Biography

Signing the some-time Macclesfield Town centre back, who has recently had a spell up front and rattled in a few goals, is not always going to be a positive move for a team with ambitions to succeed in the Championship. And when Jon “The Beast” Parkin arrived at Hull City in January 2006 and the full bulk of his post-Christmas being became apparent, hopes of a quality signing were not high. But Parkin, big boned but light of touch, had been defying the laws of football physics for years. He gave City two highly successful half seasons, embroidered by spectacular goals and a legendary winner against rivals Leeds United.
He scored on his January 2006 debut against Crystal Palace and after six starts he had netted four times, a prelude to the 2006 April Fools’ Day winner against Leeds United mentioned above. In June 2006 he returned to pre-season training and new manager Phil Parkinson was introduced to a man spectacularly out of shape, but by the time the Championship action started in early August Parkin was again a mobile and effective fulcrum for City’s attack, netting twice against his hometown club Barnsley and bagging another brace in September 2006 against Sheffield Wednesday, a rare victory for the Tigers in a televised fixture. Parkinson was replaced at the helm by Phil Brown in December 2006 and it quickly became clear that striker and manager did not see eye to eye – his goals dried up and after a poor performance in the return fixture against Barnsley Parkin was benched and then loaned to Championship rivals Stoke City, where he scored three times in 6 appearances. Denuded of striking options late in the season, Brown terminated the loan early in April 2007 and within a fortnight Parkin was coming off the bench to play against Stoke City teammates from two weeks earlier – to say his performance was low octane would be fair. This was his last game for the Tigers, he left the club in the 2007 close season.
Jonathan Parkin was born in Barnsley and began his career at his hometown club in the late 1990s. In April 1999 he made his senior debut in a League Division 1 fixture against Huddersfield Town and stayed on the fringes of the first team squad for two seasons, eventually getting four starts at centre back in April and May 2001. He made further appearances in the Tykes’ defence during the early weeks of the 2001/02 season before joining League Division 3 side Hartlepool United in December 2001 on a one month loan. He made just one appearance for Pools before returning to Barnsley, leaving Oakwell in January 2002 having made 11 senior appearances for the club.
In February 2002 Jon signed for League Division 3 side York City and despite still being regarded as a powerful central defender he scored a winner against Southend United on his debut for Terry Dolan’s side. He remained in the Minstermen’s first team for the rest of the 2001/02 season and kept his place for much of the 2002/03 season, playing in both defence and attack and scoring a reasonable haul of goals along the way. With former teammate Chris Brass at the York City helm for the start of the 2003/04 season, Parkin was used less frequently and by the final appearance of his first spell at York City in February 2004 he had scored 15 goals in 78 appearances.
In February 2004 he transferred to League Division 3 rivals Macclesfield Town where he was used to a full-time forward, though he scored only one goal during the rest of the season. Brian Horton, another ex-Hull City manager, was appointed to lead the Silkmen for the 2004/05 season and this relationship galvanised Parkin to new goalscoring heights. He netted six goals in his first five starts of the season and bagged his first senior hattrick against Notts County in January 2005 before Macclesfield ended the season with narrow defeat to Lincoln City in the play-offs. His 26 goals in the 2004/05 season were followed by a similar hit rate in the first half of the next season and by January 2006 Parkin had scored 36 goals in 78 appearances for Macclesfield Town ahead of his move to Hull City.
Parkin left Hull City and signed permanently for Championship side Stoke City in June 2007, where he was used primarily as impact substitute as the Potters were promoted to Premier League – Parkin contributed two goals in 32 appearances that season. Having started and scored in an August 2008 League Cup tie against Cheltenham Town, Parkin left Stoke City without making an appearance in the top flight – across his loan and permanent spells with the club he scored six goals for the Potters in 39 appearances.
In August 2008 Parkin joined Championship side Preston North End, after a goalless first three months at Deepdale he found his feet and the second half of the season he scored goals that helped the Lilywhites reach the play-offs only to lose in the semi-final to Sheffield United. Jon continued to serve Preston well during the 2009/10 season, netting a January 2010 FA Cup hattrick against Colchester United. He scored his third career hattrick against Leeds United in September 2010 but Preston were struggling in the lower reaches of the Championship table during the 2010/11 season and in January 2011 they decided to move Parkin on – he scored 31 goals for the Lilywhites in 108 appearances.
Parkin joined Championship contenders Cardiff City in January 2011 but made few starts as the Bluebirds reached the end of season play-offs, Jon was a late substitute in the semi-final second leg that Cardiff lost to Reading. By the end of August 2011 Parkin had scored two goals in 15 appearances for Cardiff City and his desire for first team football took him on three loan moves to Championship rivals Doncaster Rovers (September and October 2011, 5 appearances), League One side Huddersfield Town (November 2011 to January 2012, 3 appearances) and League One side Scunthorpe United (February to April 2012, six goals in 14 appearances).
in July 2012 Parkin left Cardiff City and signed for League Two side Fleetwood Town. Jon missed large chunks of the 2012/13 season to injury but did manage to net two hattricks in September 2012 against Morecambe and in March 2013 against Accrington Stanley. In the 2013/14 season Fleetwood reached the play-offs and won the Wembley final against Burton Albion – Parkin was deployed mainly as substitute and took his Fleetwood tally to 22 goals in 64 appearances. In July 2014 Parkin signed for Conference National side Forest Green Rovers and he twice helped Rovers reach the end of season play-offs, both times falling short of promotion to the Football League – Parkin scored 43 goals in 96 appearances in those two seasons. In July 2016 Jon moved to League Two side Newport County, after four goals in 11 appearances he rejoined Conference National side York City in November 2016, initially on loan then permanently from July 2017 until his retirement in August 2019. Parkin scored 44 goals in 84 appearances in his second spell for the Minstermen.
Following his playing career Parkin worked in football media and co-presented ‘Undr the Cosh’, a highly successful football interview podcast that Parkin hosted alongside another ex-Tiger Chris Brown.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 30 December 1981, Barnsley
Hull City First Game: 14 January 2006, Crystal Palace H (Championship), 24 years, 15 days old
Hull City Final Game: 21 April 2007, Stoke City A (Championship), 25 years, 112 days old
Clubs
Barnsley (1998-2002), Hartlepool United (2001-2002, loan), York City (2002, loan), York City (2002-2004), Macclesfield Town (2004-2006), Hull City (2006-2007), Stoke City (2007, loan), Stoke City (2007-2008), Preston North End (2008, loan), Preston North End (2008-2011), Cardiff City (2011-2012), Doncaster Rovers (2011, loan), Huddersfield Town (2011-2012, loan), Scunthorpe United (2012, loan), Fleetwood Town (2012-2014), Forest Green Rovers (2014-2016), Newport County (2016-2017), York City (2016-2017, loan), York City (2017-2019)
Hull City Record
Career: 52 apps, 12 goals
Jon ParkinSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005/06 | 18 (0) | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2006/07 | 22 (7) | 6 | 2 (0) | 1 | 1 (2) | 0 | – | – | – | – |