"I hope my Wolves career is remembered with joy. I loved playing for this football club." Phil Parkes said that in 2024. He died this morning at 79.
Parkes spent the better part of two decades at Molineux — 382 appearances, nearly 18 years in the club's colours, and a record 127 consecutive league games in the early 1970s that Wolves themselves admit may never be broken. That's not a milestone that ages quietly. That's a number that puts modern squad rotation culture to shame.
A career built on the big moments
He made his first-team debut in November 1966 by saving a penalty in a 3-2 win over Preston. Fitting, then, that penalties would define some of his finest hours. He saved two in the UEFA Cup semi-final against Ferencvaros to help Wolves reach their first European final — a run that ended with a narrow defeat to Tottenham in the final itself.
Then came the League Cup campaign two years later. Parkes played every single round on the way to Wembley, only to be ruled out of the final through injury. Wolves beat Manchester City 2-1 without him. That kind of luck — doing all the work, missing the medal — is the sort of thing that defines a career in the cruelest possible way.
The Sedgley-born keeper, all 6ft 4in of him, was known affectionately as Lofty. He joined Wolves as a schoolboy in 1960, turned professional four years later, and didn't leave until March 1978 — bowing out with a 2-1 win at West Ham. A proper exit, at least.
After Wolves
His post-Molineux years took him to North America — Vancouver Whitecaps, Chicago Sting, San Jose Earthquakes, Toronto Blizzard, Oklahoma City Slickers. The early days of what would eventually become MLS. He retired, came home to Wolverhampton, and stayed close to the club through the Former Players' Association, a regular face around Molineux until a serious fall last year required emergency back surgery.
He never fully recovered. Wolves called him "one of the greatest ever goalkeepers to represent the club." The 127-game run alone makes that hard to argue with.
