After working away from the sport for a number of years, he returned to football in 2012 and was an academy coach at Wigan Athletic, he was promoted to assistant manager under Gary Caldwell and later joined Bury in a similar position.
After stints in the lower leagues with Wigan Athletic and AFC Bournemouth the combative midfielder was signed by managerless Everton on 28 December 1993 for £250,000, between the resignation of Howard Kendall and arrival of Mike Walker.
He became a fans' favourite at the club, playing a major part in Joe Royle's "Dogs of War" Everton team.
Most memorably he won an FA Cup winner's medal when Everton defeated Manchester United in the 1995 Final.
Complications with the injury, including 2 surgeries and a further full season out of the game (1998–99) resulted in Parkinson retiring from football in November 1999, when only 28.
[1] In April 2018, Parkinson joined National League side AFC Fylde as the Lead Academy Coach.