During his time at Hereford Parry also played for theWales semi-professional team.[26]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 May 2004 | Racecourse Ground,Wrexham, Wales |  Canada | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
Parry's main position is as a winger on either the left or right side. However, he can also play as a striker, which he did on several occasions for Cardiff City. He likes to cut inside and have a shot on goal.
At the start of the 2011–12 season, Parry was mainly deployed as a left-back for Preston North End. Parry was initially selected because of a lack of full-backs, but he made the position his own during the course of the season.
