David Parker (football manager)

David Parker
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-04-27) 27 April 1984
Place of birth Sutton Coldfield, England
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Club information
Current team
 Birmingham City Ladies
Teams managed
Years Team
2006–2007 Chicago Fire (Youth)
2008–2009 New York Red Bulls (Youth)
2009– Birmingham City Ladies (Centre of Excellence)
2010– Birmingham City Ladies Reserves
2011– Birmingham City Ladies

David Parker (born 27 April 1984) is an English football manager. He is the Manager of the Birmingham City Ladies[1] in the FA Women's Super League. Aged 26 he became the youngest manager in English football and one of the youngest ever to hold the FA – UEFA A Licence. He is currently the longest serving manager in the FAWSL and current FAWSL Manager of the year (2014).

Coaching career

Early years

By the age of 21 Parker had completed his UEFA B Licence and published two articles on the football industry; his first explored the motivational techniques of Brian Clough, (2005), "A Report on the Motivational Theories of Brian Clough (1935–2004)", and the second a report investigating football finances, (2005), "Human Resource Accounting in Football Clubs: Comparative Study of Accounting Practices". These articles were completed during his time at university where he completed his degree at Birmingham University, achieving a First Class Double Honours Degree in Business and Finance. After returning from a spell coaching in the MLS, he took up a position with Amisco (Prozone)[2] as the Head Performance Analyst (where he currently combines his role with Birmingham City Ladies). Through this role he works in association with some of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.

Birmingham City Ladies

At the start of the 2011 FA WSL season, Parker was appointed as the Manager[3] after a successful 2010–11 season with the Reserve team, where he led them to the FA Premier League Reserves League Title in his first season in charge.[4]

In 2011 Birmingham City Ladies came close to winning the FAWSL at the first attempt, leading for most of the campaign before being overhauled by Arsenal on the penultimate day of the season. They also reached the Continental Cup Final but once again found Arsenal in the way at Burton Albion F.C. The season was notable for the goalscoring exploits of Rachel Williams who finished as leading scorer as well as winning the FA Players' Player of the Year Award. Due to the 2nd-place finish in the 2011 FA WSL Birmingham City Ladies qualified for a place in the 2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32 for the first time in their history.

In May 2012 the Birmingham City Ladies won their first FA Women's Cup, beating Chelsea on penalties in the final at Ashton Gate in Bristol. Also in 2012, for the second consecutive year, the club finished 2nd in the FA WSL and were runners-up in the Continental Cup Final, both to Arsenal. The 2nd-place finish in the league qualified Birmingham for the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32 for the 2nd season running.

During the 2013 campaign saw a transitional year where many star names left the football club due to Birmingham's inability to compete financially with the big clubs. However, by successfully transitioning the team with the introduction of the youngsters, the average age of the team dropped from 27 to 21 and a foundation was built that still maintained them as one of the most competitive teams in the league. Still competing the UEFA Champions League in 2013/14 season Birmingham qualified for the Quarter Finals for the first time in their history.

In the spring of 2014 Birmingham beat Arsenal 3-0 on aggregate to progress to the Semi Finals of the Champions League and faced Swedish side Tyreso which contained many of the women's games star players, such as Marta. It was a unique achievement for a semi professional side completing with full-time clubs, with far superior budgets in the biggest club competition. Birmingham came within 20 minutes of continuing the remarkable run by almost reaching the final, before falling short in the final stages of the game.

Birmingham continued this extraordinary run in the FAWSL by again almost winning the league for the third time in four seasons. In a remarkable end to the season Birmingham missed out on the title by 1 goal in an agonising game v Notts County. Birmingham continued to demonstrate that despite the small financial resources available to them they are still able to compete with the top clubs in England.

Honours & Achievements

Managerial

England Birmingham City Ladies (2011–present)
England Birmingham City Ladies Reserves / Development Squad (2010–present)

Managerial statistics

As of 02 Feb 2016
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA Win %
Birmingham City Ladies Reserves England 27 July 2010 15 May 2011 24 16 1 7 69 38 66.67
Birmingham City Ladies England 14 April 2011 115 61 25 29 192 127 53.04
Total 139 77 26 36 261 165 55.40

Individual records

References

  1. ↑ "Birmingham City | Ladies Team | Ladies News | Ladies News | LADIES LOOK TO MAINTAIN UNBEATEN RUN". Bcfc.com. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  2. ↑ "Prozone: Latest News: PROZONE & AMISCO join forces to advance sports performance analysis". Prozonesports.com. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  3. ↑ "David Parker, Birmingham City". Birminghamcityladiesfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  4. ↑ "Blues Reserves Receive their Trophy". Birminghamcityladiesfc.co.uk. 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
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