Born in Glasgow, Parker started his career with Junior team Ashfield, followed by three seasons at Rangers,[1][3] during which he had a scoring record of a goal every game but was always a backup to the equally prolific Willie Reid; Rangers won the Scottish Football League title in each of those years, but it is unclear if Parker was awarded any medals, having only featured in 2, 3 and 9 of the fixtures respectively.
With the situation unchanged at the beginning of a fourth campaign, he moved to England to play for Everton in 1913 for a fee of £1,500.[4] He finished as the top goalscorer for the Toffees in the 1913–14 and 1914–15 seasons, the latter of which he was the top goalscorer overall in the First Division while Everton was crowned champion.[5]
The First World War then interrupted Parker's career and ultimately robbed him of cementing a place amongst Everton's greats as he returned home from the conflict with a bullet lodged in his back.[4][6] The injury made him a shadow of his former self, and he was later sold to Nottingham Forest.[4]
^ abcJoyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 224. ISBN978-1905891610.
^John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)