‘RIP my friend’ - Town players and fans pay tribute to club stalwart Dick Parker
Dick Parker, who worked at Ipswich Town for 20 years, died at the weekend. Picture: ARCHANT
Ipswich Town players past and present, plus fans, have been paying tribute to club stalwart Dick Parker.
Parker, who had worked at the club for 20 years, most recently as Academy kit man and caretaker at the training ground, died at the weekend.
Blues boss Mick McCarthy led the tributes yesterday, saying: “It’s desperately sad news. It has affected everyone at the club. He was much-loved by the players, by all the staff at the training ground.
“He would be the first one in and the last one to leave. The club will have to employ three people to replace him.
“He was a big character, a big personality. Even the eight-year-old Academy boys loved him and called him the giant.
“He was a gentle giant and he will be missed greatly by us all.”
And players ranging from star goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski to ex-fan favourite Matt Holland have since added their own tributes on Twitter.
Most Read
- 1 'We're going to push back!' - Ashton's message to Norwich City
- 2 Mystery of container ships at anchor off Suffolk coast solved
- 3 Town keen on Leeds left-back Davis
- 4 Man in 40s stabbed at town centre multi-storey car park
- 5 Family left homeless after bungalow destroyed in fire
- 6 Wooden fence panels stolen from front garden of home
- 7 NHS 'wargames' collapse of West Suffolk Hospital building
- 8 Tent, kitchen units and bedding dumped in 'unsightly' fly-tipping
- 9 Go-ahead for 1,000 new homes on controversial site
- 10 Police release CCTV images after man suffers broken nose in attack
Town fans, too, have been quick to add their personal tributes on social media.
- Did you know Dick Parker? What are your memories of him?