[1][3] Parkes was born in Hartlepool, County Durham, where he attended the Technical Day School.
[4] He began his football career with Sunderland, but never progressed past the junior teams, despite the view of the pseudonymous "Argus" in the Sunderland Echo that "from what I have seen of him I would prefer him to at least two of the players I have seen leading both the Reserves and the A team in the past 12 months".
[5][2] He moved on to North Eastern League club Murton Colliery Welfare, from where he was transferred to First Division club Charlton Athletic in September 1949 for a £1,000 fee, "easily a record in the history of the Murton C.W.
[10] Parkes never appeared for Charlton in a league match, and returned to the north-east of England where he signed for Darlington.
[1] On 26 March 1955, at the age of 26, he made his Football League debut, in a 3–0 defeat away to Bradford City in the Third Division North.