Typing the word ‘hero’ into Google yields the following: “A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”. As a younger generation West Ham fan with a memory only going back to the 1997/98 season, one player stands out for me as a hero far above the rest. That player is Scott Parker.
Parker was at the club for four full seasons, which sounds short, but is relatively long serving in this day and age. During his spell with us he won the ‘Hammer of the Year’ award three times in a row, the only player to do so before or since being Trevor Brooking. Only Brooking, Billy Bonds, Bobby Moore and Julian Dicks have won it more times, and Parker well deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as these legends.
He was a player that always gave everything for the team and wasn’t one to absolve responsibility. The fans took to him immediately because of this. West Ham fans will always like a player who is committed to the shirt, even if they are verging on useless (Tomas Repka springs to mind), but Scotty was talented too. His trademark ‘Parker Pirouette’ would leave opposition midfielders clueless and create space for a pass, while his crunching slide tackles would get the crowd on their feet. His box to box runs deserved more than the ten goals he netted for us, and he was even known to play when injured or ill for the sake of the team.
Unfortunately for Parker, he played in some of the worst West Ham sides in recent history. The Icelandics’ term at the helm was a complete shambles, and he also had to endure the misery that was Avram Grant. Parker single-handedly kept us up in the 09/10 season, and very nearly repeated that the next, his rousing team talk inspiring the Hammers to come back from 3-0 down at half time away at West Brom. During those two bleak years he could easily have handed in a transfer request and gone to a bigger club. He remained loyal, possibly to the detriment of his career; he never did properly cement his place in the England squad and is now plying his trade at Fulham.
So Parker was courageous and had noble qualities. He lacked silverware when he was with us, but that shouldn’t take away from his outstanding personal achievements. By Google’s definition, Scott Parker is a West Ham hero.
i know but he put transfer request straight away when we went down remember westham revived his carier sorry mate i would call charton cole legand rather him
Parker is single handidly the most overrated player in west hams history
I know you say you are a younger fan but please dont mention parker in the same sentence as billy bonds – true hero and west ham legend. Not saying parker wasnt a good player for us because he was – just couldnt give hero status to someone who puts in a transfer request because we were relegated – something bonds never ever did
I’m glad all the comments so far are from people who know what they are talking about !
Got player of the year at west ham , got back in England squad at west ham . Part of a team that got relegated so owed us till January atleast instead didn’t even celebrate scoring for us ! Could of been a legend for us instead just a journey man midfielder soon to be forgotten
Agree with you mate- I’m 23. Scotty was a great player for us and deserves all the plaudits he gets.
In response to Shaz- Billy Bonds went on to manage Millwall! Not saying he isnt a legend but you cant criticise Parker for the transfer request on that basis. Similarly with Lomas- great player for whu but now managing Millwall! You cant blame them for wanting to further their careers
Only gripe would be your comment about Repka. He was far from useless mate! I’d have him over Demel at right back any day of the week!
sorry mate repka was not useless he was hard played his heart
Not another bloody article on Scott Parker ?? Hero ????? No mate, simpy a distant memory and just another player who wanted out at a time we badly needed him. Wholehearted, but technically average player. Very limited and in my book overated.
It pains me to see you’ve mentioned Parker in the same article as Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds; two guys that gave their entire careers to West Ham and played through thick and, often, thin. That’s why Billy got a standing ovation the other week from the older fans like me who truly worshipped the guy for his 21 year (yes, read that bit again) career at Upton Park. He didn’t give us three years then bugger of to Spurs.
PLEASE….no more mentions of this de-valued ex-Hammer.
Gonna give my age away a bit here but Parker barely scrapes into my top ten way behind Bobby Moore,Billy Bonds,Trevor Brooking,Phil ,Parkes to name just 4
he went to tottenham right? Tottenham is probably biggest rival and in the same city..
Where exactly is he now? Fulham?
Parker owes much more to West Ham than the team to him.
Stop being losers. The team is going to the Olympic stadium has to change level (upwards that is).
Some very misguided comments here, people with short memories or rose tinted specs. Parker carried a mediocre bunch of underachievers for the best part of 3 years. He served his time and gave it his all. No goal celebration ? Maybe it was someone else that ran half the length of the field to throw himself into GFZ’s arms when we beat Wigan in 2009/10 to stay up. Yes, Bonzo and Trev (my two all time heroes) were special, but TB checked out with Ron Greenwood whether or not his England career would suffer when we went down in ’78, the implication being that he would have considered a move otherwise. No-one compares with Bonzo, it’s not even worth going there. And, let’s face it, the money wasn’t in the game then – no real wage differential being at 2nd division West Ham or a first division club. As to Repka ? A bone-headed liability. Along with G**y B***n (sorry, I can’t bring myself to say his name) a major factor in why we went down in 2003. Don’t confuse players hanging around for years on silly money with the concept of loyalty to fans and club. CC definitely loyal. A legend ? No.