NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.89: Jack Parkinson
Years: 1903-1914
Appearances: 219
Goals: 128
Trophies: Second Division (1904-05), First Division (1905-06)
Jack Parkinson was a star striker for Liverpool in the early 20th century.
The Bootle-born player used his goalscoring instinct and blistering pace to net 128 times for the club, with 80 of them coming at Anfield.
Parkinson debuted in October 1903 and would go on to have a scoring ratio of roughly one goal every 1.7 games – better than that of Ian Rush, Roger Hunt and Billy Liddell, as well as other club greats.
In the 1904-05 season, when Liverpool won the Second Division, he was on the scoresheet 21 times from his 23 league and cup appearances. That tally was bettered in 1909-10 with 30 league goals in 31 outings.
In between, Parkinson was a First Division champion with the Reds in 1905-06, though an injury ruled him out for the majority of the campaign. Still, he came back to supply seven strikes in eight league appearances near the end.
“We are delighted to see the wholesome leaven of intelligence permeating his movements and some of his passes to the wing men are decidedly clever,” the club’s programme wrote of him in November 1910.
“He has also demonstrated a fondness for baffling the custodian with well-placed shots and not relying entirely on force to gain goals.”
Parkinson remained a consistent scorer in the campaigns that followed, joining Sam Raybould as the second member of Liverpool’s 100 goals club.
He departed in 1914 for Bury and still sits 12th on the Reds’ all-time top scorers list.
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