Aston Villa legend Harry Parkes dies
Mar 7 2009 by Tony Collins, Birmingham Mail
FORMER Aston Villa stalwart and Birmingham sports shop owner Harry Parkes has died after a long illness.
Harry, who made more than 300 appearances for the club and also sat on the board of directors, died peacefully at his home in Solihull on Wednesday.
He stopped playing in 1955 to concentrate on his successful sports shop in Corporation Street, which supplied all the Villa players with their boots.
The shop closed downwhen he retired.
His death, at the age of 89, is the fourth tragedy to hit Villa so far this year.
Johnny Dixon, who captained the club to FA Cup glory in 1957, died in January aged 85 after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
The same month saw the death of another ex-player, Vic Crowe, 76, who led the team to League Cup success in 1961.
And they were followed at the start of February by the death of Paul Birch, who lost his long battle with bone cancer at the age of just 45.
Former claret and blue Neil Rioch, who is the founder and chairman of the Aston Villa Former Players’ Association, led the tributes to Erdington- born Mr Parkes, who also played in a variety of positions for the club from centre-forward to full-back.
He said: “He was a director when I was at the club and I remember him very fondly.
“It was the time of the Docherty revolution in the late 1960s and 70s when the club was taken over by Doug Ellis and Harry was on the board.
“It was the turning point in the fortunes of Aston Villa.”
Neil added: “It has been a bad start to 2009.
