Three games into the 1972/73 campaign, Parkin had been admitted to hospital for medical tests over suspected heart trouble, bringing to an end a total of 233 successive league appearances, 173 of them for Wolves.
He had been feeling unwell for a while and was admitted as a precaution, believing at this stage that he was suffering from a virus picked up on the summer tour of Australia. Parkin remembers the shock of his admission: “There was something they picked up on, whether it was a virus or a heart murmur we won’t ever know.”
John Dee reported: “Derek Parkin, Wolves’ England under-23 defender, has been given the all-clear to play football again following exhaustive tests this week on a suspected heart condition that had threatened his career. The announcement that Parkin can return to the game was made at Molineux today by a relieved and delighted Bill McGarry, the Wolves boss, who has been without the services of his 24 year-old defender since the end of last August.”
Some years later ‘Squeak’, as he was known by teammates, remembered the relief of this long-awaited positive diagnosis: “I was very lucky that they took me to see this specialist in London. He did have a look inside, it’s quite a common operation now but was pioneering then. They went in through the arm, into the chest area and put a camera in, an angiogram.
They took me back to the ward and this specialist, Mr Gibson, came straight up. I was panicking, Norma and me and two young kids, we’d just bought a house and this was it, sink or swim. I could have kissed the guy when he told me everything was alright and I just phoned Norma straight away. Mr Gibson was a lovely man and I went to see him every year after that, he became a friend really.”
On 3rd February 1973, Parkin returned to playing action and scored the winner in a 2-1 West Midland League victory over Hereford United at Castlecroft, his first game since 19th August. Having been given a clean bill of health he went on to make two Central League appearances, against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
A home draw with Newcastle a fortnight later was memorable for Parkin’s long-awaited first team return and he appreciated the coincidence of it being against his home town team: “It’s surprising how things have a habit of doing that. When I had my heart scare I remember that my first game back was against Newcastle, it was ironic really when I thought about it.” Squeak’s relief was tangible: “With two kids, a missus and a mortgage it was great to be back!”
Happily, Parkin went on to become the club’s all-time record appearance maker, with 607 starts and two as a substitute. The leading 300 Club member had become the most expensive full-back in Britain when Ronnie Allen signed him from Huddersfield Town on Valentine’s Day 1968. In over 14 years at Molineux, ‘Squeak’ would be one of the first names pencilled onto the team sheet, being ever present in four seasons, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1976/77 and 1978/79.
He only missed two games in the 1979/80 campaign and this was one of five times that he played 50 or more competitive matches in a season for Wolves. Between 1969 and 1971 he made five appearances for the England under-23 team but somehow failed to be given a full cap. Of course, Parkin earned two League Cup winner tankards, in 1974 and 1980. He was one of the four (Hibbitt, Palmer and Richards the others) to be in both winning teams, and his 34th appearance in the competition was a club record.
A game at Swansea’s Vetch Field on 31st October 1981 was a real red letter day for Parkin, whose 491st league appearance beat Billy Wright’s club record that had stood since 1959. Before the home game with Coventry City on 7th November he was presented with an award by ball boys to mark his record-breaking achievement. He went on to record his 500th league outing for Wolves at Villa Park on 13th March 1982. However, this proved to be his last match as his 15 seasons at Molineux ended with a free transfer to Stoke City.
There can be little doubt that Derek Parkin will long remain number one in Wolves’ appearances list, quite likely for ever. This seemed highly unlikely back in that traumatic 1972/73 season but is the mark of the man that he bounced back in style.
Words: Clive Corbett
