Wolves are saddened to learn of the passing of former forward Peter McParland at the age of 91.
McParland, who was the oldest surviving former Wolves player, spent just the one season at Molineux during the 1960s, having joined from Aston Villa, and went on to make 21 league appearances in gold and black, while scoring 10 times for the club.
Although much more closely associated with Villa after his 121 goals for Wolves’ West Midlands rivals, including scoring both in the 1957 FA Cup final against Manchester United, the outside forward had a successful spell in gold and black.
Born in Newry, Northern Ireland, Mc Parland started out in the game in 1951 with Dundalk before making the move to England just a year later as he made Villa Park his new home.
The Northern Irish international – who scored five goals for his county in their run to the 1958 World Cup quarter-final – spent the following decade with Villa, as he became a legend among the claret and blue half of Birmingham, before switching to Wolves in 1962.
McParland had a big impact in his one season at Molineux, as Wolves were in considerable danger of going down when he arrived but his seven goals in only 15 League games that season helped secure a final placing of 18th, only four points above relegated duo Cardiff City and Chelsea.
On his debut, he netted in a season-changing 3-1 home win over champions Tottenham Hotspur and included a brace against Bolton Wanderers later in his scoring rampage.
Used either as a left-winger or centre-forward, he made a similar but briefer impact the following season despite being out of the picture in the early weeks. He hit two goals away to the new title-holders Ipswich Town, and one in a spectacular 5-4 defeat at Arsenal.
Despite an overall Wolves record of 10 goals in only 21 senior games, he left the club after six first-team appearances in the 1962/63 season, to join Second Division outfit Plymouth.
The forward would also go on to feature for Worcester City, Peterborough United and Atlanta Chiefs in his playing career, before becoming player-manager of Northern Irish side Glentoran and the Hong Kong national team.
A good friend of international teammate and Old Gold legend Derek Dougan, McParland was capped 34 times by his country, while he was also the last surviving member of the Villa team who won at Wembley in 1957 and the last survivor among Northern Ireland’s 1958 World Cup heroes.
The thoughts of everyone at Wolves are with Peter’s family and friends at this sad time.
