Harold Parker
St Kilda
AFL career
3 games0 goals
- Debut
- R9 1911 v COL17 June 1911
- Most recent
- R14 1911 v MEL22 July 1911
Stats
Bio
Recruited from the Essendon District Football League, Harold Parker was a teenage warehouseman who earned his opportunity during St Kilda's chaotic 1911 season. With the club in turmoil due to a player strike and administrative disputes, the Saints cycled through a VFL-record 62 players that year, opening the door for Parker to play three games as a forward. His brief career was indicative of the team's struggles, with contemporary reports noting a raw inexperience that included a notorious incident against Melbourne where he mistook the behind posts for the goals. Parker's football journey was cut short by the outbreak of World War I, where he enlisted and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant with the 37th Battalion. Tragically, he was mortally wounded during a trench raid near Armentières in 1917 and died in German captivity, remaining honoured today as one of the club’s fallen heroes through the local Johnson-Parker Medal.
Profile
- Full name
- Harold C. Parker
- Born
- 26 Sept 1892
- Died
- 30 Jan 1917 (aged 24y 126d)
- Birthplace
- Elsternwick, VIC
- Deathplace
- Lille, France
- Height
- 175 cm
- Weight
- 83 kg
Teams
Bio
1 revisionRecruited from the Essendon District Football League, Harold Parker was a teenage warehouseman who earned his opportunity during St Kilda's chaotic 1911 season. With the club in turmoil due to a player strike and administrative disputes, the Saints cycled through a VFL-record 62 players that year, opening the door for Parker to play three games as a forward. His brief career was indicative of the team's struggles, with contemporary reports noting a raw inexperience that included a notorious incident against Melbourne where he mistook the behind posts for the goals. Parker's football journey was cut short by the outbreak of World War I, where he enlisted and rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant with the 37th Battalion. Tragically, he was mortally wounded during a trench raid near Armentières in 1917 and died in German captivity, remaining honoured today as one of the club’s fallen heroes through the local Johnson-Parker Medal.