John Parke, Northern Irish footballer (Linfield, Hibernian, Sunderland, Northern Ireland), died from Alzheimer's disease at 74.

John Parke was a Northern Irish association football player who played for Linfield, Hibernian, Sunderland, KV Mechelen and the Northern Ireland national football team as a full back died from Alzheimer's disease at 74..

(6 August 1937 – 27 August 2011)

Club career

He started his professional footballing career in his native Northern Ireland with Cliftonville before joining their rivals Linfield in 1954.^[1] Having been a key player in the club's 'Seven Trophy' season of 1961/62, he moved to Scotland with Hibernian in 1963 where he made 23 appearances, scoring no goals and moved to Sunderland in 1964.^[1] Parke made his debut for Sunderland on 21 November 1964 against Sheffield United in a 3–0 defeat at Bramall Lane.^[2] He went on to make 85 league appearances for the club.^[3] He joined Belgian club KV Mechelen before retiring in 1968.^[1]

International career

He won his first cap for Northern Ireland on 12 November 1963 in a 2–1 win against Scotland. He went on to make a further 13 caps for his country, making it a total of 14 caps, with 0 goals.^[1]



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