Paul Parry

Paul Ian Parry (born August 19, 1980 in Chepstow) is a former Welsh people international football player who currently plays for Football League Championship side Cardiff City F.C.. He plays as a Football (soccer) positions Winger/Football (soccer) positions Striker.

Personal life

Parry suffers from a severe fear of flying (aviophobia) which, like other footballers such as Dennis Bergkamp, has caused problems during his career due to his inability to sometimes travel with the Wales national football team team to far-away countries. He manages to overcome by taking tablets. It has also caused problems in his club career when his teams have travelled to opposite ends of Great Britain. He has often managed to get around the problem by travelling the long distances by car.

As a youngster he attended Chepstow Comprehensive School.

Club career

Parry started his career at Bristol City F.C. where he spent two years as a schoolboy, before joining Hereford United F.C. as a Youth Training Scheme trainee. He made his league debut for Hereford on 7 November 1998, coming on as a substitute in a 3-2 defeat away to Leek Town F.C.. His profile was raised after an excellent FA Cup performance against Leicester City F.C. in the 1999/00 season. In this match, Parry so nearly scored the winning goal when he dribbled past 5 Leicester players and hit the post when one-on-one with goalkeeper Tim Flowers.

He was Hereford's leading goalscorer in the 2002-03 season. On December 19, 2003, under the watchful eye of Cardiff City manager Lennie Lawrence, Parry scored a hat-trick for Hereford in a 7-1 rout over Forest Green Rovers F.C.. Soon after, Cardiff signed him for an initial fee of £75,000 (which would increase depending on appearances). Parry's final appearance for Hereford saw him score the winning goal in added time against Stevenage Borough F.C..

He quickly became a firm favourite with the Bluebirds fans under manager Lennie Lawrence. During this time Parry came close to leaving after the club revealed that it had large financial problems. He was linked with a move to Yeovil Town F.C., who had tracked Parry from his days at Hereford United, but he eventually managed to avoid the cull of players, which included club captain Graham Kavanagh and star players Jobi McAnuff and Peter Thorne, and he has continued to improve under current manager Dave Jones where he is currently the longest serving first team player at the club and is a huge favourite with the Bluebirds fans.

Parry began the 2007/08 season in fine form, forcing summer signing Trevor Sinclair out of the team with his impressive displays. His continuing good form also found him finding the net more often for Cardiff with goals against Queens Park Rangers F.C., Burnley F.C., Ipswich Town F.C. and Sheffield United F.C. leaving him as the Bluebirds joint top scorer by late December. His good form in the season and Cardiff's financial trouble saw several other Championship sides enquire about him, Norwich City F.C. even having a £750,000 offer rejected, but Parry has stated that he does not wish to leave Cardiff. January saw Parry return to the club he started his playing career at, Hereford United, when the two sides met in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with Cardiff winning 2-1.

In April he suffered a hamstring injury during a 0-0 draw against West Bromwich Albion F.C. and he was forced to miss the remaining league games of the season as well as the FA Cup semi-final win over Barnsley F.C.. The injury meant he was forced into a long wait over his chances of appearing in the 2008 FA Cup Final, but he did eventually manage to return in time and played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth F.C..

International career

Parry made his international debut for Wales national football team on February 18, 2004, coming on as a substitute in the 4-0 win over Scotland national football team. It capped a remarkable rise for the midfielder who, at the time, had only made five appearances since joining Cardiff and had been playing English Conference football six weeks earlier. He scored his first international goal in the 1-0 win over Canada national football team on May 30, 2004.

In August 2007 Parry was called up to the Wales squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Germany national football team and Slovakia national football team but pulled out of the squad for personal reasons, which were later revealed to be due to going through a stressful divorce and custody battle. His decision was branded "silly" by former Cardiff player Jason Perry (footballer). However on 15 January, 2008 Parry stated that he would return to play for Wales if he was called upon by Toshack. Parry returned to international football to win one more cap in a friendly match against Georgia national football team before causing another shock by announcing his retirement from internationals at the age of 28, later stating that he felt like a "spare part" in the Wales team after being overlooked during a FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Azerbaijan national football team.

During his time at Hereford Parry also played for the Wales semi-professional team.