Profiling those Saddlers that came and went in the blink of an eye...
AS WE embark upon a year of celebration to mark Walsall FC’s 125th Anniversary, a lot will, quite rightly, be said about the most popular players or those who have made the most appearances for the club over the years.But what about those players that came and went in the blink of an eye? They may have only appeared on a handful of occasions, but nevertheless, have made a contribution to the history of this great club of ours.
We will be highlighting some of the forgotten Saddlers from the Bescot Years, continuing with an imposing front-man...
Sam Parkin arrived at Banks’s Stadium from troubled Luton Town during the summer of 2009.
A powerful target-man, he possessed plenty of experience but found starting places hard to come by, making just eight starts and 19 appearances from the substitutes’ bench during the 2009/10 campaign.
During that time he found the net on three occasions – with two of those goals coming in the same week during the first month of the season.
Whilst he brought presence to the forward line, he was released at the end of the season and went on to play in the SPL with St. Johnstone before serving Queen of the South and latterly St. Mirren.
His early career had seen him come through the ranks at Chelsea and after loan spells at Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and Northampton Town, he was allowed to join Swindon Town on a permanent basis where his career really took off.
Establishing himself as a feared marksman in the lower Leagues with 67 goals in 124 League games for The Robins.
He was sold to Ipswich Town in the summer of 2005 only for injury to halt his progress and he eventually moved on to Luton Town where a combination of injuries and financial turmoil for The Hatters made it an unhappy spell at Kenilworth Road.