[needs update] As a player, he was a midfielder from 1983 to 2001, notably in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Leicester City.
He made his debut aged 17 against Manchester United in May 1983 and played in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Everton in 1985 as a 19-year-old, before moving to Second Division Hull City, managed by his former Luton captain Brian Horton, the following season.
[citation needed] He was a first-team regular at Hull and attracted the attention of Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, who bought him for £260,000 in March 1988.
Forest also won the Full Members' Cup that season with a 4–3 win over Everton, with Parker scoring twice, the second of which involved running half the length of Wembley with the ball at his feet.
He received a second League Cup winners' medal as Forest retained the trophy with victory over Oldham Athletic in 1990, a team that included Parker's former Luton and Hull teammate Frankie Bunn.
After falling out of favour with Ron Atkinson he then returned to Division Two football to join Leicester City, winning promotion via the play-offs in his first season.
[10] On 12 October 2014, Parker joined Bolton Wanderers as a first team coach, again working with former Celtic colleagues Neil Lennon and Johan Mjällby.