"Nostalgia" - 2000 Q&A with Paul Parker: His Views re Chelsea "a wannabe big club" and QPR

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QPR's recently appointed ("temporary appointment")Commercial and Communications Director, Paul Parker: Flashback to a July, 2000 Parker Interview with Manchester United Rivals

"...What happened after you left Old Trafford?
I was let down at Derby and Sheffield Utd by people I respected and I couldn't get in at Chelsea because the manager (Gullit) was a twat. Chelsea is a wannabe big club. It's not a players club, it's about how much, one the players can make in as little time as possible and that's still true now. They treated players like myself really badly. When they won the FA Cup in 1997 only about four players spent any time at a function arrange for the players. The rest of them just disappeared into the West End leaving me Sparky, Denis Wise, Steve Clark and Kevin Hitchcock at the do.
Chelsea didn't even get me a ticket for the 1997 FA Cup Final when I played for them. I had to sneak on the players coach with my team mates and then ask an official from the FA if he could sort me out a seat to watch the game. I felt so embarrassed. I finished playing at just 33, which is young, but my passion and enthusiasm for the game died after I had played at Chelsea and I just wanted to get away from it all. MU Rivals - II

And Parker on His Time at QPR
"As a kid I played for a junior team in Dagenham, Essex and we went unbeaten for seven years. I have always wanted to be a footballer and I virtually packed in school when I signed schoolboy forms for Fulham when I was fourteen. I had actually been affiliated at Fulham from the age of twelve and I left for QPR when I was 23 after I had played 180 games for them. I made my debut for Fulham when I was 16 years old against Reading who had a front line whose average height was six foot one. It was scary but my pace got me out of trouble.
I spent four seasons at QPR. I thought they they were a massive club because they had six people working in the office - four more than at Fulham - and because there was people holding the door open for you when you went to play a game. As far I was concerned, QPR were the biggest club in the world. I really enjoyed my time at QPR, playing with Terry Fennick, Gary Bannister, John Byrne and that's where I made my name.

What was it like coming to Old Trafford as an away player with QPR?
Scary. I was always given the job of man marking Sparky and I always did alright. Sparky was not the tallest player in the world but he's well built. I knew that I couldn't match him strength wise so I'd let him get the ball and I'd then come into him. I think I was noticed by United because I did well at Old Trafford.

How did you feel when United came in for you?
I was playing for England and Bryan Robson gave me a bollocking because I'd signed a new contract for QPR but I wasn't to know that United, or anyone else, were interested in me so when was offered a little bit more money I took it. After the 1990 World Cup I was told that Everton, Arsenal, Tottenham and Sheffield Wednesday were interested in me. I didn't want to leave London and the chance to sign for Tottenham, my childhood team, for a lot more money than I was getting at QPR - and later for United for that matter - really appealed. I was about to sign when United came in at the last minute. I told Terry Venables that I was going to Manchester just to see what they had to say. He said: "If you go to Man United you won't come back and sign for me." I said: "No, I'm cleverer than that. I just see what they have to say and I'll come back and sign for you." I never did. ....


How did playing for Manchester United compare with playing for England?
I found it more enjoyable playing for United than for England. I really enjoyed playing for England when I was at QPR but once I signed for United I was seen more as a Man United player than an England player....
. " Rivals